In a recent interview, Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi expressed the wish that he ends his life by meeting “martyred” by a non-Muslim and says that he has been threatened publicly by “the Jews”. The following is the relevant excerpt from the interview:
[Al-Salih] How do you describe yourself?
[Al-Qaradawi] I am one of the soldiers of Islam. I am a soldier of God Almighty fighting with knowledge, work, and call for God. I wish to conclude my life by martyrdom for the sake of God. We have a well-known prayer: “O God, we beseech you to grant us happy life, martyr’s death, winning in judgment, and victory over the enemies.” Praise be to God, we are happy with our belief, and I wish that God concludes my life with martyrdom, and that my martyrdom be at the hand of a non-Muslim.
[Al-Salih] Do you suspect that one day your martyrdom will be at the hand of a Muslim?
[Al-Qaradawi] This might happen by a crazy person.
[Al-Salih] Have you ever been threatened?
[Al-Qaradawi] Only the Jews have threatened me publicly. I have not been threatened by a Muslim. However, it is not excluded that someone affiliated to the extremist groups would come and want to get rid of me
Qaradawi, a virulent anti-Semite 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. A recent post has discussed a video compilation of Qaradawi’s extremist statements.
(BBC Monitoring Middle East – Political December 24, 2010 Friday Qatar-based cleric Al-Qaradawi says Salafism “is no longer a single school” Text of report by Saudi-owned leading pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat website on 22 December [Interview with Cleric Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, by Huda al-Salih, place not given: “Al-Qaradawi: I Call for Making Sufism into Salafi, and Making Salafi into Sufi”]