Egyptian-born Qatari imam (1926–2022)
Yusuf al-Qaradawi (; 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. His influences included Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim, Sayyid Rashid Rida, Hassan al-Banna, Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi, Abul A'la Maududi and Naeem Siddiqui. 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. He was also known for IslamOnline, a website he helped for establishment in 1997 and for which he served as chief religious scholar.
Al-Qaradawi published more than 120 books, 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, and was considered one of the most influential Islamic scholars living. Al-Qaradawi had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian political organization, although he repeatedly stated that he was no longer a member and twice (in 1976 and 2004) turned down offers for the official role in the organization.
Al-Qaradawi was sometimes described as a "moderate Islamist". Some of his views, such as his condoning of Palestinian suicide bombings against Israelis, caused reactions from governments in the West: he was refused an entry visa to the United Kingdom in 2008, and barred from entering France in 2012.
Biography.
In Egypt.
Al-Qaradawi was born on 9 September 1926 in Saft Turab rural village in the Nile Delta, now in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt, into a poor family of devout Muslim peasants. He became an orphan at the age of two, when he lost his father. Following his father's death, he was raised by his mother and uncle. He read and memorized the entire Quran before he was ten years old.
He then joined the Institute of Religious Studies at Tanta, and graduated after nine years of study. While in Tanta, Al-Qaradawi first encountered Hassan al Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, when al Banna gave a lecture at his school. Al-Qaradawi wrote of the lasting impact of this encounter, describing al Banna as "brilliantly radiating, as if his words were revelation or live coals from the light of prophecy."
After graduating from the Institute of Religious Studies he moved on to study Islamic Theology at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, from which he graduated in 1953. He earned a diploma in Arabic Language and Literature in 1958 at the Advanced Arabic Studies Institute. He enrolled in the graduate program in the Department of Quran and Sunnah Sciences of the Faculty of Religion's Fundamentals (Usul al-Din), and graduated with a master's degree in Quranic studies in 1960. In 1962, he was sent by Al-Azhar University to Qatar to head the Qatari Secondary Institute of Religious Studies. He completed his PhD thesis titled "Zakah and its effect on solving social problems" in 1973 with First Merit and was awarded his PhD degree from Al-Azhar.
His connection with the Muslim Brotherhood led to imprisonment under King Farouq in 1949, then three more times during the term of President Gamal Abdul Nasser. He left Egypt for Qatar in 1961, and did not return until the overthrow of the military regime by the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.
Based in Qatar.
In 1977, he laid the foundation for the Faculty of Shari'ah and Islamic Studies at the University of Qatar and became the faculty's dean. In the same year he founded the Centre of Seerah and Sunna Research. He also served at Egypt's Institute of Imams under the Ministry of Religious Endowments as supervisor before moving back to Doha as Dean of the Islamic Department at the Faculties of Shariah and Education in Qatar, where he continued until 1990. His next appointment was in Algeria as Chairman of the Scientific Council of Islamic University and Higher Institutions in 1990–91. He returned to Qatar once more as Director of the Seerah and Sunnah Center at Qatar University.
In 1997, Al-Qaradawi helped found the European Council for Fatwa and Research, a council of important and influential Muslim scholars dedicated to researching and writing fatwas in support of Western Muslim minority communities based in Ireland, and he served as its head. He also served as the chairman of International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS).
In the wake of the 2011 Revolution he returned to Egypt for the first time since leaving in 1961.
Al-Qaradawi was a principal shareholder and former Sharia adviser to Bank Al-Taqwa. On 2 August 2010, the bank was removed from a list of entities and individuals associated with Al Qaeda maintained by the United Nations Security Council.
Al-Qaradawi finished third in a 2008 poll on who was the world's leading public intellectual. The poll, Top 100 Public Intellectuals, was conducted among readers of "Prospect Magazine" (UK) and "Foreign Policy" (United States).
2011 return to Egypt.
After the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Qaradawi made his first public appearance in Egypt after 1981. In Tahrir Square, he led Friday prayers on 18 February, addressing an audience estimated to exceed two million Egyptians. It began with an address of "O Muslims and Copts", referring to Egypt's Coptic Christian minority instead of the customary opening for Islamic Friday sermons "O Muslims". He was reported to have said, "Egyptian people are like the genie who came out of the lamp and who have been in prison for 30 years." He also demanded the release of political prisoners in Egyptian prisons, praised the Copts for protecting Muslims in their Friday prayer, and called for the new military rulers to quickly restore civilian rule. He referred to Hosni Mubarak as "the tyrannical pharaoh". In the sermon, Qaradawi called for the immediate release of political prisoners, the dissolution of the cabinet of Mubarak loyalists, and an end to the economic blockade of Gaza.
Brookings Institution member Shadi Hamid said that Qaradawi was in the mainstream of Egyptian society, and that he also had appeal among Egyptians who are not Islamist. He described the sermon as "nonsectarian" and "broadly political". In the "Jerusalem Post", Barry Rubin wrote that although he was seen as a moderate by some in the West, he supported the straight Islamist line. Qaradawi was seen as a danger by Rubin because he was a charismatic thinker who could easily mobilise the masses. The author was concerned that Qaradawi would take over Egypt and that this would have had negative consequences for Israel.
On 21 February 2011, Qaradawi issued a fatwa, which is a religious ruling, permitting the killing of Muammar Gaddafi. This was in response to Gaddafi's plans to kill protesters in Libya. He also called on Libyan ambassadors around the world to distance themselves from Gaddafi's government.
Death.
On the afternoon of 26 September 2022, Qaradawi died in Qatar at the age of 96. After a funeral service attended by thousands of people including the deputy emir of Qatar Abdullah bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and other Qatari and foreign officials at Imam Mohammed bin Abdul Wahab Mosque, Qardawi was buried at Mesaimeer Cemetery in Doha.
Views and statements.
Religious and sectarian views.
Extremism.
Al-Qaradawi wrote on the danger of extremist groups of Islam, in his dissertation on the subject "Islamic Awakening between Rejection and Extremism". This dissertation discusses the phenomenon of religious extremism among Muslim youth. He discusses the reasons why young Muslims may resort to extremism, and argues that many of these reasons are due to the hypocrisy and self-contradictions of older Muslims. He advised that the only way to rectify the situation is for older Muslims to reform themselves and their societies according to the actual teachings of Islam.
In 2014, Qaradawi stated that the declaration of an Islamic caliphate by the militant Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) violates sharia law. Qaradawi said in a statement that the declaration "is void under sharia". This statement comes after ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called on Muslims with military, medical and managerial skills to flock to its newly-declared pan-Islamic state.
Sufism.
Al-Qaradawi was an avid caller to what he calls "Islamic Sufism", praising those who practice it as pious.
Shi'as.
Qaradawi accused the Shi'ites of invading Sunni societies, and criticized some aspects of the Shi'i doctrine. He described them as "heretics" and said that Sunni leaders in the region have voiced concern about a Shiite resurgence.
Qaradawi's statements about the Shia sect of Islam have caused controversy and outrage among Shia leaders. His comments are seen as divisive and legitimising anti-Shia rhetoric. The reactions to his statements are politically motivated and could lead to a sectarian conflict.
The Iranian reaction to Qaradawi was particularly intense, with some Iranian officials apologising for the personal attack by Iranian Mehr News Agency, in which before this they described Qaradawi as "a spokesman for international Freemasonry and rabbis". Qaradawi argues that he was moved by indications of growing Shi'itization in Egypt and by the lack of awareness on the part of Sunnis and their ulama of that danger.
In May 2013, al-Qaradawi verbally attacked the Alawite sect, which many describe as an offshoot of Shia Islam and of which President Bashar al-Assad is a member, as "more infidel than Christians and Jews" (أكفر من اليهود والنصارى).
Non-Muslims.
Qaradawi wrote that Islam does not prohibit Muslims from being kind and generous to people of other religions. However, Islam looks upon the People of the Book, that is, Jews and Christians, with special regard. He suggested that in having dialogue with the Jews and Christians, Muslims should avoid such approaches that may cause bitterness or arouse hostility.
According to Qaradawi, the verses in the Quran that tell Muslims to break ties with Jews and Christians (Al-Maidah 5:54-55) refer to those people who were hostile to Islam and waged war against Muslims. This means that Muslims are not allowed to help or be friends with people who are hostile towards Islam, even if it means going against their own interests.
In his book titled "The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam", al-Qaradawi wrote, "Islam does not prohibit Muslims to be kind and generous to peoples of other religions, even if they are idolaters and polytheists, ... it looks upon the People of the Book, that is, Jews and Christians, with special regard, whether they reside in a Muslim society or outside it. The Qur'an never addresses them without saying, 'O People of the Book' or 'O You who have been given the Book', indicating that they were originally people of a revealed religion. For this reason there exists a relationship of mercy and spiritual kinship between them and the Muslims."
Jews.
In August 2005, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Dublin-based European Council for Fatwa and Research, of which al-Qaradawi was president, had used the antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion in its theological deliberations. Al-Qaradawi's remarks were sharply criticized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which accused him of inciting violence against Jews.
In a 9 January 2009 sermon during the Gaza War, shown on Al-Jazeera, Qaradawi prayed for Allah to take revenge on the "enemies of Islam", specifically the Jews, whom he described as treacherous, aggressors who have spread much tyranny and corruption. He asked Allah to annihilate them completely, without sparing any of them.
In his Friday sermon broadcast on "Qatar TV" on 26 April 2013, Qaradawi announced that he would not participate in next year's interfaith dialogue if Jews were invited, stating that there should be no debate with those who have committed injustice. He cited a verse from the Quran which says that there should be no debate with the People of the Book except in a way that is best, and went on to say that the Jews have committed great injustice and that "their hands are soiled with blood".
Qaradawi's statements were described as incitement to genocide in a "Jewish Political Studies Review" article, which connected his belief in Jewish conspiracies to the appeals to violence against them. Qaradawi asserted that Hitler meted out divinely sanctioned punishment to the Jews and called for Muslims to impose a similar punishment, calling openly for genocide. His appeals for genocide were coupled with paranoid conspiracy thinking that identifies the Jews as the greatest enemies of Islam; alleging a Jewish plot to take over the entire Middle East, including Mecca and Medina; blaming the Jews for the abolition of the Islamic Caliphate in 1924 and the spread of communism; and accusing the Jews of planning to