In their "Zarqawi's Jordanian Agenda," Matthew Levitt and Julie Sawyer note a November 9, 2004 sermon delivered by Chief Justice Sheikh Izz-Eddine Al Tamimi "during a religious ceremony in the presence of King Abdullah II emphasizing tolerance, humanity, the true values of Islam and rejecting extremism. Subsequently dubbed the "Amman Message," the official statement proclaims: 'On religious grounds, on moral grounds, we denounce the contemporary concept of terrorism which is associated with wrongful practices wherever they come from…These despotic attacks on human life transgress the law of God, and we denounce them.'"
The attacks on Amman were more than a response by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to last year's Amman Message. It was Zarqawi's own Amman Message.
Update at 4:40 pm, ET: A reader emails to ask if Sheik Tamimi's sermon was delivered on November 9, 2004, or was the official statement by the Jordanian government released on that date. The answer is both.
In the presence of His Majesty King Abdullah II, the Amman Message has been delivered by His Eminence Chief Justice Sheikh Izz-Eddine Al Tamimi at the Hashimiyeen Mosque today in a religious ceremony attended by prominent figures and Muslim Scholars.
I must stress that my belief that the Amman attacks were timed by Zarqawi to fall on the first anniversary of the Amman Message is only a hunch.
Nevertheless, given the Amman Message's rejection of "extremism as a deviation from Islamic beliefs" and promotion of inter-faith dialogue, it seems to me the timing of the attacks is more than mere coincidence.
