The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood website has reported that sixty Islamic scholars and preachers led by Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi have signed a ruling forbidding the division of Sudan and blaming the succession crisis on a global conspiracy of organizations “in the forefront of Zionism.” According to the report:
Sixty Islamic scholars and preachers issued a statement on Wednesday in which they provided that it is not permissible to divide Sudan, asserting that voting for the secession of southern Sudan from the north is religiously forbidden by Islamic law. They argued that the issue of South Sudan is not a question of civil war, but a global conspiracy to exclude Arabism and Islam, fuelled by many bodies, regional and international, in the forefront of Zionism and the global crusade, not against Sudan alone, as Southern Sudan is the gateway to Islam and Arabism in Africa.
Signatories to the statement:
Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi – Chairman of the International Union for Muslim Scholars,
Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Barr – Professor of Hadith and its sciences at Al-Azhar University and a member of the Executive Bureau of the Muslim Brotherhood,
Prof. Yusuf Hibir Nur al-Da’im, Controller-General of the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan, and,
Dr. Nasr Farid Wasel – former Grand Mufti of Egypt
A previous post reported on comments made by Qaradawi suggesting that the potential secession of southern Sudan is part of a plot by Western countries to weaken the Islamic world. Last November the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), headed by Qaradawi, issued a statement alleging that “the Zionist plot in Sudan aims at splitting into parts the scattered country and erasing the Arab and Islamic identity.
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.