Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi has given a sermon in which he repeats the charge that Israel is attempting to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Qaradawi also repeats the inaccurate description of the 1969 arson attack on the mosque as being carried out by a “Jew from Australia.” According to the sermon:
The 40th anniversary of burning the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been observed recently. When a Jew came from Australia to set Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire and burned part of Salah-al-Din pulpit, the entire Islamic ummah raged from the farthest east to the farthest west just because part of Salah-al-Din pulpit was burned, and, for the first time, they forced Muslim leaders to convene in Morocco to discuss what happened in Al-Aqsa Mosque. Forty years later, and after the Organization of Muslim Scholars was established at the first summit meeting held for the sake of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem, now, the Al-Aqsa Mosque is in danger from [Israeli] excavations from beneath and attacks from above. Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem come under attack every day as part of the continuous series of aggression against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. For this reason, the Al-Quds International Foundation, along with many other societies concerned with the affairs of Jerusalem, was established to address this issue.
As discussed in a post from yesterday, the fire in question was actually set by a mentally-ill Christian tourist from Australia who thought it would help him become “king over Jerusalem and Judea.” This post also discussed similar charges about Israel by the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), the European umbrella group for the Muslim Brotherhood in which Qaradawi is an important leader.
Qaradawi goes on in his sermon to complain that Muslims are not doing anything to protest Israeli actions with respect to the Palestinians:
He goes on to say that “the Zionists are doing their utmost to displace these [Palestinians] from their homes, put pressure on them, and do not allow them to build new houses. People who have been living in their houses for a hundred years or longer, their families must have grown larger and they must have grandsons now. Yet, the Zionist authorities do not allow them to enlarge their houses. They even force families, both Muslim and Christian ones, to leave their houses. It is surprising to see that the indigenous people do not have freedom in their own country, while those [Jews] who came from Russia and the rest of the world are now controlling them. The thing is that we, Muslims, are watching this without doing anything. We talk too much, but we do not match words with deeds. There are only 14 million Jews around the world, while we have about 1.5 billion Muslims. What have we done about this? We do not even stage strong protests. We do not shout loudly; we only whisper. Where is the Arab and Islamic ummah? Where are the free people of the world? Where are civil society organizations? All of these are requested to act strongly. Al-Quds International Foundation, of which I am honoured to be the chairman of the board of trustees, has scores of projects, including health, educational, cultural, social, and construction projects. All of these projects need tens of millions to support these brothers and help them to remain steadfast. Why does not the ummah adopt these projects?
In fact, as discussed in earlier posts, the global Muslim Brotherhood has orchestrated a worldwide campaign to protest Israeli actions in Gaza for example.
Qaradawi concludes his sermon by calling for “different types of jihad” directed against Israel:
The ummah has the potential, and I can see that many young people have a thirst for jihad. We need different types of jihad. Jihad is not only against one’s self or with weapon, but also with money and words, and by incitement and boycotting enemies.” Al-Qaradawi goes on to say: “We should provide our brothers with the obligatory Zakat, voluntary charity, the proceeds of endowments, the wills of the dead, and even from suspicious or illegal gains ssuch as bank interests. Some people have tens or hundreds of millions in banks abroad. Instead of leaving these interests, they should take them to serve Islamic bodies, particularly our brothers in Jerusalem, Gaza, and Palestine in general. They deserve all of this; they deserve to be given the Zakat money in different ways. They are the poor, needy, and those in debt and who perform jihad for God’s sake. I urge all Muslims across the world to support their brothers and act as strong believers, and not to let them down.”Al-Qaradawi concludes his remarks by saying: “May God support our brothers in Jerusalem, Palestine, and Gaza in their fight against their enemies, and to support the weak everywhere against the aggressors and tyrants.”
Qaradawi is known to be a leader of a charity coalition known as the Union of Good, described in a NEFA Foundation report as:
The Union of Good is a coalition of Islamic charities that provides financial support to both the Hamas “social” infrastructure, as well as its terrorist activities. It is headed by global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi, and most of the trustees and member organizations are associated with the global Muslim Brotherhood. The Union of Good was banned by Israel in 2002 and was recently designated a terrorist entity by the United States, although neither Youssef Qaradawi nor any of the Trustees were similarly designated. Despite the fact that action has been taken against some of its member organizations in Europe, many of its other European member organizations continue to operate. Further, the Union of Good itself does not appear to be under investigation in Europe.
Numerous previous posts have discussed the Union of Good and its affiliated organizations.
Youssef Qaradawi is often referred to here as the most important leader of the global Muslim Brotherhood, an acknowledgement of his role as the de facto spiritual leader of the movement. In 2004, Qaradawi turned down the offer to lead the Egyptian Brotherhood after the death of the Supreme Guide. Based in Qatar, Sheikh Qaradawi has reportedly amassed substantial wealth through his role as Shari’ah adviser to many important Islamic banks and funds. He is also considered to be the “spiritual guide” for Hamas and his fatwas in support of suicide bombings against Israeli citizens were instrumental in the development of the phenomenon.
(Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East – Political August 31, 2009 Monday Cleric Al-Qaradawi urges “different types of jihad” in support of Palestinians Source: Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 1906 gmt 31 Aug 09)