Gulf media is reporting that Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi late last month accused the Egyptian government of being behind the recent bombings of government security offices in the Egyptian city of Mansoura. According to a report in the Peninsula, Qaradawi also condemned the December decision by the Egyptian government to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization:
December 29, 2013 DOHA: Noted Qatar-based Islamic scholar Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi said that the security agency of the military-led government in Egypt was behind the bombings that ripped through the Daqahliya Security Directorate building in the Egyptian city of Mansoura last Tuesday.
‘Mansoura bombing was plotted by the security agency and carried out by some of its elements, not by the Muslim Brotherhood,’ said the scholar in his Friday sermon at Omar bin Khatab mosque.
He denounced the decision to ban the Brotherhood and put it in the list of terrorist outfits. This decision will lead to shutting down of 1,055 Islamic charity organisations including several Holy Quran centres, orphan care centres and those providing medical services to (poor people) suffering from chronic diseases.
If these organisations cater to one million families in Egypt and each family comprises an average five members, the decision is going to deprive more than five million people from humanitarian services, added the scholar.
Qaradawi denounced the killing of innocent people in Egypt whether they are Muslims or Christians and warned against turning Egypt into a hotbed for terrorist operations claiming the lives of innocent people.
‘We denounce all explosions and car-bombs taking place in the country… Egypt should not be a place for such acts,’ said Al Qaradawi.
Read the rest here.
The GMBDW reported last week on the Egyptian designation of the Brotherhood. The GMDW also reported this week that the US has designated an associate of Qaradawi as an Al Qaeda financier.
Youssef Qaradawi is the most important leader of the Global Muslim Brotherhood and is the de facto spiritual leader of the movement. He is also considered to be the “spiritual guide” for Hamas and his fatwas in support of suicide bombings against Israeli citizens were utilized by Hamas to justify their operations. In 2004, Qaradawi turned down the offer to head he Egyptian Brotherhood after the death of the Supreme Guide and now denies that he has any relationship with the Egyptian Brotherhood. He is based in Qatar and has said the Qatari Emir has protected from being designated as a terrorist by the U.S. He has also reportedly amassed substantial wealth by serving as the Shari’ah adviser to many important Islamic banks and funds. Qaradawi is the head of the Union of Good (UOG), a worldwide coalition of charities helping to raise funds for Hamas and is the leader of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), the theological body of the European Muslim Brotherhood. MEMRI has produced two video compilations of Qaradawi’s extremist statements. The first collection contains Qaradawi’s statements about Europe and the US as well as about Israel and Jews. The second collection contains various statements by Qaradawi on social issues such as discussing the killing of homosexuals and stating that beating is “suitable” for some wives. Qaradawi been banned from entering the US since 1999 and UK since 2008. Last year, authorities also refused him entry into France. Last September, the GMBDW reported that Egypt’s chief prosecutor had issued an arrest warrant for Qaradawi who was accused of inciting the killing of Egyptian security forces and meddling in the country’s affairs. The same report also noted that Qaradawi was asked to leave Kuwait as a result of were been described as “divisive remarks he has made inciting violence and bloodshed.
For a more extensive profile of Youssef Qaradawi, go here.