Ayman Taher speaking at Palestine House in Toronto. Photo: Screenshot

An Islamic chaplain at Toronto’s main pediatric hospital was under scrutiny on Thursday after video emerged of him encouraging parents to show their children a clip of the founder of Hamas predicting the eventual destruction of the State of Israel.

The video clip — unearthed by the Washington, DC-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) — showed imam Ayman Taher praising remarks made by the late Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas, in a 1998 interview with the Qatari-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera.

“If you did not watch this, Google it and watch it, let your children watch it, because this is history that needs to be absorbed,” Taher — who serves as the Islamic chaplain of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and as imam of the Ibrahim Jame Mosque in Hamilton, Ontario — stated during a Dec. 18 speech at Palestine House in Toronto, the headquarters of a nonprofit organization that caters to the Palestinian community in Canada.

“When [Al Jazeera correspondent] Ahmed Mansour was asking Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, he said to him: ‘Sheikh…’ And the sheikh was barely out of Israeli jails, by the way. He said to him: ‘Do you believe that Israel will [be] finished?’ He [Yassin] said to him with confidence: ‘Yes.’ He [Mansour] said to him: ‘When do you think it will [be] finished?’ He [Yassin] said: ‘2027.’ And I said to myself: ‘How calm, how confident this man is.'”

Taher went on to eulogize Yassin, a wheelchair-bound cleric whom Israel held responsible for the deaths of several Israeli citizens and who was killed in a March 2004 Israeli strike on Gaza City.

“Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was handicapped,” Taher said. “The only thing that moved in him was his tongue. Allah gave him that faith to speak his mind and inspire the generations to come. In the most difficult time, when his own life was not safe, and we know how Allah has honored him.”

He said that when Yassin “was in jail and after that when he was living in very difficult times, he never had doubt that Allah is going to give victory to his religion, we [also] should not, because he has inspired millions.”

He then added:  “I know I am getting myself in trouble now for speaking on social media. Who cares, because if [we] do not get ourselves into trouble, we will not be getting victory.”

A spokesperson for the Hospital for Sick Children said in a statement shared with The Algemeiner that Taher had been placed on paid leave as a result of the video.

“Concerns about comments made by a member of the Spiritual and Religious Care Department at SickKids related to the war in Israel and Gaza and shared on social media have been brought to our attention,” the statement noted. “We of course take this extremely seriously and are investigating as per SickKids’ Code of Conduct. The individual is on a paid leave while we investigate. For confidentiality reasons we are unable to share any additional information.”

The hospital added that “all who come to SickKids are entitled to be treated with respect, professionalism and feel safe.”

Reacting to the announcement of an investigation into Taher, one X/Twitter user responded indignantly, “What is there to investigate? It’s right there in black and white. SickKids that should have acted before now. Repugnant.”