“The Islamic world was intellectually and economically wrecked by its decision to put religion beyond the reach of invective, which is simply an extreme form of debate. By so doing, it put science and art beyond the reach of experiment, too. Now, at the behest of Muslim foreigners who have forced themselves on us, New Labour wants to import the same catastrophe into our own society.”
Opinion article by ‘Will Cummins’ in the Sunday Telegraph, 11 July 2004
“Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, as respectful supporters address him, is a complex, international figure, whose religious pronouncements address the dilemmas confronting Muslims in the modern world. To many in the Middle East, the 77-year-old scholar is recognised more for having spoken out in condemnation of al-Qaida’s indiscriminate massacres than for supporting suicide bombers in Israel. He does not fit into the common stereotype of fundamentalist, militant preacher.”
The truth about Dr al-Qaradawi starts to get through.
The moderate Islamic jurist’s interpretations of religious texts have been wilfully misrepresented. This is an attack on all Muslims.
Sohaib Saeed of the Muslim Association of Britain defends Dr al-Qaradawi.
A government drive against religious extremism was mired in controversy last night over the presence in Britain of a fundamentalist Muslim cleric who allegedly supports suicide bombings and beating women.
On the day that David Blunkett proposed tougher laws against Islamists – and far-Right evangelical Christians – who preached hatred of other religions, the Home Office said it was not right to keep Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Qatar-based imam, out of the country on the grounds of his views alone.
However, Tory and Labour MPs said Mr Blunkett should reconsider his position and exclude the cleric.
The row overshadowed a wide-ranging speech on race and integration by the Home Secretary, in which he said extremist religious leaders undermined efforts to establish better community relations in Britain.
Welcome to get-tough Britain, Your Evilness!
By Macer Hall, Political Editor
Daily Star, 8 July 2004
JUST AS David Blunkett was pledging a crackdown on religious hatred yesterday a fanatical Muslim cleric was welcomed into Britain.
The Home Secretary promised a new law to jail extremists who incite hate and violence against other faiths. The new offence is likely to be closely modelled on the existing crime of inciting racial hatred, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment. But his crackdown was branded a “nonsense” as rabble-rouser Yusuf al-Qaradawi waltzed into Britain.
The Qatar-based sheik – who supports attacks on Jews and backs suicide bombers – is banned from the US but allowed to speak at Muslim conferences here. Al-Qaradawi was born in Egypt, like hook-handed fanatic Abu Hamza, the Finsbury Park preacher the Home Office has been trying to kick out of the country.
You’re crazy, Ken
By Trevor Kavanagh, Political Editor
The Sun, 8 July 2004
* KEN: Prosecute The Sun for saying this cleric spouts evil
* CLERIC: Suicide bombers are OK to kill Coalition troops in Iraq … they are God’s martyrs
SLIMY Ken Livingstone mounted an astonishing defence of a hardline Muslim cleric who yesterday launched a new rant backing suicide bombings. The London Mayor shared a platform with Yusuf al-Qaradawi – who The Sun yesterday exposed as a terror supporter.
Livingstone welcomed the sheik to the capital as an “honoured guest” – ignoring the cleric’s support for child suicide bombings, executing homosexuals, wife-beating and killing Jews. And he even turned on The Sun accusing US of fanning the flames of “Islamaphobia”.
He suggested we should be prosecuted – even though we have only pointed out what the cleric has been calling for. He claimed media coverage of the sheik’s visit showed a need for new laws against religious discrimination. Livingstone said: “British Muslims make an enormous contribution to the capital and this outcry in the tabloid press shows why legislation is necessary.”
Egyptian-born al-Qaradawi said he had been visiting London for 30 years and was baffled by the fuss. But last night, in a pre-recorded TV interview, the rabble-rouser called for suicide bombers to kill Allied soldiers in Iraq. And in London he spoke in support of suicide bombings by Palestinians in Israel.
“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 tells us so.”
Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch defends freedom and democracy … by attacking the BBC for interviewing Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
“On a popular Islamic website he runs, Sheik Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and his colleagues host an advice column under the jaunty title ‘Fatwa Corner’, where all manner of thorny religious dilemmas are given an airing. Questions seeking his advice range from whether it is permissible to put down a sick cat to asking for guidance on sending a teenager to a mixed summer camp.
“But other subjects upon which the ‘Agony Sheik’ sits in judgment often have a considerably more chilling edge, such as: ‘Is it lawful, under Islam, to take hostages?’ The answer, in his view, is yes. But then this is the character claiming to be a man of peace who has heaped praise on Palestinian suicide bombers, called for the execution of homosexuals and backed a war on the Jews.”
“Before the war on Iraq, the Middle East Centre for Women’s Rights warned that ‘this war will promote political Islam and will strengthen the Islamic terrorism’. They will find a fertile ground to grow, to spread their misogynist polices under the name of ‘protecting Islam’. All this, thanks to left British parties which gave them the microphone and the stage to scream ‘Allah o Akbar’ in Hyde Park. Thanks to Ken Livingstone who rewarded their voices in the mayoral elections by hosting their conferences on ‘defending the Hijab’ and promoting ‘Islamic Family Law’ in the ‘Muslim Community’.”
Another Islamophobic rant from the Worker Communist Party of Iraq.
An evil man we must ban
By James Slack, Home Affairs Correspondent
Daily Express, 7 July 2004
THE visit to Britain by a hate-filled Muslim cleric who supports wife beating and suicide bomb attacks by children should be banned, the Government was urged last night.
Extremist Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, who has defended the beheading of a Western hostage in Iraq, is already barred from visiting America. But Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has issued the Egyptian with a visa to speak at a London conference for Muslim women next Monday.
Labour MP Louise Ellman called for the trip to be blocked. She pointed to alleged links between Dr Al-Qaradawi, who is the spiritual leader of the Egyptian terror group The Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas. She said:
“It is outrageous that at a time of heightened security concerns and when the Government is clamping down on terror, somebody with close links to Hamas who has already been outlawed in the US is permitted to come to this country. He may well make inflammatory speeches inciting hatred. It will create enormous security problems at a very sensitive time.”
Dr Al-Qaradawi is based in Qatar but was born in Egypt – the same country as hook-handed cleric Abu Hamza. Al-Qaradawi insists Israeli civilians are legitimate targets for Palestinian attacks and has even encouraged women and children to become suicide bombers.