Yusuf Qaradawi

Yusuf al-Qaradawi ( ar, يوسف القرضاوي, translit=Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī; or ''Yusuf al-Qardawi''; 9 September 1926 – 26 September 2022) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars. His influences included Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim, Sayyid Rashid Rida, Hassan al-Banna, Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi, Abul A'la Maududi and Naeem Siddiqui. He was best known for his programme الشريعة والحياة, ''al-Sharīʿa wa al-Ḥayāh'' ("Sharia and Life"), broadcast on Al Jazeera, which had an estimated audience of 40–60 million worldwide.No.9 Sheikh Dr Yusuf al Qaradawi, Head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars – "The 500 most influential Muslims in the world 2009", Prof John Esposito and Prof Ibrahim Kalin – Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University He was also known for IslamOnline, a website he helped to found in 1997 and for which he served as chief religious scholar.

Al-Qaradawi published more than 120 books, including ''The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam'' and ''Islam: The Future Civilization''. He also received eight international prizes for his contributions to Islamic scholarship, and was considered one of the most influential Islamic scholars living. Al-Qaradawi had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian political organization, although he repeatedly stated that he was no longer a member and twice (in 1976 and 2004) turned down offers for the official role in the organization.

Al-Qaradawi was sometimes described as a "moderate Islamist". At one point he condoned Palestinian suicide bombings against Israelis (though he later reversed this position), caused reactions from governments in the West: he was refused an entry visa to the United Kingdom in 2008, and barred from entering France in 2012.

Biography

In Egypt

Al-Qaradawi was born on 9 September 1926 in Saft Turab rural village in the Nile Delta, now in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt, into a poor family of devout Muslim peasants. He became an orphan at the age of two, when he lost his father. Following his father's death, he was raised by his mother and uncle. He read and memorized the entire Quran before he was ten years old.

He then joined the Institute of Religious Studies at Tanta, and graduated after nine years of study. While in Tanta, Al-Qaradawi first encountered Hassan al Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, when al Banna gave a lecture at his school. Al-Qaradawi wrote of the lasting impact of this encounter, describing al Banna as "brilliantly radiating, as if his words were revelation or live coals from the light of prophecy."

After graduating from the Institute of Religious Studies he moved on to study Islamic Theology at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, from which he graduated in 1953. He earned a diploma in Arabic Language and Literature in 1958 at the Advanced Arabic Studies Institute. He enrolled in the graduate program in the Department of Quran and Sunnah Sciences of the Faculty of Religion's Fundamentals (Usul al-Din), and graduated with a master's degree in Quranic Studies in 1960. In 1962, he was sent by Al-Azhar University to Qatar to head the Qatari Secondary Institute of Religious Studies. He completed his PhD thesis titled ''Zakah and its effect on solving social problems'' in 1973 with First Merit and was awarded his PhD degree from Al-Azhar.

His connection with the Muslim Brotherhood led to imprisonment under King Farouq in 1949, then three more times during the term of President Gamal Abdul Nasser. He left Egypt for Qatar in 1961, and did not return until the overthrow of the military regime by the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

Based in Qatar

In 1977, he laid the foundation for the Faculty of Shari'ah and Islamic Studies at the University of Qatar and became the faculty's dean. In the same year he founded the Centre of Seerah and Sunna Research. He also served at Egypt's Institute of Imams under the Ministry of Religious Endowments as supervisor before moving back to Doha as Dean of the Islamic Department at the Faculties of Shariah and Education in Qatar, where he continued until 1990. His next appointment was in Algeria as Chairman of the Scientific Council of Islamic University and Higher Institutions in 1990–91. He returned to Qatar once more as Director of the Seerah and Sunnah Center at Qatar University.

In 1997, Al-Qaradawi helped found the European Council for Fatwa and Research, a council of important and influential Muslim scholars dedicated to researching and writing fatwas in support of Western Muslim minority communities based in Ireland, and he served as its head. He also served as the chairman of International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS).

In the wake of the 2011 Revolution he returned to Egypt for the first time since leaving in 1961.

Al-Qaradawi was a principal shareholder and former Sharia adviser to Bank Al-Taqwa. On 2 August 2010, the bank was removed from a list of entities and individuals associated with Al Qaeda maintained by the United Nations Security Council.

Al-Qaradawi finished third in a 2008 poll on who was the world's leading public intellectual. The poll, Top 100 Public Intellectuals, was conducted among readers of ''Prospect Magazine'' (UK) and ''Foreign Policy'' (United States).

2011 return to Egypt

After the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Qaradawi made his first public appearance in Egypt after 1981. In Tahrir Square, he led Friday prayers on 18 February, addressing an audience estimated to exceed two million Egyptians. It began with an address of "O Muslims and Copts", referring to Egypt's Coptic Christian minority instead of the customary opening for Islamic Friday sermons "O Muslims". He was reported to have said, "Egyptian people are like the genie who came out of the lamp and who have been in prison for 30 years." He also demanded the release of political prisoners in Egyptian prisons, praised the Copts for protecting Muslims in their Friday prayer, and called for the new military rulers to quickly restore civilian rule. He referred to Hosni Mubarak as "the tyrannical pharaoh". In the sermon, Qaradawi called for the immediate release of political prisoners, the dissolution of the cabinet of Mubarak loyalists, and an end to the economic blockade of Gaza.

Brookings Institution member Shadi Hamid said that Qaradawi was in the mainstream of Egyptian society, and that he also had appeal among Egyptians who are not Islamist. He described the sermon as "nonsectarian" and "broadly political". In the ''Jerusalem Post'', Barry Rubin wrote that although he was seen as a moderate by some in the West, he supported the straight Islamist line. Qaradawi was seen as a danger by Rubin because he was a charismatic thinker who could easily mobilise the masses. The author was concerned that Qaradawi would take over Egypt and that this would have had negative consequences for Israel.

On 21 February 2011, Qaradawi issued a fatwa, which is a religious ruling, permitting the killing of Muammar Gaddafi. This was in response to Gaddafi's plans to kill protesters in Libya. He also called on Libyan ambassadors around the world to distance themselves from Gaddafi's government.

Death

On the afternoon of 26 September 2022, Qaradawi died in Qatar at the age of 96.

Views and statements

Religious and sectarian views

Muslim sects

=Extremism

=
Al-Qaradawi wrote on the danger of extremist groups of Islam, in his dissertation on the subject ''Islamic Awakening between Rejection and Extremism''. This dissertation discusses the phenomenon of religious extremism among Muslim youth. He discusses the reasons why young Muslims may resort to extremism, and argues that many of these reasons are due to the hypocrisy and self-contradictions of older Muslims. He advised that the only way to rectify the situation is for older Muslims to reform themselves and their societies according to the actual teachings of Islam. ()

In 2014, Qaradawi stated that the declaration of an Islamic caliphate by the militant Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) violates sharia law. Qaradawi said in a statement that the declaration "is void under sharia". This statement comes after ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called on Muslims with military, medical and managerial skills to flock to its newly-declared pan-Islamic state.

=Sufism

=
Al-Qaradawi was an avid caller to what he calls "Islamic Sufism", praising those who practice it as pious.

=Shi'as

=
Qaradawi accused the Shi'ites of invading Sunni societies, and criticized some aspects of the Shi'i doctrine. He described them as "heretics" and said that Sunni leaders in the region have voiced concern about a Shiite resurgence.

Qaradawi's statements about the Shia sect of Islam have caused controversy and outrage among Shia leaders. His comments are seen as divisive and legitimising anti-Shia rhetoric. The reactions to his statements are politically motivated and could lead to a sectarian conflict.

The Iranian reaction to Qaradawi was particularly intense, with some Iranian officials apologising for the personal attack by Iranian Mehr News Agency, in which before this they described Qaradawi as "a spokesman for international Freemasonry and rabbis". Qaradawi argues that he was moved by indications of growing Shi'itization in Egypt and by the lack of awareness on the part of Sunnis and their ulama of that danger.

In May 2013, al-Qaradawi verbally attacked the Alawite sect, which many describe as an offshoot of Shia Islam and of which President Bashar al-Assad is a member, as "more infidel than Christians and Jews" (أكفر من اليهود والنصارى).

Non-Muslims

Qaradawi wrote that Islam does not prohibit Muslims from being kind and generous to people of other religions. However, Islam looks upon the People of the Book, that is, Jews and Christians, with special regard. He suggested that in having dialogue with the Jews and Christians, Muslims should avoid such approaches that may cause bitterness or arouse hostility.

According to Qaradawi, the verses in the Quran that tell Muslims to break ties with Jews and Christians ( Al-Maidah 5:54-55) refer to those people who were hostile to Islam and waged war against Muslims. This means that Muslims are not allowed to help or be friends with people who are hostile towards Islam, even if it means going against their own interests.

In his book titled ''The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam'', al-Qaradawi wrote, "Islam does not prohibit Muslims to be kind and generous to peoples of other religions, even if they are idolaters and polytheists, ... it looks upon the People of the Book, that is, Jews and Christians, with special regard, whether they reside in a Muslim society or outside it. The Qur'an never addresses them without saying, 'O People of the Book' or 'O You who have been given the Book', indicating that they were originally people of a revealed religion. For this reason there exists a relationship of mercy and spiritual kinship between them and the Muslims."

=Jews

=

In August 2005, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Dublin-based European Council for Fatwa and Research, of which al-Qaradawi was president, had used the antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion in its theological deliberations. Al-Qaradawi's remarks were sharply criticized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which accused him of inciting violence against Jews.

In a 9 January 2009 sermon during the Gaza War, shown on Al-Jazeera, Qaradawi prayed for Allah to take revenge on the "enemies of Islam", specifically the Jews, whom he described as treacherous, aggressors who have spread much tyranny and corruption. He asked Allah to annihilate them completely, without sparing any of them.

In his Friday sermon broadcast on ''Qatar TV'' on 26 April 2013, Qaradawi announced that he would not participate in next year's interfaith dialogue if Jews were invited, stating that there should be no debate with those who have committed injustice. He cited a verse from the Quran which says that there should be no debate with the People of the Book except in a way that is best, and went on to say that the Jews have committed great injustice and that "their hands are soiled with blood".

Qaradawi's statements were described as incitement to genocide in a ''Jewish Political Studies Review'' article, which connected his belief in Jewish conspiracies to the appeals to violence against them. Qaradawi asserted that Hitler meted out divinely sanctioned punishment to the Jews and called for Muslims to impose a similar punishment, calling openly for genocide. His appeals for genocide were coupled with paranoid conspiracy thinking that identifies the Jews as the greatest enemies of Islam; alleging a Jewish plot to take over the entire Middle East, including Mecca and Medina; blaming the Jews for the abolition of the Islamic Caliphate in 1924 and the spread of communism; and accusing the Jews of planning to tear down the al-Aqsa Mosque so as to build a Jewish Temple in its place.

=Views on the Holocaust

=
Al-Qaradawi defended the mass murder of millions during the Holocaust as a "punishment." In a statement that aired on Al-Jazeera TV on 28 January 2009 during the Gaza War, al-Qaradawi said the following regarding Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust (as translated by MEMRI):

Apostasy from Islam

Al-Qaradawi said that apostasy in Islam – Muslims leaving Islam – is a grave danger to the Muslim community and that the duty of all Muslims "is to combat apostasy in all its forms and wherefrom it comes, giving it no chance to pervade in the Muslim world". In February 2013, Qaradawi stated on Egyptian television that the death penalty is a necessity for those who leave Islam, citing several speeches and writings by Muhammad and his followers. He explains that many hadiths state that any apostate should be killed, and that this is necessary to preserve Islam.

In 2011, Al-Qaradawi wrote that execution is a valid penalty for apostasy, but only in cases where the apostate has also committed another crime. He advocates giving apostates a chance to repent before carrying out the sentence, and says that hidden apostates should not be punished by the Muslim community, but left to the judgement of God.

Political views

Civil state v. theocracy

Al-Qaradawi spoke in favor of democracy in the Muslim world, speaking of a need for reform of political climates in the Middle East specifically. On 22 February 2011, he held an exclusive interview with OnIslam.net, dismissing the allegation that he wanted a religious state established in Egypt: "On the contrary, my speech supported establishing a civil state with a religious background, I am totally against theocracy. We are not a state for mullahs."

Terrorism

After the September 11 attacks, al-Qaradawi urged Muslims to donate blood for the victims and said:

He denies that Palestinian suicide bombing attacks constitute terrorism, claiming, "when Palestinians face such unjust aggression, they tend to stem bloodletting and destruction and not to claim the lives of innocent civilians," but qualifies that with "I do agree with those who do not allow such martyr operations to be carried out outside the Palestinian territories."

Al-Qaradawi suggested the legitimate use of (defensive) suicide bombings against enemy combatants in modern times if the defending combatants have no other means of self-defense. The Oxford-based Malaysian Islamic Scholar, Dr. Afifi al-Akiti, rules that there is no Islamic legal precedent for this view and that female soldiers can only be killed in direct combat. With regards to suicide bombings he says that they are "breaching the scholarly consensus ... because to endanger one's life is one thing and to commit suicide during the attack is obviously another". With regards to male soldiers he states, "It goes without saying that they are considered combatants as soon as they arrive on the battlefield even if they are not in direct combat – provided of course that the remaining conventions of war have been observed throughout, and that all this is during a valid war when there is no ceasefire."

Western governments have met al-Qaradawi to request release of European civilians kidnapped in Iraq and have thanked him officially, praising his cooperation. The French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier wrote to al-Qaradawi: "With such a clear condemnation of the abduction of the French hostages you have sent a clear-cut message demonstrating respect for the tenets of Islam."

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Al-Qaradawi supported suicide attacks on all Israelis, including women since he viewed the Israeli society as a "completely military" society that did not include any civilians. He also considered pregnant women and their unborn babies to be valid targets on the grounds that the babies could grow up to join the Israeli Army.

Defending bombings against Israeli civilians, al-Qaradawi told ''BBC Newsnight'' in 2005 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 that is their ability to turn their bodies into bombs as Palestinians do."

In an interview with the newspaper ''Al Raya'' in April 2001, al-Qaradawi declared that suicide (or "martyrdom") bombings conducted by Palestinians against Israelis "are not suicide operations. These are heroic martyrdom operations, and the heroes who carry them out don't embark on this action out of hopelessness and despair but are driven by an overwhelming desire to cast terror and fear into the hearts of the oppressors."

On 8 May 2013, Qaradawi visited Gaza and gave a speech in support of Hamas. He asked all of the Palestinian people to work with other Arab people and Muslims around the world to destroy Israel, saying inflammatory things such as "Our wish should be that we carry out Jihad to death" and "We should seek to liberate Palestine, all of Palestine, inch by inch."

An Anti-Defamation League report in 2011 said that al-Qaradawi had voiced his desire to see Jerusalem conquered in a fatwa in which he claimed that it was the Muslims' duty to "defend" Jerusalem with "their lives, their money and all they possess, or else they will be subject to Allah's punishment."

Iraq war

In 2004 the International Union of Muslim Scholars, an organization chaired by al-Qaradawi which counts a great number of prominent individuals affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood and/or Hamas among its members, ruled that "resisting occupation troops in Iraq is a 'duty' on able Muslims in and outside the war-torn country and that aiding the occupier is impermissible."

In an address aired on Qatar TV on 5 January 2007, al-Qaradawi questioned the trial of Saddam Hussein under American supervision in Iraq, but agreed to it if it were conducted by the Iraqi people "after liberating Iraq from American colonialism". He also suggested that the trial was "an act of vengeance by the Americans" for his missile attacks on Israel. He strongly criticized the way Saddam was hanged:

Hezbollah

In 2006, in response to Muslim scholar Abdullah Ibn Jibreen's fatwa declaring that it was forbidden for Muslims to support or pray for Hezbollah because they are Shia, al-Qaradawi said that supporting Hezbollah is a religious duty for all Muslims and that resistance, whether in Palestine or Lebanon, is the most noble act. He added "Shias agree with the Sunnis in the main principles of Islam while the differences are only over the branches" and also called upon the Sunnis and Shia of Iraq to end the civil war.

Seven years later, during the Syrian Civil War, Qaradawi urged all Sunnis to fight Hezbollah, attacking Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iran: "The leader of the Party of Satan comes to fight the Sunnis ... Now we know what the Iranians want ... They want continued massacres to kill Sunnis."Syria conflict: Cleric Qaradawi urges Sunnis to join rebels
BBC News, 1 June 2013 Qaradawi also stated that he now regretted having advocated rapprochement between Sunnis and Shias and his 2006 defense of Hezbollah.

Arab Spring

Qaradawi declared his support for the rebels led by the National Transitional Council in the 2011 Libyan civil war, urging Arab nations to recognize them and "to confront the tyranny of the regime in Tripoli". He suggested weapons be sent to the rebels to assist them, and said "Our Islamic nation should stand against injustice and corruption and I urge the Egyptian government to extend a helping hand to Libyan people and not to Gaddafi."

In response to the 2011 Bahrain protests, Qaradawi was reluctant to give support: "The protests in Bahrain are sectarian in nature. The Shias are revolting against the Sunnis." He claimed that Shia protesters attack Sunnis and occupied their mosques. He acknowledged that the Shia majority had legitimate concerns in regards to fairness with the Sunnis: "I want them to be real citizens of their country."

Qaradawi said that all Arabs should back up the protesters in the 2011 Syrian uprising, saying "Today the train of revolution has reached a station that it had to reach: The Syria station," and "It is not possible for Syria to be separated from the history of the Arab community." He declared his support for the protests against what he called Syria's "oppressive regime", claiming "atrocities" were committed by it. He called for victory against the ruling Ba'ath party and claimed the army would be the major factor in the revolt. He claimed that when he offered to mediate negotiations between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Syrian government, someone deliberately sabotaged it. Qaradawi also expressed his support for the No Fly zone put in place by western nations over Libya, saying "The operation in Libya is to protect the civilians from Gaddafi's tyranny" and slamming Arab League leader Amr Moussa for criticism of it.

Women, gender and other issues

Commenting on the role women played in social active issues:

Wife beating

Al-Qaradawi told ''The Guardian'' that wife beating was neither "obligatory nor desirable" but that he "accepts it as a method of last resort – though only ''lightly''". He stated on Channel 4 News that it was justifiable in certain circumstances but the "ideal was for Muslim men never to beat their wives, and if husbands wrongly beat their wives, they have the right to fight back". The British newspaper ''The Daily Telegraph'' wrote that al-Qaradawi, in his book ''The Lawful and Prohibited in Islam'', stated that wife-beating is permissible after the failure of all other means of persuasion. In such circumstances, a husband may beat his wife "lightly with his hands, avoiding her face and other sensitive areas".

Female genital mutilation (FGM)

Qaradawi said that female genital mutilation surgery is forbidden in Islam. He called for the termination and ban of "female circumcision" in some parts of the Muslim world, especially in rural Africa where most still practice it. His views were supported by Sheikhs in Al-Azhar.

Female masturbation

Qaradawi urged women to not masturbate and said that its dangerous to insert things into the vagina.

Homosexuality

On 5 June 2006, on the Al Jazeera program ''Sharia and Life'', al-Qaradawi (a regular on the program) reiterated orthodox views on homosexuality. When asked about the punishment for people who "practise liwaat (sodomy) or sihaaq (lesbian activity)", al-Qaradawi replied: "The same punishment as any sexual pervert – the same as the fornicator." (MEMRI translation). The punishment for fornication is lashing.

In an interview with ''Der Spiegel'', Qaradawi said that his attitude towards homosexuality is the same as that found in Christianity. In the interview he stated, "One year ago, there was a demonstration against me in London because I spoke out against homosexuality. People seem to have forgotten that it wasn't me who came up with this mindset. It's part of God's order spoken of by Moses and even mentioned by Jesus."

Rigorous scholarly debates among the Islamic School of Law (Fiqh) question whether LGBT people are defined by genetic disorders and that it may be permissible or not for those who're scientifically medically proven to be part of the LGBT category as with hermaphrodite denoting whether a person is inclined towards the naturality of female or male instinct. Same for Mukhannathun (transgender), in which there are many prophetic Hadith that allow males who have inclinations towards being female (effeminate) that occurred during the Islamic prophet Muhammad's time and that they were accepted as part of the larger community in Madinah having equal rights. Qaradawi was one of many leading Islamic scholars to weigh in on this ongoing debate.

Punishment of stoning

Al-Qaradawi called "stoning" un-Islamic for it has nothing to do with Islam at all but laws made by the religion of Judaism; Jewish Religious Laws. He said there are more than dozens of verses in the Torah that support stoning for adulterers, fornicators, LGBT people, and for many other reasons.

Honor killing

Al-Qaradawi said that honor killing is a tradition that was carried out thousands of years ago by ancient civilization; the Romans, the Dark Ages, Chinese Emperors, etc. He said it has nothing to do with Islam; neither Qur'an nor Sunnah (Prophetic Hadith). He called on those who do it to be punished with death for their crime; a life for a life.

Mawlid (Muhammad's birthday)

Al-Qaradawi fully supported and advocated Mawlid. He said that to use the birth date of Muhammad in remembrance of his life story is not bid'ah. In fact, it is encouraged in Islam to do good action (Man Sanna Sunnatun Hassanah) based on a Sahih Hadith. And that Allah (God) himself has said in Al-Qur'an, Chapter 21, Verse 107:

Al-Qaradawi explained that Allah (God) is talking about Muhammad's miracle birth as the verse mentions "sent you". In other words, his presence, his birth, his coming. A "mercy" (rahmah) to the worlds. Means mercy to all mankind. It means everything; all of his creations (all creatures).

It's in this Sahih Hadith that Sheikh Prof. Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi emphasizes that ''good innovative actions'' are strongly encouraged as long as it doesn't go against the Sharia. What more involving religion itself than worldly good deeds like holding an old person's hand while crossing the road guiding him/her to safety and many more. It's encouraging for both. He said these are the true meaning and emphasis of Islam, to be the religion of mercy (rahmah) and to do more good than just good so that others may lead by our good examples and that they may successively follows them till the End of Time.

Niqab

Al-Qaradawi said that niqab (veil) is not obligatory in Islam. He pointed out that a woman's face is not an awrah. He called those who don the niqabs as following tradition and culture before Islam came to Arabia. Those people, be it male or female at that time, had to cover their faces from the dusty desert and from inhaling dust especially during sandstorms. Al-Azhar's Grand Imam, also an Egyptian Grand Mufti Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, have also pointed out that niqab has nothing to do with Islam.

Organ transplantation

At the same time Qaradawi issued a fatwa (edict) that organ transplantation from a living person to a living person is permissible in Islam but through donation as donation is considered charity. As for a dead person, only when the brain stops, the transplantation can then be carried out.

Other views

;Mecca Time
In April 2008, at a conference in Qatar titled "Mecca: the Center of the Earth, Theory and Practice", al-Qaradawi advocated the implementation of Mecca Time to replace the Greenwich Meridian as the basis of the world time zone system.

;Muhammed cartoon controversy
Al-Qaradawi called for a "Day of Anger" over the cartoons, but condemned violent actions in response to them.

;Amman Message
Al-Qaradawi was one of the Ulama signatories of the Amman Message

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