Islamophobia Watch

"Yusuf al-Qaradawi is in the news these days, denounced on a daily basis on Saudi, Palestinian and Egyptian op-ed pages, forums and TV over his stances on Gaza, on Hamas and Abu Mazen, on Yemen, and more. Following those controversies is an excellent window into what divides and arouses passion in Arab politics today. Hate him or love him, the man has a keen sense of Arab opinion – whether he's following or leading it – and has a proven track record of driving the debate. The fury of his adversaries on the other side of the so-called 'new Arab cold war' is a pretty direct function of the fact that his opinions, aired on al-Jazeera and spread through multiple online and real-world networks, matter....

"The Qatar-based Islamist is many things – a leading Islamist intellectual, a key figure in a wide set of interlocking global Islamist networks, a television star on al-Jazeera, a prolific author, a defender of Hamas, an Islamic internet pioneer.... His finely-tuned finger to the wind remains one of the most useful barometers of Arab public opinion."

Marc Lynch analyses Qaradawi's central role in political debates in the Arab world.

Foreign Policy blog, 21 January 2010

See also "Qaradawi slams attack against Egypt Christians", The Peninsula, 23 January 2010

"Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, the Egyptian-born octogenarian embraced by Ken Livingstone in 2004 and, as of 2008, excluded from the UK as a preacher of hate, has recently published a two-volume book entitled The Jurisprudence of Jihad. It is over 1400 pages long and has been received enthusiastically, and with some justification, as a major intervention on the subject by one of Islam's most respected 'modernist' figures.

"'Jihad', much like 'fatwa', is a term that carries some heavy baggage. In the west, jihad now conjures up images of suicide bombers and implacable violence. Non-Muslims tend to equate this so-called 'pinnacle' of Islam with abject evil. The lack of mutual understanding, trust and respect between 'Islam' and the 'west' is a problem many – not just President Obama – recognise....

"Qaradawi's views on jihad are already relatively well known and, in the Arab context, mainstream: Palestinians have the right to pursue jihad in self-defence against Israel, as do Iraqis against Americans. More controversially, this right extends to the use of suicide bombing. But al-Qa'ida's global jihad is definitely out, as is the targeting of civilians or the use of violence not sanctioned by the state.

"Instead Qaradawi encourages a 'middle way' conception of jihad: 'solidarity' with the Palestinians and others on the front line, rather than violence, is an obligatory form of jihad. Financial jihad, which corresponds with the obligation of alms giving (zakat), counts as well. And Muslims should recognise that technological change means that media and information systems are as much a part of the jihadist repertoire as are guns. Indeed, as long as Muslims are free to use media and other resources to press their case, there is no justification for using force to 'open' countries for Islam."

Ewan Stein at Comment is Free, 17 August 2009

"Yusuf al-Qaradawi, probably the single most influential living Sunni Islamist figure, has just written a major book entitled Fiqh al-Jihad (The Jurisprudence of Jihad) which decisively repudiates al Qaeda's conception of jihad as a 'mad declaration of war upon the world'.

"At the same time, he strongly rejects what he calls efforts to remove jihad completely from Islam, and strongly reaffirms the duty of jihad in resisting the occupation of Muslim lands, specifically mentioning Israel as the arena of legitimate resistance.

"Qaradawi's intervention has thus far received no attention at all in the English-language media. It should, because of his vast influence and his long track record as an accurate barometer of mainstream Arab views....

"Fiqh al-Jihad stakes out the centrist (wasatiyya) ground where Qaradawi has always comfortably resided (he has authored dozens of books about wasatiyya concept). He rejects two trends: those who seek to eliminate jihad completely from the Muslim world, stripping it of its power and its ability to resist (which is how he sees the project of much of so-called moderate Islam or secularists); and those who apply it indiscriminately in a mad campaign of killing of all with whom they disagree (like al-Qaeda)....

"Qaradawi also offers an intriguing broadening of the concept of jihad, away from violence to the realm of ideas, media, and communication – which he calls the 'jihad of the age'. The weapons of this jihad should be TV, the internet, email and the like rather than guns. Persuading Muslims of the message of Islam and the importance of this jihad in the path of God should be the first priority, he argues: 'the jihad of the age, a great jihad, and a long jihad'. He also goes into great detail about the different forms of jihad, the need for pragmatism, and the diverse nature of possible relations between Muslims and non-Muslims."

Marc Lynch's blog, 9 July 2009