Brother_Mujahid
23rd February 2008, 04:48 PM
Qaradawi urges political response over cartoons
By Anwar Elshamy
Prominent Islamic scholar Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi yesterday called on Muslim countries to respond politically to the cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad, recently reprinted by Danish newspapers, and renewed his appeal to boycott Danish goods.
Addressing a congregation of Muslims at the Omar bin al-Khattab mosque at Khalifa town, Qaradawi, who is also the head of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), said the leaders of the Muslim countries should openly express their protest at the offending cartoons.
"We cannot accept any kind of apology from the Danish government about the cartoons lampooning our Prophet. We do not even have the right to do that because insulting the Prophet is an unforgivable act. There should be a political protest from our politicians and leaders. They should defend their Prophet," he said.
Qaradawi also renewed his calls for Muslims to boycott Danish goods again in protest at the recent reprinting of the offensive cartoons, saying that economic boycott should be one of the several responses Muslims should make.
"I wonder how Muslims can add to the profits of people insulting our Prophet. We should give up the Danish products and stick to this boycott," he said.
However, Qaradawi urged restraint among the public over the reprinting of the cartoons, saying that protest did not necessarily mean taking to the streets and expressing public outrage.
"There are many types of protests for the public rather than demonstrating in streets. Muslims can collect millions of signatures of people and send them to these newspapers," he said.
"We should also convey the true image of Prophet Muhammad by translating his tradition into foreign language," he said and called film-makers and producers to join hands and produce films on the life of the Prophet Muhammad.
The scholar praised the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams for advocating adoption of parts of Islamic law for British Muslims.
"I appreciate the stance of the Archbishop of Canterbury. I think his call should be considered by the British authorities because it is in the interest of Britain," he said.
He described Britain's denial of a visa to him as a discriminatory act.
"I have always urged the Muslim community in Britain to adopt moderate attitudes and denounce violence and terrorism. I am not pleading for Britain to grant me the visa. It is only a human right. The denial of the visa is not justified,"¯ he said.
He also slammed the secular Turks who took to the streets in protest at the Turkish parliament vote on removing a ban on head scarf. "This is not secularism. Those who protested against the vote do not believe in secularism. They believe in dictatorship,"¯ he said.
On the situation of the interfaith dialogue, he slammed the Western countries, saying that they were still having a grudge against Islam and Muslims.
"Though Muslims are always ready for turning the page of the Western colonization, it seems the Westerners cannot forget that they were occupiers here. They always think of how to insult Muslims and their sacred symbols," he said, while referring to the Pope Benedict's critical remarks about Islam in the past.
He also dismissed the notion that the conflict between the East and West was everlasting as untrue¯, saying that the Muslims should not adopt such views.
"We believe that both the East and West are part of the Kingdom of God and there should be no conflict between them."
He said: "A Western poet once said that East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet. This is not true and those who believe that specific races are genetically superior to others are wrong scientifically and religiously."
Source: Gulf Times (http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=203341&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56)
By Anwar Elshamy
Prominent Islamic scholar Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi yesterday called on Muslim countries to respond politically to the cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad, recently reprinted by Danish newspapers, and renewed his appeal to boycott Danish goods.
Addressing a congregation of Muslims at the Omar bin al-Khattab mosque at Khalifa town, Qaradawi, who is also the head of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), said the leaders of the Muslim countries should openly express their protest at the offending cartoons.
"We cannot accept any kind of apology from the Danish government about the cartoons lampooning our Prophet. We do not even have the right to do that because insulting the Prophet is an unforgivable act. There should be a political protest from our politicians and leaders. They should defend their Prophet," he said.
Qaradawi also renewed his calls for Muslims to boycott Danish goods again in protest at the recent reprinting of the offensive cartoons, saying that economic boycott should be one of the several responses Muslims should make.
"I wonder how Muslims can add to the profits of people insulting our Prophet. We should give up the Danish products and stick to this boycott," he said.
However, Qaradawi urged restraint among the public over the reprinting of the cartoons, saying that protest did not necessarily mean taking to the streets and expressing public outrage.
"There are many types of protests for the public rather than demonstrating in streets. Muslims can collect millions of signatures of people and send them to these newspapers," he said.
"We should also convey the true image of Prophet Muhammad by translating his tradition into foreign language," he said and called film-makers and producers to join hands and produce films on the life of the Prophet Muhammad.
The scholar praised the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams for advocating adoption of parts of Islamic law for British Muslims.
"I appreciate the stance of the Archbishop of Canterbury. I think his call should be considered by the British authorities because it is in the interest of Britain," he said.
He described Britain's denial of a visa to him as a discriminatory act.
"I have always urged the Muslim community in Britain to adopt moderate attitudes and denounce violence and terrorism. I am not pleading for Britain to grant me the visa. It is only a human right. The denial of the visa is not justified,"¯ he said.
He also slammed the secular Turks who took to the streets in protest at the Turkish parliament vote on removing a ban on head scarf. "This is not secularism. Those who protested against the vote do not believe in secularism. They believe in dictatorship,"¯ he said.
On the situation of the interfaith dialogue, he slammed the Western countries, saying that they were still having a grudge against Islam and Muslims.
"Though Muslims are always ready for turning the page of the Western colonization, it seems the Westerners cannot forget that they were occupiers here. They always think of how to insult Muslims and their sacred symbols," he said, while referring to the Pope Benedict's critical remarks about Islam in the past.
He also dismissed the notion that the conflict between the East and West was everlasting as untrue¯, saying that the Muslims should not adopt such views.
"We believe that both the East and West are part of the Kingdom of God and there should be no conflict between them."
He said: "A Western poet once said that East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet. This is not true and those who believe that specific races are genetically superior to others are wrong scientifically and religiously."
Source: Gulf Times (http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=203341&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56)