Britain’s refusal of visa to cleric sparks anger in Muslim world

BBC Monitoring, 20 February 2008

By Mohamed Shokry

The British government has recently refused an entry visa to prominent Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi on the grounds that he justifies terrorism. The decision, announced on 7 February, has drawn angry reactions from the Muslim world.

Egyptian-born, Qatar-based Al-Qaradawi is widely seen in the Muslim world as a symbol of moderation and advocate of inter-faith dialogue. He is the head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars. Al-Qaradawi visited the UK in 2004 and received a warm welcome from the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.

The visa refusal decision has been widely viewed by Muslims as motivated by influential lobby groups in Britain.

Decision to widen “gap” between Muslims, British people

Al-Qaradawi, who condemned the 11 September 2001 attacks on the USA, has nevertheless always described attacks carried out by Palestinians as “martyrdom operations”. Al-Qaradawi is banned from entering the USA.

“Britain does not tolerate the presence of a person like Al-Qaradawi on its soil. This is because of his extremist ideas and support of terrorist acts. His presence will cause divisions within society,” a British Home Office spokesman told the pan-Arab London-based daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat.

Some Muslim scholars have warned the British government that the decision may have a bad impact on the relations between Muslims and British people.

“The government should go back on its decision because this harms British interests and Muslims’ feelings. It will widen the gap between us and the British people,” Dr Azzam al-Tamimi, the head of the Institute of Islamic Political Thought, told the Qatar-based pan-Arab TV Al-Jazeera’s “Behind the News” programme on 7 February.

“I am afraid this decision will send the wrong message to Muslims across the world on the British society and its culture,” Muhammad Abd-al-Bari, chief of the Muslim Council of Britain, commented following the decision.

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DOHA — While supporters of Qatar-based Islamic scholar Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi have announced to protest in front of the British embassy this afternoon, a senior official of the embassy said here yesterday that the mission is welcoming any “peaceful protest”.

The protest plan follows the recent denial of entry visa for Qaradawi to the UK. “We recognize people’s right to protest peacefully and we have no problem about that,” Roddy Drummond, Head of Mission told the press yesterday.

Asked why Qaradawi was denied the visa, he said, “It was a decision by the British government and the reason was conveyed to Qaradawi.”

“We will inform our government about the demonstration but we can’t say whether it would make any change in their decision,” he added.

The official said the embassy had no security concerns arising from the demonstration plan. “We believe it will be a peaceful protest and we have full trust on the Qatari law enforcing authorities,” said Drummond, adding that the mission had not requested any special security arrangements.

The Peninsula, 20 February 2008

DOHA – Supporters of Qatar-based Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi staged a sit-in outside the British embassy in Doha on Wednesday to protest at London’s denial of a visa to the controversial cleric.

“Mr Brown: Why are you rejecting tolerance and dialogue?” read one of the banners raised by the protesters, who numbered around 400, referring to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Lawyer Najib al-Nuaimi, a former Qatari justice minister acting as Qaradawi’s representative in the affair, handed the deputy head of the British mission, Claire Evans, a letter of protest. The letter demands that the British government reconsider its “unfair and illegal” decision to deny Qaradawi a visa, Nuaimi said.

Qatari Muslim preacher Sheikh Mohieddin al-Qaradaghi told reporters that Britain had taken an “unfair decision” against a “symbol of centrism in Islam,” and this would “benefit extremists from both sides”.

Middle East Online, 20 February 2008

The banning of a “preacher of hate” raises far more problems than it solves, writes Abdul-Rehman Malik.

Index on Censorship, 14 February 2008

“Last week, as the archbishop’s sharia storm raged, Gordon Brown banned the leading Islamic cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi from the country. The pretext given was his support for Palestinian suicide attacks during the intifada. But the 81-year-old scholar has been to Britain several times since then – in fact he was encouraged to come by the government after the Iraq invasion because of his opposition to al-Qaida.

“The real reason for the ban, apart from the competition to appear tough on terror, is his links with the Muslim Brotherhood, the most influential Islamist organisation in the Arab world – but also a particular target for liberal hawks and neoconservatives. They have played a key role in convincing the government to end its engagement with mainstream Islamist groups and sponsor more pliant Muslim bodies.

“One man who thinks that’s not just bad for community relations but actually a threat to Britain’s security, is Detective Inspector Bob Lambert, who retired six weeks ago as head of the Metropolitan police special branch’s Muslim Contact Unit. With more than a quarter century at the sharp end of counter-terrorism operations, Lambert is scarcely a bleeding-heart liberal. But he has been unable to speak out publicly until now and is deeply frustrated by the Qaradawi ban. ‘Qaradawi is clearly useful in countering al-Qaida propaganda’, Lambert told me this week. ‘He is held in high esteem: how can we think meaningfully about enlisting credible Muslim community support against al-Qaida if we’re not prepared to engage constructively with the likes of Qaradawi?’

“Lambert also highlights the importance of Islamic activists’ cooperation with the anti-war movement and radical MPs such as Jeremy Corbyn and George Galloway in offering Muslim youth a way to channel their political grievances into peaceful political action. This isn’t about ‘political correctness or deference to Islamist thinking’, he insists, ‘it’s a genuine issue of London’s safety’. Groups now promoted by the government, such as the Sufi Muslim Council, may have their role, but from the perspective of countering terrorism they have ‘neither religious nor political credibility. Let’s be clear who it is that can keep London safe in the runup to the Olympic games’.”

Seumas Milne in the Guardian, 14 February 2008

For the FCO’s 2005 briefing on Qaradawi, which echoes Bob Lambert’s view, see (pdf) here

LONDON — British Muslims reacted Thursday, February 7, with dismay to the government’s decision to deny prominent Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi a medical visa, insisting he is no hate preacher but rather a moderation icon.

“Yusuf Al Qaradawi enjoys unparalleled respect and influence throughout the Muslim world,” said Mohammad Abdul Bari, Secretary General of the umbrella Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). “I am afraid this decision will send the wrong message to Muslims everywhere about the state of British society and culture.”

The British Muslim Initiative (BMI) lauded Qaradawi, chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research and a trustee of the Oxford University Center for Islamic Studies, as an “eminent” scholar. It regretted the government’s decision as “an unwarranted insult” to Britain’s two million Muslims. “The negative impact of this ban is no less than that of banning the Pope from entering any of the Muslim countries,” said Mohammad Sawalha, BMI president. “We would have to go as far back as the medieval age when scholars were hounded and vilified in order to find a similar retrograde decision.”

Faisal Hanjra, spokesman of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies in the UK and Ireland (FOSIS), believes the government made a wrong decision. “Dr Qaradawi is a respected mainstream scholar, well known for denouncing terrorism and related activities,” he said. “We shouldn’t let personal prejudices get in the way of allowing a respected individual seeking the best medical treatment.”

The British Muslim leaders regretted that Prime Minister Gordon has caved in to pressure from David Cameron, the leader of the opposition Conservative party. “After one year of indecision the Labour Government has finally succumbed to neo-conservative pressure,” said Sawalha, the BMI president. “It is regrettable that the government has finally given way to these unreasonable demands spearheaded by the Tory leader whose government had in fact allowed Dr Qaradawi to visit the UK five times between 1995-97,” said MCB leader Bari.

Islam Online, 10 February 2008

See also the letter from Ubaid-ur Rehman, secretary of the LGBT Muslim support group Imaan, in the Guardian, 11 February 2008