December 25, 2014 Cairo — Media office of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) said on Wednesday that Qatar-based influential cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi is performing his work normally at his office in Qatar in good health and freedom.
The office also denied media reports affirming that Qatar handed over al-Qaradawi to Egypt. It urged all media outlets to carefully examine news about the IUMS or al-Qaradawi, and obtain their information from the official websites and pages of the IUMS.
On December 15, a number of Muslim clerics critcised the issuance of an Interpol arrest warrant against al-Qaradawi, who voices support for the Muslim Brotherhood and remains critical of Egypt’s current regime under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) was launched on July 11, 2004 in conjunction with a visit by Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi to London for a meeting of the European Council for Fatwa and Research. Qaradawi is the IUMS President while many prominent individuals tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood and/or Hamas serve as IUMS Trustees. The GMBDW reported in December 2014 that the IUMS was being being expelled from an international Islamic council, likely the Cairo-based International Islamic Council for Da’wa and Relief, (IICDR), an umbrella group for 86 Islamic organizations many of which known for being associated with the Global Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas fundraising, or support for Al Qaeda.
The GMBDW was the first Western media to report on the INTERPOL Red Notice issued for Qaradawi.
