Sheikh Al-Qaradawi: The New York Times' Fictional Portrayal Of A 'Reformer' Versus The Reality Of An Evil Man
Posted By Joseph Klein On February 25, 2011 The Muslim Brotherhood <http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6386> 's spiritual leader Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi <http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=822> returned from exile to deliver a rousing speech on February 18, 2011 to more than one million Egyptians. Some in the Western media have supported al-Qaradawi 's influence as a positive development, portraying him as a moderate Muslim thinker who seeks to reconcile Islam with modern day democracy. They are the useful idiots for radical Islam, who are willing to vouch for a man whom, among other things, thinks that the Nazi holocaust was <http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7ce_1233505656> "divine punishment" for the Jews and wishes: Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers. A prime example of the useful idiot in the Western media is the New York Times. It published a news story <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/world/middleeast/19egypt.html> describing al-Qaradawi's Cairo speech in very positive terms: Sheik Qaradawi, a popular television cleric whose program reaches an audience of tens of millions worldwide, addressed a rapt audience of more than a million Egyptians gathered in Tahrir Square to celebrate the uprising and honor those who died.he struck themes of democracy and pluralism, long hallmarks of his writing and preaching. Scholars who have studied his work say Sheik Qaradawi has long argued that Islamic law supports the idea of a pluralistic, multiparty, civil democracy. We even get a glossy picture of al-Qaradawi's family. His son is a poet who supported the Egyptian revolution, we are told. And not to worry that al-Qaradawi is "considered a religious traditionalist", since three of his daughters hold doctoral degrees, including one in nuclear physics. The message readers are supposed to draw is what an enlightened, feminist father al-Qaradawi must have been to have raised such accomplished daughters - except, unfortunately, for that little detail the Times article leaves out about al-Qaradawi <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/29/religion.uk1> 's approval of Muslim husbands beating their wives when "necessitated by certain circumstances for a certain type of woman and within limits." The Times article did acknowledge that al-Qaradawi has approved of violence against Israel and the American forces in Iraq, but then immediately quoted an Islamic scholar who said: You call it violence; I call it resistance What passes today for shabby, politically correct reporting at the New York Times omitted documented evidence from al-Qaradawi's own words that he is a radical Islamist revivalist, not a true reformer. Al-Qaradawi believes in the supremacy of Islamic law, or sharia, as the basis for governing society and opposes any free expression that he views as demeaning Islam. He has also said that Islamic law authorizes the execution of apostates and homosexuals for their crimes against Islam. Since the New York Times considers itself a believer in Western conceptions of individual liberty and equality before the law, such as freedom of expression, a pluralistic, secular democracy, freedom of conscience and equal rights for homosexuals, I thought it would be useful to compare what the Times has said on these issues in the past to what al-Qaradawi has said. If the Times had done this simple comparison itself, it may not have rushed to embrace the fictional version of al-Qaradawi portraying him as a modern day reformer who believes in "democracy and pluralism." It may have seen through the phony facade to the core of an evil man who manipulates Western terms such as "freedom and democracy" to cover his agenda of imposing strict sharia law wherever possible. As American Thinker put it in its article "Qaradawi and The Treason of the Intellectuals <http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/02/qaradawi_and_the_treason_of_th.html> ," al-Qaradawi is using "the standard modern era jihadist formulation, 'Islamic State by the will of the people.'" Test of Free Expression - The Danish Cartoons New York Times, February 25, 2006, editorial "Silenced by Islamist Rage <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/opinion/25sat3.html> ": With every new riot over the Danish cartoons, it becomes clearer that the protests are no longer about the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, but about the demagoguery of Islamic extremists. The demonstrators are undeniably outraged by what they perceive as blasphemy. But radical Islamists are trying to harness that indignation to their political goals and their theocratic ends by fomenting hatred for the West and for moderate regimes in the Muslim world. These are dangerous games, and they require the most resolute response. Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradawi, February 3, 2006 <http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/1604.htm> : We must rage, and show our rage to the world.The governments must be pressured to demand that the U.N. adopt a clear resolution or law that categorically prohibits affronts to prophets - to the prophets of the Lord and His messengers, to His holy books, and to the religious holy places.. Before ending my sermon, I would like to issue several warnings. The first warning is directed at our feeble governments, which are trying to gauge America's position: Will America be pleased with us or not if we rage about this? They fear the Creator more than they fear His creation [sic], and try to please people more than they try to please Allah. To those feeble governments we say: Take a courageous stand. Stand up and prove that you are Muslim, and that you protect this religion with zeal. We want our governments not to split from their peoples. The masses throughout the Islamic world have made their position clear. They have displayed their rage. The governments must not split away from these masses. The second warning I direct at the Westerners, the Americans, and the Europeans who follow them, who claim to be fighting terrorism, and struggling against violence throughout the world. I say to them: Your silence over such crimes, which offend the Prophet of Islam and insult his great nation, is what begets violence, generates terrorism, and makes the terrorists say: Our governments are doing nothing, and we must avenge our Prophet ourselves. This is what creates terrorism and begets violence. Secular Democracy in the Muslim World New York Times, May 1, 2007, editorial "Secularism and Democracy in Turkey <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/opinion/01tue2.html> ": the fears of Turkey's secularists are real and understandable. Turkish citizens, particularly Turkish women, enjoy legal rights, intellectual freedoms and economic opportunities that are regrettably rare elsewhere in the Muslim world." Al-Qaradawi, "How the Imported Solutions Disastrously Affected Our Ummah <http://www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=117> ": The acceptance of a legislation formulated by humans means a preference of the humans' limited knowledge and experiences to the divine guidance: "Say! Do you know better than Allah?" (2:140). For this reason, the call for secularism among Muslims is atheism and a rejection of Islam. Its acceptance as a basis for rule in place of Shari`ah is downright riddah [apostasy]. The silence of the masses in the Muslim world about this deviation has been a major transgression and a clear-cut instance of disobedience which have produces a sense of guilt, remorse, and inward resentment, all of which have generated discontent, insecurity, and hatred among committed Muslims because such deviation lacks legality. Apostasy New York Times, March 26, 2006, op. ed. <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/opinion/26iht-edthier.html> "Balancing religion and rights" by J Alexander Thier: Divorce proceedings bring out the worst in people. When Abdul Rahman tried to get custody of his daughters in Kabul, his wife's family told the court that he was unfit to care for his children because he had converted from Islam to Christianity some 16 years ago. A zealous prosecutor, hearing of the case, charged Rahman with apostasy, a crime punishable by death under some interpretations of Islamic law. If Rahman does not repudiate Christianity, the judge in the case has said, he will get the death penalty. Rahman's case is a discouraging illustration of the uneasy balance between the democratic norms Afghanistan's constitution enshrines and the conservative Islamic values its judiciary upholds. Al-Qaradawi, April 13, 2006, "Apostasy: Major and Minor <http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&pagename=Zone-Engl ish-Living_Shariah/LSELayout&cid=1178724001992> ": Muslim jurists are unanimous that apostates must be punished, yet they differ as to determining the kind of punishment to be inflicted upon them. The majority of them, including the four main schools of jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi`i, and Hanbali) as well as the other four schools of jurisprudence (the four Shiite schools of Az-Zaidiyyah, Al-Ithna-`ashriyyah, Al-Ja`fariyyah, and Az-Zaheriyyah) agree that apostates must be executed. In my point of view, as the scholars have differentiated between major and minor innovations in religion and between mere innovators and those who spread and call for their innovations in religion, we can also differentiate between major and minor apostasy, and between apostates who do not wage war against Islam and Muslims and those who proclaim their apostasy and call for it. Major apostasy, which the apostate proclaims and openly calls for in speech or writing, is to be, with all the more reason, severely punished by the death penalty, according to the majority of scholars and the apparent meaning of the Prophet's hadiths.Apostates who call for apostasy from Islam have not only become disbelievers in Islam but have also become enemies of Islam and the Muslim nation. They, by doing so, fall under the category of those who wage war against Almighty Allah and His Messenger and spread mischief in the land. Islam lays down this severe punishment in order to protect its unity and the identity of its community. Every community in this world has basic foundations that are to be kept inviolable, such as identity, loyalty, and allegiance. Homosexuality New York Times, February 23, 2011, editorial "Mr. Obama <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/opinion/24thu1.html> 's Move Against Bias": In a heartening reversal, President Obama has instructed the Justice Department to stop defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. That deplorable 1996 law sanctioned blatant discrimination against the spousal rights of married gays and lesbians. Al-Qaradawi, July 2004, Fatwa on Homosexuality <http://www.meforum.org/646/the-qaradawi-fatwas#_ftn4> : We must be aware that in regulating the sexual drive Islam has prohibited not only illicit sexual relations and all what leads to them, but also the sexual deviation known as homosexuality. This perverted act is a reversal of the natural order, a corruption of man's sexuality, and a crime against the rights of females. (The same applies equally to the case of lesbianism). Muslim jurists have held differing opinions concerning the punishment for this abominable practice. Should it be the same as the punishment for fornication, or should both the active and passive participants be put to death? While such punishments may seem cruel, they have been suggested to maintain the purity of the Islamic society and to keep it clean of perverted elements. Despite all of these differences in fundamental values that the New York Times has glided over, there is one thing that the Times and al-Qaradawi do have in common. They both supported Barack Obama <http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=844> for President. Al-Qaradawi said that he wanted Obama to win the election <http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=18592> because Obama can deal better with Arabs and Muslims, has African roots, and carries more prospects for change Maybe these days that's enough for the Times to prove al-Qaradawi's commitment to democracy. Joseph Klein is the author of a recent book entitled Lethal Engagement: Barack Hussein Obama, the United Nations and Radical Islam <http://www.amazon.com/Lethal-Engagement-Joseph-Klein/dp/1617392251/ref=sr_1 _12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283350906&sr=8-12> _____ Article printed from NewsReal Blog: http://www.newsrealblog.com URL to article: http://www.newsrealblog.com/2011/02/25/sheikh-al-qaradawi-the-new-york-times -fictional-portrayal-of-a-reformer-versus-the-reality-of-an-evil-man/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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