How to Stay in Allah’s Good Books

Mohamed Hoblos (above) attracted international attention in 2016 due to a popular YouTube sermon entitled: ‘Whose side are you on?’[1] The fiery Islamic preacher from Sydney lists some sins forbidden by Islam. He mentions selling drugs, murder, adultery, fornication, raping a child and drinking alcohol. However the connection he makes with the five-times daily Islamic ritual prayer (salat) is unnerving. He states:

This person, one person, who commits all of these sins – he commits all of these sins on a daily basis – but he prays, is better in the eyes of Allah than the one who doesn’t commit any of these sins, but doesn’t pray. …Any person that misses one prayer – one, not two… One prayer, you miss one prayer for no reason… You are worse than a murderer, you are worse than a rapist, you are worse than a terrorist, you are worse than a pedophile in the eyes of Allah.[2]

There seems to be some support for Hoblos’ radical views in the authentic traditions, the hadith of Islam. The prophet Muhammad is reported to have said that “whoever leaves the [mid-afternoon] prayer, all his (good) deeds will be annulled.”[3] In another hadith, Muhammad says: “Between man and polytheism and unbelief is the abandonment of salat (Islamic prayers).”[4] The comparison with murder, rape, terrorism and pedophilia are Hoblos’ own additions. In another sermon[5] he cites an authentic hadith where Muhammad cursed women who pluck their eyebrows and those who have tattoos.[6] There is a serious disconnect between what is cursed by Allah’s prophet and what gets covered by performing daily prayers.

This confused and offensive hierarchy of values resulted in a chorus of condemnation, with some Muslims joining in. His organisation’s page, the OnePath Network, was later banned by a social-media network platform for another matter for ‘hate speech’.[7]

A survey of Hoblos’ other ‘motivational lectures’ posted on Youtube gives some insight into his thinking. His lecture entitled “Who are you to question Allah?” cites a Qur’anic verse: ‘It is unbefitting that when Allah and his Prophet (i.e. Muhammad) have declared a matter, a believing man or woman should have an opinion on the issue.’[8] He notes:

You can use logic to establish the existence of God. But once you have established the existence of Allah, and that he has a book and Prophet, we ask you to put your logic aside … In Islam, it is no longer logic, it is submission … Don’t ever question Allah and his Prophet.[9]

With this premise of unquestioning acquiescense, it might make sense that a praying Muslim who commits murder, rape, terrorism or paedophilia every day is better than someone who misses a single prayer session. By Hoblos’ reasoning, a praying Muslim who rapes a child every day is a better person than a non-Muslim, because the latter does not pray in a way accepted by him as a conservative Muslim.  Such teaching surely can only foster a divisive sense of superiority.  

Remarkably Mohamed Hoblos was a featured speaker at Preston Mosque at a meeting sponsored by the Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV). Early last month, Hoblos was advertised as giving a ‘motivational lecture’[10] at Melbourne’s biggest and most prestigious mosque under the auspices of Victoria’s peak body for Muslims. The Preston Mosque’s Facebook page notes that the lecture was not live-streamed or recorded. The topic of his lecture was not given.

According to the ICV website home page,

The Islamic Council of Victoria strives to foster and enable a vibrant Islamic Community where Muslims enrich society through the values of Islam. The ICV is the peak Muslim body in the state of Victoria representing an estimated 270,000 Muslims via 76 member societies representing over 100 diverse ethnic communities. We offer both advocacy and social welfare services while leading state and national initiatives on social cohesion through community consultation and advice to all forms of lead agencies.[11]

How does it promote “social cohesion” to give a platform to a preacher whose public teaching implies that a Muslim rapist who prays is superior in God’s eyes to a Muslim or a non-Muslim who does not pray? How does giving such a person a platform help Muslims in Victoria “enrich society through the values of Islam”?  Victorians should expect better from the ICV.

Dr Bernie Power is a lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Melbourne School of Theology

[1] Excerpt of his sermon: https://www.memri.org/tv/australian-islamic-preacher-hoblos-if-you-miss-one-prayer-you-are-worse-than-murdering-terrorist-child-rapist

[2] Full sermon : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwdw_S1z8wg (excerpt taken from 17 minute mark)

[3] Hadith Sahih alBukhari 553 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:553

[4] Hadith Sahih Muslim 82b   https://sunnah.com/muslim:82b

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMtv-xEO0zA At time point 37.21 mins

[6] Hadith Ibn Majah (Sahih)1989  https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:1989

[7] https://onepathnetwork.com/tiktok-has-permanently-banned-us/

[8] Qur’an 33:36

[9] Time-mark 52.40 of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv8K2HkzW1c

[10] https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=296966992660419&set=a.254634060227046  (posting on May 2^nd, 2023)

[11] https://icv.org.au/about-us/