Magdi Allam’s letter to Minister Piantedosi. “Takfir done against me by Khan”

On July 15^th, 2024, former director of the Corriere della Sera newspaper and former MEP, Magdi Cristiano Allam, had to write an open letter to the Italian Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, after being attacked by the Pakistani imam of Bologna’s Iqraa Islamic Center, Zulfiqar Khan.

On this Times of Israel page, we discussed Khan’s activity on several occasions, due to his constant attacks against Jews, Semitism, Israel, the United States, as well as for his pro-Hamas and pro-Iran statements. On July 9^th, we also published an article with some of Khan’s statements and the latest developments.

Despite the propaganda of hatred, the Italian authorities have not intervened so-far against Khan, and the reasons are yet unknown.

In two videos made public at the beginning of July on the Islamic center’s Facebook page, Khan accused Allam of misbelief (takfir) and for his pro-Israel positions. It is worth remembering that Allam has been under police surveillance for many years following his criticism of Islam and his conversion to Christianity.

The open letter sent by Allam to the Italian Minister of Interior was published by several Italian newspapers and news sites.

However, an English translation is necessary as this is a matter that goes far beyond Italian borders and concerns everyone. The fight against Islamist extremism is something that involves everyone, not just Israel. So, here it is.

Open letter to the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi on the convictions and warnings received from the Pakistani imam Zulfiqar Khan

Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi,

I am writing to express my concern for having been the object of particular attention by Zulfiqar Khan, a Pakistani citizen, self-styled imam of the Iqraa Islamic Center, located in Bologna in via Jacopo di Paolo 32/b.

On the Facebook profile of the Iqraa Islamic Center, on 6 and 7 July 2024, he held two sermons in front of the devotees of his mosque, recorded and published in two videos, entitled “Lack of knowledge of Magdi Allam”, in which he condemns me and warns me for my speech at the conference “October 7 in the geopolitics of Israel”, held in San Miniato (Pisa) on 30 June 2024.

I am concerned that a self-styled imam, already publicly distinguished for his violent statements especially against Jews, Israel and the United States, but also against homosexuals and our secular civilization, despite him being “monitored” by the police, has been the subject of a parliamentary question by Senator Marco Lisei and Deputy Sara Kelany of the majority government party, Brothers of Italy, in which she is asked to take action against him; his “immediate expulsion” was requested by the vice-President of the Council, federal secretary of the League and former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini; well, nevertheless, this self-styled imam wanted to give set aside for me two sermons and just as many videos in 48 hours to essentially condemn me as an “enemy of Islam” and “collaborator of Israel”.

In his two videos the self-styled imam underlined that I am an apostate, that is, a Muslim who has abandoned Islam: «A gentleman called Magdi Cristiano Allam, an Egyptian, was a Muslim, as he was, I don’t need to give advertising what kind of Muslim he was. Today that we know him as a Christian, I can safely say that he is far from the truth, far from the knowledge of the sacred books, far from religion.” All Muslims know that the apostate must be killed, in accordance with a saying and practice of Muhammad.

He accused me of being a “liar”, of telling lies in reference to Jesus and Mary, who are conceived as Muslim prophets in the Koran, underlining that I would consequently have insulted Islam: “Some verses of the Koran, of the Old Testament, of the New Testament, those who see, understand that God is unique, his characteristics no one can change, if thousands of Magdi Cristiano Allam come. Thousands of Magdi Cristiano Allam cannot put lies in books, they cannot let lies enter books, they cannot change the ideology of the prophets who have come.” Contempt against Islam is also a crime punishable by death.

He clarified, letting an intimidating intent emerge, that «we leave no room for liars, we leave no room for those who speak badly of Jesus Christ, who speak badly of any Jewish or non-Jewish prophet»; and that he will personally bear witness to “the truth until the last day, until my last breath.”

He argued that I would be an ignorant or undignified person: “He lacks knowledge, or he lacks dignity, one of the two is certainly lacking, either he doesn’t have dignity or he doesn’t have knowledge.”

He presented me as a slanderer of Islam because I said, as he himself actually admits, that they want to subjugate Europe to Islam: «And this Magdi Cristiano Allam says that Muslims want all of Europe to submit to Islam Islam. Not even a verse of the Quran nor a hadis of Mohammad (Muhammad), peace and blessings be upon him, no Muslim says that you submit to Islam. We say that we submit to Allah, Allah, Allah god of the Jews, Allah god of the Christians, Allah god of the Muslims, Allah god of every being, every being, one Allah.”

He concluded his second video with this warning: “So my advice to this Magdi Cristiano Allam, you need to review his knowledge, go and study the Bible. I am not telling you the Koran because as you have spewed out all your malice against Islam, against the Koran, when you read the Bible over time you understand the reality, what the Bible is saying, who you should follow, what your destination is, what is the path of success in this world and also in the Hereafter.”

Mr. Minister, I was the civilian external to the institutions with the escort at the highest level in 2007, the year in which I published “Long live Israel”, and in 2008, the year in which I converted from Islam to Christianity by receiving baptism from the hands of Pope Benedict XVI.

I am grateful to the State for having assigned me an escort since 2003, after our secret services became aware of the desire of the Palestinian Islamic terrorists of Hamas to kill me for my public condemnation of the suicide attacks perpetrated by them against Israelis.

The death threats implicit in the accusation of being an “enemy of Islam”, “apostate”, “traitor”, “collaborator of Israel”, were also uttered by representatives of the so-called “moderate Islam” in Italy, ideologically linked to the Brothers Muslims and to Hamas itself, of which it is an integral part.

However, in recent years, without public office and little television visibility, the escort assigned to me has been significantly reduced, to a level that I consider inadequate for my death sentence which remains unchanged. I trust in your re-evaluation of this issue, which is crucial for my safety and for the safety of the men in the escort responsible for protecting my physical safety and who share the same threat.

I would like to point out that the writer Salman Rushdie, sentenced to death for his novel “The Satanic Verses” in 1989 by the Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini, was miraculously saved from an Islamic terrorist attack 33 years later , on August 12, 2022. Because the condemnation of the “enemy of Islam” never lapses, just as the obligation to kill him remains valid until his death.

Thank you for your attention and I kindly await your response.

Madgi Cristiano Allam

July 15, 2024

We are all waiting for a response from the Italian authorities. This situation has become intolerable and inexplicable.