Radical Muslim clerics are claiming that Hurricane Sandy was G-d’s punishment for US sins because of anti-Mohammed film, urges Americans to convert to Islam

By the Associated Press

Some anti-American Muslim clerics have cast the deadly Superstorm Sandy as divine punishment for a film mocking the Prophet Mohammed or for other perceived ills of American society.

Hurricane-turned superstorm in NASA satellite image (Rauters/NASA)

The remarks by some on the fringe brought a backlash from other Muslims who said it was wrong to relish the suffering of others.

In Egypt, one radical cleric described the hurricane as revenge from God for the crude, anti-Islam film made in the US that sparked waves of protests in the Muslim world in September.

“Some people wonder about the hurricane in America and its causes,” Egyptian hardline cleric Wagdi Ghoneim tweeted twice this week in the aftermath of the storm. “In my opinion, it is revenge from God for the beloved prophet,” he added, alluding to the film.

Blackout in New York photo: AP
Sandy left over 7 million people without power

Some praised the post, but others condemned it.

“God, shake the earth under their feet,” read one comment, prompting the response: “We have brothers and friends in America – I don’t wish them any harm.”

Another Twitter response to Ghoneim compared Sandy to a divine wind sent to destroy a sinful nation and strike at the seat of the United Nations in New York.

“We ask God to destroy the UN building for its injustice, corruption, tyranny … with Sandy.”

But this was followed by a stream of outrage.

The Brooklyn Bridge – Torrential downpours and floods in Brooklyn (AP)

“This hashtag doesn’t represent Muslims but represents a terrorist. We all ask God to help and save Americans,” read one post.

In Saudi Arabia, prominent cleric Salman al-Audah said the storm, which killed more than 140 people, was a wake-up call for Americans to convert to Islam.

Reactions to the hurricane in the kingdom prompted Grand Mufti Abdel Aziz Al Sheik to warn in an interview that rejoicing over plight of the suffering runs contrary to Islam, adding that Muslims were among the victims.

“It is not legitimate and it is not proper,” he told pan-Arab Al-Hayat daily on Thursday.

The morning after
US President Barack Obama declares New York, New Jersey “major disaster” areas. Damages estimated at $20 billion (Meital Skaat)

In Iran, prominent clerics often avoid drawing parallels between natural disasters and divine intervention because their own country has faced devastating earthquakes, such as one in 2003 that killed 26,000 when it hit the ancient city of Bam.

On Wednesday, the Iranian Red Crescent said aid workers were ready to fly to New York to help with recovery efforts, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported. Mahmud Mozaffar, head of Red Crescent’s rescue operations, said the Iranian groups had “ample experience” in dealing with natural catastrophes.

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