OnIslam, an Islamic news portal associated with Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi, has translated Qaradawi’s sermon given to a large crowd in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in February. According to the translation, Qaradawi made the following remarks which can only be interpreted as urging support of Hamas in Gaza:
Now, a message to our brothers in Palestine. Myself, I have the hope that God, Glorified and Exalted is He, just as He has cooled my eyes with the victory of Egypt, will cool my eyes with the opening (fath) of al-Aqsa Mosque and will make it possible for me to preach in al-Aqsa Mosque. O God, make it possible for us to preach in al-Aqsa Mosque and to enter al-Aqsa Mosque safely, without fear or dread! O God, make for us a reality of this manifest opening! O children of Palestine, be confident that you will be helped to win! The Rafah crossing will be open for you. I demand this from the Egyptian army, from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces: “Open the Rafah crossing! Open that which stands between us and our brothers! Gaza is part of Egypt and Egypt is part of Gaza. Egypt must be a support, an armor, a fortress. For Egypt which has fought four wars for Palestine, it is not proper to block the road. The crossings that are in our hands must necessarily be open, especially the Rafah crossing. We should open it to the convoys that used to be prevented from giving succour to our brothers.” This is what I demand from our dear, brave and noble army. [From
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. Qaradawi recently reiterated his support for suicide bombing in Israel and expressed his desire to die as a martyr “at the hands of a non-Muslim.”