Sheikh Qaradawi is speaking in London. Some are, well, offended at his approval of suicide bombings and affiliation with the Mother of All Modern Terrorist Groups, the “peaceful” Muslim Brotherhood. But don’t they realize that he has “star status”? This virtual puff piece from the BBC (thanks to jonascot) tells us so. But at least the article is accurate in noting that the majority of Islamic scholars approve of suicide bombing — and thus of the murder of innocents — in Israel.
In a sane world, the BBC would be treating Qaradawi like the criminal he is, putting in their headlines the fact that he has approved of the murder of non-combatants, and raising public awareness of all that he stands for — and if they mention his “star status” at all, it should be to deplore it as another indication of the dire need for reform in Islam.
The arrival in Britain of the Islamic preacher, Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, to take part in a conference has sparked a row because of his controversial views on suicide bombings.
Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi achieved a star status with the emergence of the Qatari satellite channel, Al-Jazeera, several years ago.
Thanks to his weekly appearance on the religious phone-in programme Al-Shariaa wa Al-Haya (Islamic Law and Life) he has become a household name for many Arabic-speaking Muslim communities.
He is an articulate preacher and a good communicator. …
It is particularly his views on suicide bombings that has courted controversy, but mainly in the West.
He has distanced himself from suicide attacks in the West but he has consistently defended Palestinian suicide attacks against Israelis.
Recently he told Al-Jazeera that he was not alone in believing that suicide bombings in Palestinian territories were a legitimate form of self defence for people who have no aircraft or tanks.
He said hundreds of other Islamic scholars are of the same opinion. In this respect, he is very much in tune with what the vast majority of people in the Arab world believe.
Defending suicide bombings that target Israeli civilians Sheikh A-Qaradawi told the BBC programme Newsnight that “an Israeli woman is not like women in our societies, because she is a soldier.
“I consider this type of martyrdom operation as an evidence of God’s justice.
“Allah Almighty is just; through his infinite wisdom he has given the weak a weapon the strong do not have and and that is their ability to turn their bodies into bombs as Palestinians do”.
ADDENDUM: At least the BBC was decent enough to publish a transcript of Qaradawi’s recent London interview, in which he repeated his support for the murder of innocents. (Thanks to Jonathan for the link.)