Yusuf al-Qaradawi
Yusuf al-Qaradawi (Arabic: يوسف القرضاوي, romanized: Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī; or Yusuf al-Qardawi; 9 September 1926 – 26 September 2022) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.[6] His influences included Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim,[7] Sayyid Rashid Rida,[8][9] Hassan al-Banna, Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi,[10] Abul A'la Maududi and Naeem Siddiqui.[11] He was best known for his programme الشريعة والحياة, al-Sharīʿa wa al-Ḥayāh ("Sharia and Life"), broadcast on Al Jazeera, which had an estimated audience of 40–60 million worldwide.[12][13][14] He was also known for IslamOnline, a website he helped to found in 1997 and for which he served as chief religious scholar.
Yusuf al-Qaradawi
Sheikh
Modern
Fiqh al-Zakat, al-Halal wa al-Haram fi al-Islam, Fiqh al-Jihad, Fiqh al-Awlawiyyat, Fiqh al-Dawlah, Madkhal li-Ma'rifat al-Islam and others
Al-Azhar University (Cairo, Egypt)
- 1952 – Alimiyya degree, College of Usul ad-Din (Religious Fundamentals of Islam)
- 1958 – Post-Graduate Diploma in Arabic Language Studies, Institute of Advanced Studies in Arabic Language and Literature
- 1960 – Master's degree
- 1973 – Ph.D. degree, Department of Quranic Studies at the College of Usul ad-Din
King Faisal International Prize (Saudi Arabia)[3]
Prize of the Islamic University (Malaysia)
International Holy Quran Award (Dubai)
the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Prize (Brunei)
Al-Owais Prize (UAE)
Medal of Independence, First Class (Jordan)
Top 10 in The 500 Most Influential Muslims (United Kingdom)[4]
Al-Qaradawi published more than 120 books,[13] including The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam and Islam: The Future Civilization. He also received eight international prizes for his contributions to Islamic scholarship,[15] and was considered one of the most influential Islamic scholars living.[12][16][17] Al-Qaradawi had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood,[18] an Egyptian political organization, although he repeatedly stated that he was no longer a member[19] and twice (in 1976 and 2004) turned down offers for the official role in the organization.[12][20]
Al-Qaradawi was sometimes described as a "moderate Islamist".[21] Some of his views, such as his condoning of Palestinian suicide bombings against Israelis, caused reactions from governments in the West:[22] he was refused an entry visa to the United Kingdom in 2008,[23] and barred from entering France in 2012.[24]
Reception in the Muslim world
Al-Qaradawi was at the forefront of contemporary Muslim thinkers and scholars. His vast contributions include more than 80 books and hundreds of articles on different Islamic issues, ranging from the fundamental principles and laws of Islam to the needs and challenges of modern Muslim societies. His knowledge, intellect, moderation and unrelenting efforts to bring Islam to a larger audience gained him the respect of millions of Muslims and non-Muslims worldwide. His television program Ash-Shariah wal-Hayat (Sharia and Life) had an estimated 700–800 million viewers worldwide.[133]
In 2012, Qaradawi traded barbs with fellow Muslim cleric Abu Abd al-Rahman Ibn Aqil al-Zahiri due to what Ibn Aqil perceived as hypocritical positions of Qaradawi during the Arab Spring,[134] a charge he denied.
Pakistani scholar, Muhammad Taqi Usmani stated, "There is no doubt that I—as the lowest student of Islamic Fiqh—with my benefitting from the books of the outstanding Dr al-Qaradāwī to a very large extent, and my supreme wonderment at the majority of [his works], have found myself, in some particular issues, not in agreement with him in the results that he has arrived at, but these sorts of differences (ikhtilāf) in views based on juristic judgement (ijtihādī) are natural, and cannot be the [sole] basis for judging [their author] so long as the people of knowledge do not deem [the bearers of such opinions] to be weak intellectually, or in religion, and [in any case] the importance of these books and their value in scholarship and da'wa are not affected by this to even the slightest, most insignificant degree."
In addition, he refers to some modern scholars by writing, "What we see today, very unfortunately, is that the one who brings forward elevated ideas in his writings and lofty theories in his speech and his sermons often does not rise above the level of the layman" but exempts Qaradawi by saying, "As for the outstanding, erudite scholar, Dr Yūsuf al-Qaradāwī, may God (Most High) preserve him, God (Most High) has indeed made me fortunate enough to accompany him in travels and in residence, and sit with him and closely associate with him in long and repeated meetings. [From this] I found him manifest in his personality exemplary Islamic qualities, for he is a human being before he is a Muslim, and a devoted Muslim before he is a caller to Islam (dā'i), and a caller to Islam before he is a scholar and jurist."[135]
The Doğu Türkistan Bülteni Haber Ajansı, which supports the Turkistan Islamic Party, attacked al-Qaradawi and called his creed "perverted" and claimed that he was followed by "democratic polytheists".[136] Qaradawi was attacked by Hani Al-Siba'i.[137]
Controversy
On Syria and Russia
Qaradawi stated that Russia was an "enemy of Islam" due to the country's military relations with the Syrian regime.[138]
His remarks drew harsh criticism from Muslims in Russia. According to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, "Qaradawi's statements had given rise to amazement among the Muslims of Russia." Kadyrov asserted that Qaradawi's statements were mainly "directed against the Muslims of Russia, who are citizens of this country, were born here and live here, and who care about their country".[139]
Kadyrov claimed that "It is not Russia that is supplying weapons and money for the thousands of mercenaries from all over the world who have flooded Syria and are committing daily terrorist attacks, in which the blood of women, old people and children is shed."[139]
Entry into western countries
Al-Qaradawi was banned from entering the United States since 1999 and the United Kingdom since 2008,[23] though he visited London in 2004.[140] The lobby group MEMRI said it helped play a role in the measures.[141] In July 2003, he visited Stockholm, Sweden, for a conference at the Stockholm Mosque arranged by the Muslim Association of Sweden. During the conference al-Qaradawi expressed his support for suicide attacks against Israeli civilians, calling the fight against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories a "necessary Jihad".[142] France announced in March 2012 it will not let him enter.[143]
Fatwa controversy with MEMRI
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) (citing Asharq Al-Awsat), alleges that al-Qaradawi issued a Fatwa following the Iraqi insurgency, saying,
Terrorist allegations
In October 2004, according to Saudi Arabian newspaper Arab News, based in New York and Jeddah, over 2,500 Muslim intellectuals from 23 countries signed a petition addressed to the United Nations to raise awareness on the use of religion for incitement to violence. Al-Qaradawi was mentioned among "the sheikhs of death," as the signatories defined those who manipulate religion to incite violence, for "providing a religious cover for terrorism."[148] Al-Qaradawi dismissed this charge as baseless and slanderous for his stance was that the self-proclaimed caliphate of the Islamic State was "void under sharia".[149]
Qaradawi was banned from entering the U.S. in 1999.[150] In 2008, the UK Home Office stated that al-Qaradawi was denied a visa to enter Britain for medical treatment because of fears that his preaching "could foster inter-community violence."[151][152] In March 2012, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared his decision to block the entry of extremists in the country after the Toulouse attacks, and specifically mentioned al-Qaradawi as one of those barred from entering France.[153]
Qaradawi chaired the Union of Good, a coalition of Islamic charities supporting Hamas' infrastructure, an organisation on the US State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations.[154][155] In December 2014 the International Union of Muslim Scholars led by al-Qaradawi was expelled from the Cairo-based International Islamic Council for Da'wah and Relief based on the allegation that the group mixed religion and politics and supported terrorism.
The Consortium Against Terrorist Finance reported that, in 2010, Qaradawi was listed as the chairman of the Sharia supervisory board of Qatar Islamic Bank, one of the Qatari sharia-compliant giants which allegedly had a long history of cooperation with controversial financial entities.[155] He was also a former Sharia adviser and shareholder to Bank al-Taqwa, once listed by the U.S and the UN as a terrorist financier associated with al-Qaeda but delisted in 2010.[155]
Personal life
Al-Qaradawi was born in Egypt but lived in Qatar.[6] He had three sons and four daughters,[156] three of whom hold doctorates from British Universities.[19][157] His daughter, Ilham Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, is an internationally recognized nuclear scientist.[158][159] His son, Abdulrahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi, is a poet and a political activist in Egypt.[160]
Al-Qaradawi received awards from various countries and institutions for his contributions to Islamic society. Among them are
The Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, part of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, instituted the "Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi Scholarships" in 2009, awarding them to five students each year for post-graduate studies.[166] It also named after him its newly established research centre, The Qaradawi Center for Islamic Moderation and Renewal.[167][168]
The State Merit Prize for Islamic Studies was issued to Qaradawi by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Qatar on 3 November 2009.[169]
Al-Qaradawi was a trustee of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies[170] and was named as the technical consultant for a multimillion-dollar English-language film about Mohammed, produced by Barrie Osborne.[171][172] A 2008 Foreign Policy online poll put him at No.3 in the list of the Top 20 Public Intellectuals worldwide.[173]
Yusuf al-Qaradawi wrote many books, some of which were translated into English:
Amongst his dozens of works in Arabic, we cite:
He also published some excerpts of his poetry in the book Nafahat wa Lafahat. Al-Qaradawi was also the subject of the book The Global Mufti: The Phenomenon of Yusuf al-Qaradawi published by Columbia University Press.[177] He is also profiled as one of the leading liberal voices in contemporary Islam in Charles Kurzman's book Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook, published by Oxford University Press.[178]