Qaradawi Backs Expelled Muslim Brotherhood Leader Over Former Colleage In Egyptian Presidential Race

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OnIslam, the Islamic news portal associated with Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi, has reported that Qaradawi has repeated his support for Egyptian Presidential candidate Abdel-Moneim Abul-Futuh. According to the report:

Prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi has reiterated support for senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdel-Moneim Abul-Futuh’s bid to run for Egypt’s presidency. “I will vote for Abul-Futuh,” Qaradawi, the president of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), has told the Qatari newspaper Al-Arab. Dr. Abul-Futuh has unveiled a bid to run in Egypt’s presidential elections as an independent. Abul-Futuh has said that he had consulted Sheikh Qaradawi before his decision to run for presidency. A doctor by profession, Abul-Futuh, 60, is currently secretary-general of the Arab Doctors Union. He holds an MA in hospital management and an LLM from Cairo University’s Faculty of Law. Abul-Futuh is a member of the Brotherhood’s Shura Council, but not the 16-member governing body. Alongside Abul-Futuh, the list of presidential hopefuls includes former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, former leader of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei and prominent scholar Mohamed Salim Al-Awa. Abul-Futuh’s presidential bid has been opposed by the Muslim Brotherhood, which has said that it will not field a candidate in the presidential elections. The Muslim Brotherhood has sacked Abul-Futuh over his decision to seek presidency. Qaradawi has described Muslim scholar Mohamed Salim Al-Awa’s bid to seek Egypt presidency as ‘difficult’. “Awa’s position in the presidential elections is difficult,” Qaradawi said. “Awa is accused of having relations with the Shiites, the Iranian government, Hizbullah and its leader Hasan Nasrallah, which weaken his position in the elections.” Awa, the former IUMS secretary-general, has unveiled bid to run in Egypt’s presidential elections. A graduate of the Faculty of Law, Alexandria University, Awa is one of Egypt’s most acknowledged lawyers with specialization in constitutional law.

Read the rest here.

Mohamed Selim al-Awa is actually a close associate of Youssef Qaradawi who is a director of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), launched on July 11, 2004 in conjunction with a visit by Qaradawi to London for a meeting of the European Council for Fatwa and Research. The IUMS board of directors is comprised of many leaders of the global Brotherhood and is headed by Qaradawi. Al-Awa served as IUMS Secretary-General from 2004-2010. A previous post discussed an interview with Al-Awa in which he accused Egyptian Coptic churches of storing weapons in their monasteries to be used against Muslims.

Qaradawi, a virulent anti-Semite is often referred to here as the most important leader of the global Muslim Brotherhood, an acknowledgement of his role as the de facto spiritual leader of the movement. In 2004, Qaradawi turned down the offer to lead the Egyptian Brotherhood after the death of the Supreme Guide. Based in Qatar, Sheikh Qaradawi has reportedly amassed substantial wealth through his role as Shari’ah adviser to many important Islamic banks and funds. He is also considered to be the “spiritual guide” for Hamas and his fatwas in support of suicide bombings against Israeli citizens were instrumental in the development of the phenomenon. A recent post has discussed a video compilation of Qaradawi’s extremist statements.

Qaradawi’s support for Abul-Futuh over his colleague at the IUMS is unexplained but a previous post reported that according to local experts, Mohamed Selim al-Awa is actually the “undeclared nominee” of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood for the presidency of the country.

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