US media reported last month that Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi has called upon Saudi Arabia to stop supporting the military-led government in Egypt whom he called “far from God and Islam.” According to a Reuters report:
DOHA, Jan 28 (Reuters) – A prominent Gulf-based Muslim cleric called on Saudi Arabia to stop backing Egypt’s military-dominated authorities, accusing them of using Saudi money to kill Egyptians protesting at the overthrow in July of an elected Islamist president.
Most U.S.-aligned Gulf Arab monarchies, rattled by the rise of Islamists in the Middle East, were relieved when the Egyptian military stepped in to topple President Mohamed Mursi after mass protests against his rule.
But Youssef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born cleric based in Qatar, said the strong backing that Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, had provided military-backed Egyptian authorities which had crushed Islamist opposition since Mursi’s removal was wrong and should be withdrawn”
It’s surprising that the Saudi government gave billions of dollars to support the (anti-Mursi) coup and the coup leaders and those who are far from God and Islam,’ Qaradawi, one of the most influential Sunni Muslim clerics in the Middle East, told Reuters in an interview conducted by email.
‘The only thing that links them to their neighbouring countries is the language of interests and benefits,’ said Qaradawi, who heads the International Association of Muslim Scholars, a grouping close to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Qaradawi said the Egyptian military, led by Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who is now expected to run in Egypt’s pending presidental election and win it, was using Saudi funds to ‘kill innocent Egyptians’ instead of helping the poor.
‘I call upon the people of Saudi Arabia and on the Saudi regime to stand with the Egyptian people against the murders and executioners, to stand with the right against wrong, to stand with the slain against the killer, to stand with the oppressed against the oppressors,’ he said.
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The GMDW has been reporting recently on Qaradawi’s clash with UAE saying that the country was “against Islamic rule.” The GMBDW reported least week that Egypt is seeing his extradition in connection with a mass jailbreak during 2011.
Youssef Qaradawi is the most important leader of the Global Muslim Brotherhood and is the de facto spiritual leader of the movement. He is also considered to be the “spiritual guide” for Hamas and his fatwas in support of suicide bombings against Israeli citizens were utilized by Hamas to justify their operations. In 2004, Qaradawi turned down the offer to head he Egyptian Brotherhood after the death of the Supreme Guide and now denies that he has any relationship with the Egyptian Brotherhood. He is based in Qatar and has said the Qatari Emir has protected from being designated as a terrorist by the U.S. He has also reportedly amassed substantial wealth by serving as the Shari’ah adviser to many important Islamic banks and funds. Qaradawi is the head of the Union of Good (UOG), a worldwide coalition of charities helping to raise funds for Hamas and is the leader of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), the theological body of the European Muslim Brotherhood. MEMRI has produced two video compilations of Qaradawi’s extremist statements. The first collection contains Qaradawi’s statements about Europe and the US as well as about Israel and Jews. The second collection contains various statements by Qaradawi on social issues such as discussing the killing of homosexuals and stating that beating is “suitable” for some wives. Qaradawi been banned from entering the US since 1999 and UK since 2008. Last year, authorities also refused him entry into France.
For a more extensive profile of Youssef Qaradawi, go here.