The death of an influential Egyptian cleric, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who had been residing in Qatar on September 26, provoked mixed reactions in Arab and Islamic countries, particularly Egypt.
Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood mourned the prominent cleric devoting his life to “serving Islam and defending his homeland.”
As for Al-Qaradawi’s critics, they said that the sheikh took anti-Egypt positions.
Thousands of social media users in Arab and Islamic countries, especially supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the prominent Sunni cleric, mourned and exchanged a popular Arab hashtag bearing the name of al-Qaradawi.
Some pro-government media and activists criticized Al-Qaradawi for his stances and some fatwas, especially those related to the use of violence.
Al-Qaradawi, who was born in Egypt, died at the age of 96.
He had obtained Qatari citizenship and is considered the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was banned in Egypt in 2013.
He was also the founder and former president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.
The Egyptian authorities arrested his daughter, Ola, and her husband in July 2017, then ordered her release in December 2021, and “investigations are still ongoing” with her on charges of joining a terrorist group.
photo released, Anadolu Agency
Qaradawi in Turkey in 2016
“Defender” and “Servant“ for Islam
Qatar’s Al-Jazeera satellite channel reported on Qaradawi’s death and interviewed several analysts who highly praised his work and religious ideas.
The channel presenter recalled his career and described him as “one of the most prominent and knowledgeable Islamic clerics in the current era.”
The Vice President of the International Union for Islamic Studies, Essam Al-Bashir, praised Al-Qaradawi, describing him as a “pioneer of moderate trends” in Islamic jurisprudence.
In its commentary, Al Jazeera indicated that he has authored more than 170 books that dealt with the Qur’an and Islamic teachings.
The Tunisian Ennahda Party expressed its grief over the death of Al-Qaradawi, saying that he is “a scholar who devoted his life to explaining the teachings of Islam and defending his homeland to emphasize the principle of moderation in this great religion.”
Abdullah al-Sharif, a pro-Muslim Brotherhood opponent, mourned al-Qaradawi in a tweet to 1.8 million users of his account, harshly criticizing “all attempts to distort and suppress” him during his lifetime.
Opposition activist Khaled al-Sarti said Sheikh al-Qaradawi died “without leaving behind a single fatwa in which the sultan was hypocritical.”
Situations “anti“ for Egypt
The private website Cairo 24 published several reports on Facebook indicating “(Al-Qaradawi’s) most hostile stances once morest Egypt because he incited the killing of soldiers.”
Another report stated that in one of his main positions he was “involved in spying for Hamas.”
photo released, Archyde.com
Magdy Khalil, an Egyptian Coptic who heads the Forum for Freedom in the Middle East, pointed out in a Facebook post that the Sunni cleric was “divided among Muslims”, with one group describing him as a well-informed scholar and moderate cleric… while another group saw the Mufti of destruction and murder in him. and suicide bombings.
Ibrahim al-Jarhi criticized al-Qaradawi for “a fatwa claiming the necessity of fighting the Egyptian army.”
Sherif Salih wondered how clerics like Al-Qaradawi, who have “deep knowledge and understanding”, fall into the trap of farcical and bloody Islamic organizations.
Muhammad Maree said that Al-Qaradawi will be held accountable before God for “what he and his terrorist group committed once morest the Arab nation by spreading conflicts and legalizing bombings, destruction and overthrowing states and societies.”
He added, “We will not forget his incitement to murder in Syria, Libya and even Egypt, and we will not forget his sermon and his call for NATO to intervene to destroy Libya.”
His upbringing, education and attitudes
Al-Qaradawi was born on September 9, 1926 in the village of Safet Turab, the center of Al-Mahalla Al-Kubra, in the Gharbia Governorate, Egypt.
He graduated from the Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion at Al-Azhar University in 1953 before continuing his postgraduate education at the university and obtaining master’s and doctoral degrees.
Al-Qaradawi worked for a period of preaching and teaching in mosques, then became supervisor of the Institute of Imams of the Ministry of Endowments in Egypt, according to his biography published on his website.
Then he was transferred to the General Administration of Islamic Culture in Al-Azhar to supervise its publications and work in the Technical Office of the Department of Call and Guidance.
In the sixties of the last century, he was seconded to the State of Qatar, where he lived and held its citizenship, where he worked as dean of its secondary religious institute, then founded and headed the Department of Islamic Studies at Qatar University, and became the founding director of the Sunnah and Biography Research Center at the same university.
Al-Qaradawi has been busy writing and authoring in addition to his advocacy work. He has authored dozens of books dealing with various aspects of Islamic culture, which intellectuals classify as persistent attempts to renew religious discourse.
In his lifetime, Al-Qaradawi raised a lot of controversy because of his supportive stances for a number of popular uprisings that the Arab region witnessed during what was known as the Arab Spring.
While some saw him as a supporter of liberation issues, another group considered him a supporter of extremist religious groups.
Al-Qaradawi had condemned the September 11 attacks and the Bali bombings, and criticized the Taliban’s destruction of the Buddha statues in Afghanistan.
He also condemned the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, and issued a fatwa that US soldiers must be resisted.
And he issued a fatwa prohibiting visiting Jerusalem while it is under occupation, a fatwa that Jerusalemites criticized, and the Palestinian Authority considered it compatible with the Israeli plan to Judaize Jerusalem, and demanded that Al-Qaradawi retract it.
Al-Qaradawi was prevented from entering the United States and Britain because of his support for suicide operations targeting Israeli soldiers, which he described as “martyrdom operations.”
His call to kill Muammar Gaddafi during the revolution that erupted once morest him in 2011 was the subject of much criticism, as many were calling for his arrest and trial.
photo released, Avalon/Getty Images
Al-Qaradawi was imprisoned in Egypt more than once due to accusations of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt classified as a banned group in several stages.
He returned to Egypt for some time in 2011, and was one of the most prominent faces of the popular uprising in January 2011, which overthrew the rule of President Hosni Mubarak, and delivered several Friday sermons in Tahrir Square in central Cairo during that period.
The Egyptian authorities accuse al-Qaradawi of being the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in Egypt since 2013, following President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, when he was head of the army, in July of that year, ousted the group’s president, Mohamed Morsi.
In 2015, the Cairo Criminal Court confirmed the death sentence once morest former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in the case known in the media as “prison storming.”
And tried in the case 129 defendants, including 27 who were arrested and 102 fugitives, including members of the Palestinian Hamas movement and the Lebanese Hezbollah. The court sentenced in absentia to the death penalty for more than 90 fugitive defendants, including Al-Qaradawi.
In the same year, the Egyptian Public Prosecution referred 38 Islamists, including al-Qaradawi, to a military court, accusing them of creating armed cells that killed a police officer. Al-Qaradawi was tried in absentia.
Interpol issued an arrest warrant once morest him in 2014 at the request of Egypt, before the warrant was rescinded four years later.
Al-Qaradawi held several religious positions, most notably the presidency of the “International Union of Muslim Scholars”, which he co-founded in 2004, and Saudi Arabia and other Gulf and Arab countries put him on a list of personalities described as “terrorists”.
His presence in Qatar was one of the reasons why Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt boycotted Doha for several years.
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi issued many fatwas covering various aspects of life, some of which were controversial, and he was a regular guest on one of the religious programs of the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel.
