Using language similar to a recent Hamas statement, Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi has said that “the Al-Aqsa Mosque is a red-line” for Muslims. According to ask Iranian news agency report:
2012/02/21 In a press release issued on Monday by Al-Quds international foundation, Sheikh Qaradawi stressed that the Aqsa Mosque is a red line and the Muslims would not stand idly if the Jews repeated their attacks on the Mosque. He urged the Palestinians in their occupied land and the Arab peoples in neighboring countries, Egypt, Jordan and Syria, to rise up in defense of the Aqsa Mosque and liberate it from the Jewish occupation.”
A previous post discussed a Hamas statement that “any tampering with the Al-Aqsa mosque” would be a declaration of war on all Arabs and Muslims, also describing Al-Aqsa as a “red line.”
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.