Qaradawi And Meshaal; Together In Qatar

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Turkish media has reported that Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi and Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal have met in Doha, Qatar where they called on Palestinian groups to “establish consensus.”   According to a World Bulletin report:

World Bulletin / News Desk Chairman of the World Muslim Scholars, Yousuf al-Qaradawi on Monday called on Palestinian groups to establish consensus and end division among themselves. Meeting Hamas’ Political Bureau Chief Meshal in Qatari capital of Doha, al-Qaradawi called on all Palestinian groups to establish a ‘consensus’. In a written statement released on Monday, al-Qaradawi’s office said that Meshal and al-Qaradawi discussed the latest developments in Palestine and efforts for a consensus among Palestinian groups”

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. A post from August reported that  Qaradawi had been included as part of a list of Islamic scholars to be appointed to an Egyptian national board of senior Islamic scholars (Ulema). Al-Azhar is considered to be the main center of Islamic and Arabic learning in the world.

 According to a BBC profile, Mr. Meshaal (aka Khaled Mishal) joined the Muslim Brotherhood in 1971:

“Mr Meshaal was born in 1956 in the village of Silwad, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Meshaal has been increasingly important since Sheikh Yassin died. His father, like many other Palestinians, travelled to the Gulf emirate of Kuwait in the 1960s for work. His family followed after the area fell under Israeli occupation in 1967.At school, Mr Meshaal became involved in Palestinian and Islamic activism. He joined the Muslim Brotherhood in 1971. Mr Meshaal continued to take interest political Islam while studying physics at Kuwait University and he founded a student organisation called the List of the Islamic Right. After graduating in 1978, he spent a number of years teaching physics in Kuwait. In 1987, Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Gaza founded the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, in response to a mass uprising against the Israeli occupation. Mr Meshaal became increasingly involved with Hamas over the next few years, leading what was known as the Kuwait contingent of Palestinians who lived and worked there.

Read the rest here.

post from May 2009 provides further detail on Mr. Meshaal’s early activities in the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood.

post from October 2012 reported on a speech Meshaal gave in Cairo in which said that “Nothing will restore the homeland but jihad, the rifle, and self-sacrifice” and that  Zionists are the enemies of Allah and of Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, and Abraham – the enemies of the Prophets, of the Messengers, of values, and of morality.’ 

post from last September 2012 reported that  Meshaal had decided to step down from his position as head of the Hamas political leadership although that decision was later called into question.

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