Ken Livingstone and Yusuf al-Qaradawi

From The Guardian's Comment is Free comes an article by Martin Bright, political editor of the New Statesman. He writes about the Labour government's "love affair with radical Islam". Much of the article is worthy of reading, so do so BUT the line that caught my idea was this one "Just this month, the British government paid for Yusuf al-Qaradawi to attend a conference in Turkey to discuss the future of European Islam"

That's the UK government paying for Yusuf al-Qaradawi (the well known part of the Muslim Brotherhood leadership) to travel to Turkey.

Here are some of Yusuf al-Qaradawi's views, taken from Wikipedia:

"Qaradawi on homosexuality
On June 5 2006, on the Al Jazeera "Sharia and Life" programme he regularly features on, al-Qaradawi reiterated orthodox views on homosexuality. When asked about the punishment for people who "practise liwaat (sodomy) or sihaaq (lesbian activity)", al-Qaradawi replied: "The same punishment as any sexual pervert - the same as the fornicator." (MEMRI translation)"

"Qaradawi urged the Taliban to reconsider its decision to tear down the Buddha statues in Afghanistan in 2001. He was quickly criticized for supporting "idol worship". Upon meeting with leaders from the Taliban, Qaradawi reversed his position and praised the act of the destruction of the statues."

"Suicide bombings
Qaradawi strongly supports Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets, including against civilians, believing they are legitimate form of resistance. Qaradawi claims that hundreds of other Islamic scholars are of the same opinion.

Defending terrorist bombing against off duty soldiers Qaradawi told BBC Newsnight that:

"An Israeli woman is not like women in our societies, because she is a soldier."
"I consider this type of martyrdom operation as an evidence of God's justice."
"Allah Almighty is just; through his infinite wisdom he has given the weak a weapon the strong do not have and that is their ability to turn their bodies into bombs as Palestinians do".
At the press conference held by the organizations sponsoring Qaradawi's visit to London, Qaradawi reiterated his view that "martyrdom operations" are a justified from of "resistance" to Israeli occupation. In the past, Qaradawi has justified such terrorist actions on the basis that all Israel civilians are potential soldiers since Israel is a "militarized society.""



In case you had forgotten, Yusuf al-Qaradawi is the Islamic Cleric that Ken Livingstone believes is "a progressive figure". You can read about Ken Livingstone and Yusuf al-Qaradawi here. You can read Ken Livingstone's justification for inviting al-Qaradawi here, noticeable by its absence is any mention of al-Qaradawi's support for terrorist attacks on Israel - you may want to look at my piece on the Clash of Civilisations conference where Ken said "I would not have a created Israel... it was a travesty..", at this point. You may also want to take a look at Harry's Place for thsi article from 2005 exposing Yusuf al-Qaradawi's views on homosexuality


"Having said this, I should stress here that 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...As to the issue of how the homosexual person is judged in an Islamic State, the Companions of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him differed among themselves on this issue, and this led to different views maintained by Muslim Jurists. For example, in the Hanafi school of thought, the homosexual is punished through harsh beating, and if he/she repeats the act, death penalty is to be applied. As for the Shafi`i school of thought, the homosexual receives the same punishment of adultery (if he/she is married) or fornication (if not married). This means, that if the homosexual is married, he/she is stoned to death, while if single, he/she is whipped 100 times. Hence, the Shafi`i compares the punishment applied in the case of homosexuality with that of adultery and fornication, while the Hanafi differentiates between the two acts because in homosexuality, the anus (a place of impurity) may also be involved while in adultery (and fornication), the penis/vagina (which are reproductive parts) are involved. Some scholars hold the opinion that the homosexual should be thrown from a high building as a punishment for his crime, but other scholars maintain that he should be imprisoned until death."

Maybe someone should tackle Ken Livingstone about these views of his "progressive figure". If you do then I suggest that you not be Jewish or work for the Evening Standard or a Rupert Murdoch owned media outlet or have been to public school or drive a car or indeed do or be anything that in our Mayor's view might disqualify you from being able to question anything that he knows is the correct thing to do.