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Tuesday, July 19, 2016
MEMRI: Gulf Officials Blast Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradawi: He Is The 'Mufti Of Suicide Attacks,' Should Be Prosecuted

MEMRI July 19, 2016 Special Dispatch No.6530
Gulf Officials Blast Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradawi: He Is The 'Mufti Of Suicide
Attacks,' Should Be Prosecuted
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/9332.htm

In recent weeks, officials in the Gulf have lashed out at Sheikh Yousuf
Al-Qaradawi, head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) and a
prominent spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), for fatwas he
issued in the past permitting suicide operations. The accusations came on
the wake of the July 4, 2016 suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia, for which the
Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility. The first to voice the
accusations was UAE Foreign Minister 'Abdallah bin Zayed, who, in two
tweets, blamed Al-Qaradawi for suicide attacks and called to hold him to
account for his role in encouraging them. Responding to this on his own
Twitter account, Al-Qaradawi called bin Zayed a "devil" but refrained from
addressing the accusations themselves. It should be noted that after Twitter
twice removed Al-Qaradawi's response he reposted it on his Facebook page.
[1]

Bin Zayed's comments were echoed by two other Gulf officials: Bahraini
Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Aal Khalifa and UAE State Minister for
Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohammed Gargash. Several articles in the Gulf press
joined the attack on Al-Qaradawi, calling him "the Mufti of Suicide" and
"the Sheikh of Fitna," and some Egyptian papers known from their anti-MB
position also published articles against him.

The accusations against Al-Qaradawi sparked a heated debate on social media.
As evidence for their validity, users pointed to a video from 2012 in which
the sheikh justified suicide operations in Syria. Asked whether it was
permissible to carry out a martyrdom operation against regime loyalists even
if civilians may be harmed as a result, Al-Qaradawi said that this was
allowed as long as the group (that carried out the attack) deemed it
necessary.[2]

This is not the first time that various Arab media, especially those
opposing the MB, have blamed this movement – and Al-Qaradawi as one of its
prominent ideologues – for ISIS's violence in the Arab world.[3] In fact,
Egypt and some other Arab countries have designated the MB a terrorist
organization. However, this is the first time official Gulf elements have
fingered Al-Qaradawi as responsible for ISIS's terrorism and for suicide
operations. This may stem from their desire to rebuff Western claims that
the source of Sunni extremism is the Wahhabi stream, dominant in Saudi
Arabia, and shift the blame to the MB, which is regarded by many in the West
as a more moderate Islamic movement.

It should be noted that even prior to 2012 Al-Qaradawi sanctioned suicide
operations, especially in Palestine. In 2001 he responded to a fatwa by
then-Saudi mufti 'Abd Al-'Aziz bin 'Abdallah Aal Al-Sheikh that forbade
suicide operations even against an army occupying Muslim land. Al-Qaradawi
stated in reply to this fatwa that operations by Muslim suicide bombers were
a legitimate form of resistance, "heroic acts of martyrdom and sacrifice,"
and one of the noblest kinds of jihad for the sake of Allah. He clarified:
"These operations are the furthest [thing] from suicide and the ones who
carry them out are not suicides by any measure. A suicide is someone who
kills himself for selfish reasons, while one who sacrifices himself [a
fida'i] does this for the sake of his religion and ummah. [He] fights the
enemies of Allah using a new weapon that God has placed in the hands of the
oppressed as a means of resisting the tyranny of the strong and the
haughty."[4] As stated, in 2012 Al-Qaradawi permitted suicide operations in
Syria provided that "the group [carrying out the attack]" deems it
necessary, without explaining exactly what this means. In 2015, after he was
accused of sanctioning suicide operations in Egypt following the ouster of
president Muhammad Mursi, Al-Qaradawi's office issued a statement meant to
clarify his stance on this issue. It said that, in his book Fiqh Al-Jihad
from 2009 the sheikh had clearly stated that he permitted suicide operations
only in Palestine and nowhere else. The statement clarified further that,
now that the Palestinians had obtained sophisticated weapons, suicide
operations were no longer valid even in Palestine.[5] However, Al-Qaradawi's
fatwas sanctioning suicide operations are still interpreted in some Muslim
circles as a blanket permission for attacks of this kind. It should also be
stressed that these fatwas still appear on his website.

This report will review the recent accusations against Al-Qaradawi.

Gulf Officials: The MB, Headed By Al-Qaradawi, Are To Blame For Suicide
Attacks

On July 4, 2016, several hours after the series of attacks in Saudi Arabia,
UAE Foreign Minister 'Abdallah bin Zayed tweeted: "We should hold to account
those who incited and permitted to kill people and [to perpetrate] the
suicide attacks." In a later tweet he explicitly pointed the finger at
Al-Qaradawi: "Do you remember that [the former Saudi mufti], the honorable
sheikh ['Abd Al-'Aziz] bin Bazz, forbade suicide attacks? Do you remember
that the MB's mufti, [Yousuf] Al-Qaradawi, permitted them?"[6]


Bin Zayed's tweet

Responding to this, Al-Qaradawi called Bin Zayed a "devil," saying: "Enjoin
what is right and avoid the ignorant [Koran 7:199]. We ask Allah to protect
us from the evil of the devils when the latter are released from their
chains."[7]


Al-Qaradawi's post on Facebook

Other gulf officials supported bin Zayed's position. UAE Minister of State
for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mohammed Gargash, tweeted: "Those who justified
suicide attacks and issued fatwas [permitting them] are responsible for the
current situation. Thousands of innocent people have died because of [their
craving] for influence and power which is disguised as religion." He added:
"These people must take responsibility for the chaos and violence that they
helped to ignite... The MB's historical affinity for violence and bloodshed
is documented and known..."[8]

Two days later, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Aal Khalifa
likewise responded to Al-Qaradawi's reply and supported his UAE counterpart,
tweeting: "The devils who were unchained are those who tried to destroy the
heart of the [Muslim] ummah and its strongest fortress. Now they are blaming
the righteous leaders for their own faults."[9]


Khalid Aal Khalifa's tweet

Articles In Gulf Press: Al-Qaradawi And His Ilk Prefer To Sacrifice Other
People's Sons On The Altar Of Their Bloody Struggles; 'The Suicide Belts
[Al-Qaradawi Permitted In His] Fatwas Have Come Back To Harm The Muslims
Themselves'

Articles blaming Al-Qaradawi for suicide attacks also appeared in the Gulf
press. The London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published an article
titled "Al-Qaradawi Refuses to End the Affair of His Fatwas Permitting
Suicide Attacks" which presented examples, some of them groundless, of
Al-Qaradawi's support for such attacks. The article said: "Al-Qaradawi has
called on Muslims throughout the world – from Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria,
Senegal, Pakistan, India, Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia, Syria,
Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan – to become 'martyrs'...[10] In previous
fatwas, Al-Qaradawi ruled that [the attackers] 'must verify that there are
people in the target area' [chosen for] the suicide attack and that they are
'of the descendants of the apes and pigs [i.e., Jews],' and prior to this he
encouraged Palestinians to blow themselves up, claiming that this was a type
of jihad. He said: 'If the Western world has atom bombs, we have human
bombs,' namely the suicide bombers who carry out his fatwas."[11]

Muhammad Al-Hamadi, editor of the UAE daily Al-Ittihad, harshly criticized
Al-Qaradawi in an article titled "The Mufti of Suicide [Attacks]," in which
he called upon the sheikh "to declare his new and different position" on
suicide attacks and "to renounce his fatwa [permitting them] and not to
insult the Muslims' intelligence as is his custom..." He added: "Because of
this fatwa, which [Al-Qaradawi] never recanted and never asked to erase from
YouTube or from any other site, he is responsible for the crime of the
suicide bombers and [for the death of] the innocent Muslim and non-Muslim
victims of these suicide operations. Why all this anger about [Bin Bazz's]
tweet that reminded us who encourages suicide [attacks] and who opposes
them?!"[12]


Al-Hamadi's article

In an editorial titled "The Sheikh of Fitna," the UAE daily Al-Bayan called
not to suffice with condemning the planners and perpetrators of the attacks,
but to address "the source of the disease, [namely those] who provide
backing for the attacks by presenting them... as sacred deaths." It added:
"Were it not for these fatwas that incite the youth, the terror
organizations would not have [managed to] capture so many of them and play
with their minds... Right in front of us we [see] the fatwas of the Sheikh
of Fitna, Yousuf Al-Qaradawi, that justify suicide and suicide bombings...
He and his ilk are personally responsible for starting these wars. They
issue fatwas and play with the heads of the simple folk, while [they
themselves] enjoy great wealth and live in luxury. They prefer to sacrifice
other people's sons on the altar of their bloody struggles... It is no
longer possible to remain silent and suffice with half solutions while
ignoring the bitter facts. We must stand as one against this darkness and
against those who nurture it with ideas, money, weapons or with fatwas
manufactured in the laboratories of black death... Islam must be liberated
from those who have hijacked it..."[13]


The Al-Bayan editorial

Khaled Al-Ghanami, a columnist for the Saudi daily Al-Sharq, wrote: "Sheikh
'Abdallah bin Zayed is perfectly right to blame Al-Qaradawi... The suicide
belts [Al-Qaradawi] permitted in fatwas from the 1990s have come back to
harm the Muslims and have [even] reached the mosque in Al-Madina and the
Prophet's tomb... Fatwas permitting suicide attacks will come back to harm
the Muslims and will be used against them."[14]

Accusations against Al-Qaradawi were reiterated following the July 14, 2016
Nice terrorist attack, which the sheikh later condemned.[15] Several hours
after the attack, Muhammad Aal Al-Sheikh, a columnist for the Saudi
Al-Jazirah daily, tweeted: "The one who perpetrated this shocking and bloody
act – is he a liberal or a secularist, or is he one of the manufacturers and
supporters of the 'martyrdom' fallacy which is associated with Al-Qaradawi
and which has blackened his name? May Allah soon gladden us with
[Al-Qaradhawi's] death."[16]


Muhammad Aah Al-Sheikh's tweet

In his Al-Jazirah column, Aal Al-Sheikh came out against Western
commentators who claim that Wahhabi Saudi clerics are the ones responsible
for suicide attacks, while the true culprits, in his opinion, are MB
clerics, especially Al-Qaradawi. He wrote: "As long as we fail to pursue the
jurisprudents who have ruled in favor of suicide [attacks] and the sources
[of these attacks], [as long as] we keep silent over [what they say], treat
them politely and ignore them, [as long as] we condemn terror [but] fear to
point the finger at those who invented the terrorist weapon of suicide
[attacks], we will continue to be trapped in a vicious circle. Yousuf
Al-Qaradawi, the MB mufti, was the first to rule that [suicide] was a form
of jihad and to call it 'martyrdom' in order to entice mentally deranged
youths [to carry out such operations]... The system of takfiri terrorism
includes [three components]: the sheikh who issues fatwas, namely
Al-Qaradawi; the sheikh who speaks of the [wide-]eyed beauties of Paradise,
and a madman who carries out the attack..." He added: "What angers me is
that the one who incites to perform the crime [of suicide] is Al-Qaradawi,
who is an MB sheikh to the core... [But] Westerners, especially French
commentators, attribute the sanctioning of suicide [attacks] to 'Wahhabi'
jurists... and this, even though Saudi Arabia's chief clerics oppose the
statements in favor of suicide that constitute the terrorists' main weapon
these days [and which] emanate from the MB..."[17]

Claims In Egypt: Most Suicide Operations In Muslim World Rely On
Al-Qaradawi's Fatwas

Unsurprisingly, accusations against Al-Qaradawi were also voiced in Egypt,
whose current regime is virulently opposed to the MB. The Al-Yawm Al-Sabi'
daily noted that, following the recent bombings in Saudi Arabia, a video was
circulated on Facebook in which Al-Qaradawi permitted suicide operations.
The daily stated that "most suicide attacks recently carried out in Arab
capitals are based on a fatwa by Yousuf Al-Qaradawi in which he allowed
groups to decide whether to carry out suicide attacks..."[18]

Al-Azhar sheikh Rasmi 'Aglan urged Al-Qaradawi to "come out today, not
tomorrow, and say the truth, for he is the one who [issued] militant and
controversial fatwas... Whenever a cleric tells the terrorists that their
operations and [their] killing and violence are forbidden, they immediately
answer: 'It is Al-Qaradawi who said [this is allowed]."[19]

Al-Qaradawi's Supporters Come Out In His Defense

Some of Al-Qaradawi's supporters rallied to defend him. According to a
report, Kuwaiti preacher and Islamic scholar Tareq Al-Suwaidan tweeted:
"Small politicians should speak politely when addressing great clerics."[20]

Dr. 'Azzam Al-Tamimi, the former head of the Institute of Islamic Political
Thought in the UK, who is known for his ties with Al-Qaradawi, wrote that
the UAE foreign minister's attack on the sheikh stemmed from his frustration
at the change in Saudi Arabia's policy towards the MB, which was reflected
in the warm welcome extended by the Saudi king to Al-Qaradawi when he made
his historic visit to the kingdom several weeks ago.[21]



Endnotes:



[1] Facebook.com/alqaradawy, July 6, 2016.



[2] Al-Yawm Al-Sabi' (Egypt), July 6, 2016.


[3] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 6170, "Saudi Journalist: Islam Prohibits
Suicide Attacks – This Is A Negative Innovation By The Muslim Brotherhood
That Must Be Fought," September 30, 2015.


[4] Al-Jazeera.net, April 21, 2001.


[5] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 6116, Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi: Permission
Previously Given To Palestinians To Carry Out Suicide Attacks – No Longer
Valid; They Now Have Missiles That Can Strike Deep Inside Israel, July 28,
2015.


[6] Twitter.com/ABZayed, July 4, 2016.


[7] Facebook.com/alqaradawy, July 6, 2016. This is a reference to a hadith
with states that, during Ramadan, the gates of Paradise open while the gates
of Hell close and the devils within are chained. The month of Ramadan ended
this year on July 5.


[8] Twitter.com/AnwarGargash, July 6, 2001.


[9] Twitter.com/Khalidal-khilafa, July 7, 2016.


[10] This is apparently a misrepresentation of Al-Qaradawi's statements
from June 2014, in which he called upon Muslim across the world to be
witnesses [shuhada, which also means "martyrs"] to what is happening in
Egypt.


[11] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), July 7, 2016. As noted, while Al-Qaradawi
has indeed issued fatwas sanctioning suicide attacks, not all the examples
quoted by the daily are credible; some appear only on the websites of
Al-Qaradawi's opponents.


[12] Al-Ittihad (UAE), July 8, 2016.


[13] Al-Bayan (UAE), July 8, 2016.


[14] Al-Sharq (Saudi Arabia), July 10, 2016.


[15] See Qaradawi.net, July 16, 2016.


[16] Twitter.com/alshaikhmhmd, July 15, 2016.


[17] Al-Jazirah (Saudi Arabia), July 17, 2016.


[18] Al-Yawm Al-Sabi' (Egypt), July 6, 2016.


[19] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London)m July 7, 2016.


[20] Klmty.net, July 9, 2016.


[21] Arabi21.com, July 9, 2016.





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