MEMRI, an Israeli NGO specializing in translating Arabic media, has reported on this year’s annual Ramadan conference sponsored by the Qatari Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs. According to the report, the conference held virtually featured participants with extremist views most notably Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi:
Since 2014, Qatar’s Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs has been holding an annual Ramadan conference titled “And Made Them Safe from Fear” (a phrase from Quran 106:4). Attended by the Qatari Endowments Minister and by clerics and prominent figures from across the Muslim world, the conference addresses the current situation of the Islamic nation and the challenges it faces. Although its website states that its goal is “to renew [the glory]of the Islamic nation with living and moderate voices” and “to serve as a platform… for making a real contribution to the fight against zealotry and extremism,” [1] the conference is regularly attended by clerics and politicians known for their extremist positions and support of terrorism.This year’s conference was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. Its first session, on May 17, dealt with Islamic jurisprudence amid the pandemic, and its second session, on May 18, was devoted to coexistence between Islam and other religions.[2] Another seminar held as part of the conference on June 10, was titled “Jerusalem Is an [Islamic] Trust.”[3] The most prominent cleric to attend this year’s conference was Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradawi, founder of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) and a major ideologue of the Muslim Brotherhood, known for his extremist and jihadi views, who even spoke in the past in favor of suicide operations.[4] The conference was also attended by other clerics (some of them IUMS members) from various Muslim countries known for their radical views. One was Egyptian sheikh Muhammad Yusri Ibrahim, who was minister of endowments in Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood government under Muhammad Mursi and has written about the “benefits” of 9/11. Another was Indian sheikh Salman Al-Nadwi, who in 2014 congratulated the late leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, upon his appointment as Caliph.
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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. Until recently, Qaradawi was the IUMS President while many prominent individuals tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood and/or Hamas have served as IUMS Trustees