Category Archives: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

Qaradawi stands up for women’s rights

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Qaradawi and MandelaQatar-based Islamic scholar Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi yesterday slammed the practice of denying women access to mosques by Muslims of South Africa as well as of the Indian subcontinent and said that he was surprised that women were not allowed to attend any of his lectures in Johannesburg during his recent visit there.

In his Friday sermon, Sheikh Qaradawi said that during his visit to South Africa, he was surprised by the “unreasonable practice” of not allowing women from entering mosques as well as by the ban to videotape his lectures in Johannesburg.

“It was my first visit to South Africa and I was impressed with its Muslim community’s commitment to Islamic rules as well as its unity, but it was the ban on women’s entry into mosques which drew my attention. I told the (community members) that this was un-Islamic and they should stop it,” he told a congregation in a mosque at Khalifa South.

“I know they did that because they follow the Abu Hanifa school of thought but they should know that time has changed. If Abu Hanifa himself were with us today, he would have changed his mind. It is unreasonable that women could now go to universities, markets and travel, but are not allowed to enter a mosque in some countries.”

Gulf Times, 23 April 2010

Qaradawi meets Mandela

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Qaradawi and MandelaIslamic scholar Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi, who is on a visit to South Africa, met South African leader Nelson Mandela and gifted him some of the books he authored on Islam and the Holy Qur’an.

Qaradawi, who arrived in Johannesburg on Friday, hailed the South African leader as the “hero of Africa”.

He also gave lectures at the Muslim Judicial Council on duties of Muslim minorities in the world. The scholar also met with leading figures from the Muslim community in South Africa as well as some Arab diplomats.

Gulf Times, 12 April 2010

Qaradawi condemns suicide bombings in Moscow

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Qaradawi and MayorQatar-based Islamic scholar Dr Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi yesterday condemned the recent Moscow subway bomb attacks, saying that militant groups targeting civilians should review their adopted convictions of jihad.

In his Friday sermon, Sheikh Qaradawi said that jihad should only be defensive and that non-military persons should not be targeted in such a war. “The Holy Qur’an says that killing an innocent person is tantamount to killing the whole humanity. For this reason, Islam prohibited Muslim armies to kill women, children or old men in wartime,” Sheikh Qaradawi told a congregation at the Omar bin al-Khattab mosque.

Qaradawi, who is the chairman of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, urged the Islamic militant groups to review their convictions about Jihad, saying that their attacking of civilians led the detractors of Islam to brand Muslims as “terrorists”. “Such atrocities only hurt Islam and our Qur’an. They were even used as a pretext for accusing Islam of being a religion of violence and terror,” he added.

Referring to the twin suicide bombings that rocked Moscow’s underground train system last week, the scholar rejected the attacks as “having nothing to do with jihad” rules. “Islam does not allow killing innocent people in war even if they are non-believers. Those people who got embroiled while they were on their way to work were innocent and could not be held responsible for their political leaders’ mistakes,” the scholar added.

However, he urged the Russian leaders to start a political dialogue with the Caucasus militant groups and not to resort to armed force to solve the conflict. “I hope that the Russian leaders would launch a constructive dialogue. They can even request some leaders of Muslim or Arab countries to mediate between Russia and the Caucasus militants.”

Gulf Times, 3 April 2010

Express witch-hunts Dawatul Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A hardline Islamic sect that supports hate cleric Yufuf [sic] al-Qaradawi is planning to build a giant madrassa school and Muslim centre a few minutes from Britain’s new Olympic stadium.

The nationwide Dawatul Islam group, which has links with the militant Islamist Jamaat e Islami movement in Bangladesh, has lodged the proposals for an 11-storey, boys-only boarding school and Muslim community centre in east London with the local council. It will cost £27million and involves the demolition of an historic Victorian schoolhouse it bought for £377,000 in 1998. The £1million-a-year charity was awarded £32,000 of Government “Preventing Violent Extremism” cash last year, despite the controversial views of its vice-president, Hasan Mueenuddin.

He has described Britain’s ban on Egyptian cleric Dr al-Qaradawi, who defends suicide bombers, as “deplorable”. He called Dr al-Qaradawi “one of the most progressive thinking Muslim scholars of the 21st century”.

Sunday Express, 24 January 2010

The importance of Yusuf al-Qaradawi

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ken with Qaradawi“Yusuf al-Qaradawi is in the news these days, denounced on a daily basis on Saudi, Palestinian and Egyptian op-ed pages, forums and TV over his stances on Gaza, on Hamas and Abu Mazen, on Yemen, and more.

“Following those controversies is an excellent window into what divides and arouses passion in Arab politics today. Hate him or love him, the man has a keen sense of Arab opinion – whether he’s following or leading it – and has a proven track record of driving the debate. The fury of his adversaries on the other side of the so-called ‘new Arab cold war’ is a pretty direct function of the fact that his opinions, aired on al-Jazeera and spread through multiple online and real-world networks, matter….

“The Qatar-based Islamist is many things – a leading Islamist intellectual, a key figure in a wide set of interlocking global Islamist networks, a television star on al-Jazeera, a prolific author, a defender of Hamas, an Islamic internet pioneer…. His finely-tuned finger to the wind remains one of the most useful barometers of Arab public opinion.”

Marc Lynch analyses Qaradawi’s central role in political debates in the Arab world.

Foreign Policy blog, 21 January 2010

See also “Qaradawi slams attack against Egypt Christians”, The Peninsula, 23 January 2010

Qaradawi calls for peaceful campaign to reverse Swiss minaret ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Qaradawi 5Qatar’s prominent Islamic scholar and chairman of the International Federation of Ulema (IFU) Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi has urged the Muslims of Switzerland to seek the annulment of the ban on the construction of minarets on mosques in that country, according to reports published in the local Arabic press.

Addressing a message to the Muslims of Switzerland in the context of the referendum in which 57.5% of the Swiss people voted for the ban, Sheikh Qaradawi said:

“Consider yourself as an integral part of the society you live in; be loyal, honest and sincere to your country of domicile. You should work hard and be perfect in whatever work you do for the sake of the progress and betterment of that country. Do not be upset by those who want to antagonise and frustrate you. Indeed you should try to reason with them in a calm and composed manner. Be tolerant and patient whenever you feel hurt and let down.

“The IFU is of the view that this decision, irrespective of the fact that it has been taken on a majority vote, is a new form of animosity against Islam and Muslims in Switzerland. The rest of Europe may perhaps follow suit as indicated by Denmark. It has hailed this vote and announced that it will make a similar move.

“It is obligatory on the part of the Swiss government to take necessary measures to safeguard the lives of the Muslim minority against this animosity.

“The IFU urges the Muslim minority in Switzerland to be calm and restrain from emotional reactions. They should seek to have this decision annulled through legal and democratic channels. And work in co-ordination with all those local and international organisations that have deplored this decision.

“The IFU also calls upon the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to launch an international campaign against this decision and to expose the double standards practised by the Western countries.”

Gulf Times, 2 December 2009

Witch-hunt against UK Muslim organisations over Fort Hood

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Writing at Islam Online, Inayat Bunglawala examines how Anwar Al-Awlaki’s support for the Fort Hood killings has been used to promote “a modern version of a McCarthyite witch-hunt against leading UK Islamic organizations and Muslim individuals”.

Update:  Predictably, Inayat has come in for some stick over the following statement:

It is very unfortunate that Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi has been barred from visiting the UK since early 2007 by the British government, following pressure from pro-Israeli lobbies. Sheikh Al-Qaradawi is an Islamic scholar who commands huge respect among millions of Muslims worldwide. As a regular past visitor to the UK, he would consistently urge British Muslims to shun all forms of extremism and to focus their energies on ensuring that their children excelled in education.

“His long experience of dealing with youths influenced by extremist and takfiri ideas (ideas involving accusations of backsliding from Islam) would surely have been a valuable asset in the struggle against Al-Qaeda-inspired propaganda.”

Equally predictably, Inayat’s critics include mad Melanie Phillips, Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, the Spittoon and Edmund Standing.

You could, of course, base your opinion of Qaradawi on the word of ignorant bigots like that. Alternatively, you could consult the analysis of people who actually know something about the subject.

Continue reading →

Sunday Times exposes Labour MP’s links with Islamic extremism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

And the Labour MP is none other than Jack Straw! The Liberal Democrats are apparently the source of an attempt, taken up by the Sunday Times, to make an issue of Straw’s role in gaining a donation from the Emir of Qatar towards the construction of a mosque in his Blackburn constituency.

Haras Rafiq of the Sufi Muslim Council steps forward to claim that “Some of the biggest mosques and institutions in the UK have been funded by foreign money and have been proven to be portraying extremist viewpoints”. And Anthony Glees and Patrick Mercer also weigh in with warnings about the threat from foreign donations.

The Sunday Times concedes that the Emir of Qatar has a reputation of being “a pro-western reformist and moderniser”, which does rather undermine this scaremongering campaign. But that doesn’t prevent the paper trying to make a case that the emir is some sort of extremist.

After all, he helped to establish Al-Jazeera in Qatar, and one of the TV station’s regular presenters is Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who “has praised suicide bombings in Iraq”. Whereas of course Qaradawi has in reality opposed suicide bombings in Iraq.

See also “Jack Straw ‘too close’ to pro-Hamas faction”, Sunday Times, 4 October 2009

And Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, “Times exposes Jack Straw links with Blackburn radicals”, ‘Focus on Islamism’ Standpoint blog, 4 October 2009

Yusuf Qaradawi’s jihad

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Qaradawi“Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, the Egyptian-born octogenarian embraced by Ken Livingstone in 2004 and, as of 2008, excluded from the UK as a preacher of hate, has recently published a two-volume book entitled The Jurisprudence of Jihad. It is over 1400 pages long and has been received enthusiastically, and with some justification, as a major intervention on the subject by one of Islam’s most respected ‘modernist’ figures.

“‘Jihad’, much like ‘fatwa’, is a term that carries some heavy baggage. In the west, jihad now conjures up images of suicide bombers and implacable violence. Non-Muslims tend to equate this so-called ‘pinnacle’ of Islam with abject evil. The lack of mutual understanding, trust and respect between ‘Islam’ and the ‘west’ is a problem many – not just President Obama – recognise….

“Qaradawi’s views on jihad are already relatively well known and, in the Arab context, mainstream: Palestinians have the right to pursue jihad in self-defence against Israel, as do Iraqis against Americans. More controversially, this right extends to the use of suicide bombing. But al-Qa’ida’s global jihad is definitely out, as is the targeting of civilians or the use of violence not sanctioned by the state.

“Instead Qaradawi encourages a ‘middle way’ conception of jihad: ‘solidarity’ with the Palestinians and others on the front line, rather than violence, is an obligatory form of jihad. Financial jihad, which corresponds with the obligation of alms giving (zakat), counts as well. And Muslims should recognise that technological change means that media and information systems are as much a part of the jihadist repertoire as are guns. Indeed, as long as Muslims are free to use media and other resources to press their case, there is no justification for using force to ‘open’ countries for Islam.”

Ewan Stein at Comment is Free, 17 August 2009