The Al-Qaradawi controversy …
I’m sure nobody in the UK missed the controversy yesterday over Shaikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi who is currently in London to attend a number of meetings including with the Muslim Association of Britain and one in which the Mayor of London is to be present. The issue was whipped up by the tabloid press, notably the Scum who led with the headline “The Evil Has Landed”. The actual report was on page 2, as usual with political stories, right next to the topless bimbo on page 3.
One quote in particular stuck out, which is the shaikh’s alleged statement that the beheading of Nick Berg “has to be put in its proper context”. This is an obvious selective quote, because one presumes that the shaikh then elaborated on the context without saying that it was acceptable, and this bit of course is left out of the story. This suggests the involvement of MEMRI or people with similar aims in this controversy. (MEMRI are a Jewish-run organisation which issues distorted news reports about the Middle East. You can read a debate between the Guardian’s Middle East Editor, Brian Whitaker, and MEMRI’s president, here.)
The main reason for people objecting to his coming here was his approval of suicide bombings and the rhetoric he has used in the past. The fact is that Palestinian suicide bombings have wide acceptance in the Arab world and elsewhere, and not just among Wahhabis or people with extreme political views. There are also those who disagree with the practice, but the debate is about the suicide aspect of it and not about the legitimacy of fighting the Israelis who stole and occupied Muslim lands. There are some who talk of a two-state solution, but this is from a practical point of view, and certainly does not reflect acceptance of Israel’s legitimacy. He also condemned the 9/11 suicide attacks, which were vastly different types of attacks in wholly different circumstances. (I should add that in many aspects of personal law, the shaikh is widely regarded as being too permissive.)
As for his comments on men hitting their wives, we all know that western society claims to despise men who hit women, but it permits both to slap small children if the “need” arises (such as when a child uses a swear word they have heard on numerous occasions from their parents), and it forces children into bully-infested schools. Women are required to obey their husbands in Islam, and men have the right to discipline them if they don’t, but are not allowed to slap their faces or do any damage. Islam certainly does not allow the gratuitous beating up of wives, or anyone else.
