While some historians have argued otherwise, Amin Haj al-Husseini—the grand mufti of Jerusalem prior to World War II—did not influence the Final Solution; he did, however, form a close alliance with Nazi Germany, which protected him and supported him financially, in exchange for his production of pro-Nazi propaganda for the Muslim world. Most importantly, writes Jeffrey Herf, the mufti’s lasting legacy was his contribution to a particular strain of Islamic anti-Semitism:
In his confidential conversations with German diplomats and then in a major public speech in Syria in 1937, Husseini made clear that his opposition to Zionism was rooted in his interpretation of Islam. Husseini’s importance . . . lay in his ability to weave together an interpretation of Islam and the secular language of Arab nationalism and anti-colonialism. In his reading of the Quran and its commentaries, Islam emerges as a religion that is inherently anti-Semitic and is hostile both to the religion of Judaism and to [Jews themselves].
Husseini was one of the founding fathers of the ideological tradition [now] known as . . . Islamism. That tradition, which continues in our own time, has Sunni and Shia variations, but its original base was in the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, which inspired such subsequent organizations as al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hizballah, and Islamic State—[as well as] the Islamic Republic of Iran. Despite their differences, [these entities] all share a conviction that, among other things, the message of Islam is inherently anti-Jewish and anti-democratic and that it provides justification for terrorism against Jews, “non-believers,” and “infidels” such as Christians, as well as Muslims who take a different view of Islam.
Read more on Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: http://jcpa.org/article/haj-amin-al-husseini-the-nazis-and-the-holocaust-the-origins-nature-and-aftereffects-of-collaboration/