Youssef Qaradawi, the most important leader of the global Muslim Brotherhood, appears to have issued a veiled warning about Arab investment in the U.S. During an interview on Al Jazeera, Qaradawi’s remarks were described as follows:
Uthman also notes that investors seek to guarantee their money by investing in western countries because some Arab countries are unstable. Al-Qaradawi wonders whether they can guarantee their money in these countries, giving the Iranian revolution as an example of the loss of investments when the United States froze the Iranian assets there. He states that: “stability in Arab countries might be achieved through Arab financial contributions to investment, particularly since instability causes investors to refrain from investing their money.” He adds: “If the ummah adhered to the right course and its sons worked closely together, it will be able to establish stability where investment capital will be guaranteed,” reiterating that Arab investors then will find better financial security in the Arab countries than in any other places.
Qaradawi has in the past identified what he calls “a jihad with money” and serves on the Sharia boards of important MIddle East financial institutions such as the Qatar Islamic Bank.
(Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East – Political March 24, 2008 Monday Al-Jazeera interviews Muslim scholar Al-Qaradawi on Islam and food security Source: Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 1905 gmt 16 Mar 08)