Much attention in the West is being given to “Islamophobia” — which is now being called a hate crime in many countries. It can eventually lead to fines and imprisonment in some places.

The hatred of another person, whether for reasons of religion or race, is deplorable, and any language based on that kind of hatred should certainly be condemned. But whether such language actually constitutes a crime is another matter.

God (Allah) would “grant victory to our jihadists — in Yemen, Syria, Iraq — and everywhere.”

Increasingly, however, merely questioning the motivation of terrorists, describing their allegiance to Islam, or simply stating what the Koran teaches is being condemned as Islamophobic. And President Obama cannot even use the words “radical Islamic terrorism.”

Many terrorist acts are perpetrated in the name of Islam. The attackers claim allegiance to a radical Islamic group, and they quote the Koran in justification for their horrendous crimes. One of these recent crimes was the beheading of the 85-year-old French priest, Fr. Jacques Hamel, who was called a martyr this week by Pope Francis.

But to merely mention the religion that inspires them — and to which they all belong — is forbidden by the language and thought police. Radical Islam has now somehow become the religious equivalent of Harry Potter’s arch foe, Lord Voldemort — “he who cannot be named.”

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Yet just a few days before the 15th anniversary of the terror attacks of 9/11 — and remembering that 15 of the attackers came from the “friendly state” of Saudi Arabia — the violent nature of Islam was again confirmed.

On September 4, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and Imam of the largest mosque in the world, Abdul-Aziz Al Sheik, called during prayers broadcast on television not only for the killing of Shia Muslims, but said that God (Allah) would “grant victory to our jihadists — in Yemen, Syria, Iraq — and everywhere.”

Grant victory, he prayed, “over the treacherous Jews and over the spiteful Christians.”

I’m sure you all heard about it on the mainstream media, no?

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Hate speech? Certainly — but far worse — the Grand Mufti is certainly one of, if not the, most important religious figures in Saudi Arabia. The great Mosque of Mecca is, in some senses, the St. Peter’s of Sunni Islam.

Sheik Abdul-Aziz is no stranger to violent, depraved hate speech from his prayer bully pulpit. But given the frenzied concern about Islamophobia in the West — where free speech exists, for the moment — we should focus on this venomous diatribe a little more closely.

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In the first place, there is location and timing — including the most important mosque in the world in the holy city of Mecca one week before the 15th anniversary of the deadly attack on the United States. Also, and perhaps more importantly, it occurred during the Hadj, when devout Muslims from every nation on earth are making their once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca. A coincidence?

My good friend Fr. Douglas Al Bazi is an Iraqi priest who was kidnapped and tortured by Islamic militants (they broke his back and teeth with a hammer — but of course they practice the religion of “peace”). Bazi always tells me he only refers to ISIS as “the Islamic State.” He says he will stop calling them Islamic when the senior figures of the two branches of Islam — the Sunni in Saudi Arabia and the Shia in Iran — declare that it is not Islamic.

Words do, indeed, matter. In this case, we have the most senior cleric in a country that does not have free speech — so this speech is sanctioned — blessing the jihadists in Syria and Iraq. In other words, ISIS and the al Nusra Front (or whatever their name is this week) are calling for victory over the “spiteful Christians” everywhere.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is considering its latest sale of $1.15 billion worth of armaments to our friends in Saudi Arabia, where Christianity is even more restricted than in North Korea. We harass and denigrate those who raise troubling questions about followers of the religion of peace and call it hate speech — but at least the Saudis respect the rights of women!

Father Ben Kiely is a Catholic priest and founder of Nasarean.org, which is helping the persecuted Christians of the Middle East.