(This article does not necessarily reflect my actual views on Shaykh Yusuf Qaradawi but I did agree on some of the issues mentioned )

YUSUF AL-QARADAWI

by GF Haddad - Sha`ban 1428 (August 2007)

The media-savvy "West-appointed Pope of the Muslims" according to the
Syrian scholars, "standard-bearer of corrupt scholarship and guide to

deviancy" according to the Saudis, Azhar-trained Yusuf al-Qaradawi,
although initially a Hanafi, doffed the strictures of the juridical
Schools and adopted the high-exposure pulpits of satellite television

(al-Jazira in Qatar), the Internet (islamonline. com, qaradawi.net) , and
mass print (150+ publications) to purvey, unique among televangelists, a
blend of free-wheeling liberation theology, populist jihadism, and
salafism shot through with colloquial Egyptian which keeps TV viewers
East and West spellbound, boggled, delighted, and deluded at the same
time.

Al-Qaradawi struck gold as the foremost vulgarizer of the
"Do-It-Yourself Islam" initiated by the Egyptian-founded Ikhwan
al-Muslimin, of which he is the most influential figure in our times,
though ostensibly unaffiliated. The media scholar par excellence, he
passes among the masses for a mujtahid and reformist thinker, although
the silent majority of the Sunni Ulema refuse him any such title, a
handful of them warning against his blatant distortions of the Law and
irreligious verbiage, while the Wahhabis (al-`Udayni, Sulayman
al-Kharashi, Muqbil al-Wadi`i, `Abd al-Karim Humayd, Salih al-Fawzan,
and Abu Basir al-Tartusi) and the Habashis (Usama al-Sayyid and the
anonymous al-Kawi li-Kabid al-Qaradawi) all wrote books against him.

This survey is based on the directives of our teachers as well as
textual citations from some of the above-mentioned sources. It was
prompted by two needs: the preparation of a second edition of Albani and
His Friends and the need to warn about al-Qaradawi, particularly his
non-madhhabi, anti-Ash`ari, yet supposedly non-Salafi book-imitators
presently hard at work misleading the English-speaking Umma. It
comprises the following sections:

I. Al-Qaradawi' s blasphemies
II. His two greatest innovations: misappropriation of zakat and
legalization of carrion
III. "Qutbian Qaradawi" versus "Accommodation Qaradawi"
IV. His praise of Sayyid Qutb, al-Afghani, `Abduh, and Rida
V. His praise of Hizb al-Tahrir
VI. He praises the Ikhwan and defends criminal jihadism
VII. Qaradawi's unrequited "salafism"
VIII. His assimilation of Ash`arism to "Aristotle's doctrine"
IX. His denial that consensus exists
X. Qaradawi's specious fiqh
XI. He permits income from the the sale of alcohol and pork
XII. He permits the consumption of carrion
XIII. He declares celibacy categorically forbidden for all
XIV. His weakness in Hadith
XV. His disparagement of the Ulema
XVI. His propensity for takfir of the Muslims
XVII. His over-the-top laxism toward non-Muslims
XVIII. His Qadarism

I. HIS BLASPHEMIES AGAINST ALLAH MOST HIGH AND THE PROPHETS, upon them
blessings and peace

In one infamous and particularly offensive example of verbiage
al-Qaradawi congratulated Israel on its election results the year
Netanyahu won and quipped that "In our countries we only know 'the four
or five nines' in our election result percentages, such as winning by
99.99%. What is this? If God Himself was running for elections He would
not win such a percentage! So I congratulate Israel for its action."
After this blasphemy, Ibn `Uthaymin issued the fatwa that al-Qaradawi
was an apostate passible of death and called upon him to repent as did
Muqbil al-Wadi`i in his book Iskat al-Kalb al-`Awi fil-Radd `ala Yusuf
al-Qaradawi ("Silencing the Baying Dog: Refutation of Yusuf
al-Qaradawi" ).

In his book al-Islam wal-Gharb he states, in defense of interfaith
dialogue at any cost: "Allah asked Iblis to dialogue with him!"

He said on al-Jazira TV on September 12, 1999 that the Prophet, upon him
blessings and peace "sometimes made mistakes even in law-giving
matters," citing as an example the hadith where the Prophet, upon him
blessings and peace replied to a questioner: "Yes, every sin of the
shahid is forgiven," after which he called back the questioner and
added, "except debt" Al-Qaradawi called this very proof that the Prophet
never spoke out of whim "a mistake which the Prophet, upon him blessings
and peace made and which Gibril corrected" The rector of al-Azhar
University at the time, Dr. Ahmad `Umar Hashim, excoriated this attack
on the Prophet's, upon him blessings and peace immunity from error in
lawgiving matters in his Jumu`a khutba on October 7, 1999. The
Qur'an-centered doctrine of Ahl al-Sunna on the Sunna's probative
character refutes it as stated by the Azhari savant Dr. `Abd al-Ghani
`Abd al-Khaliq in his Hujjiyyat al-Sunna: "By Consensus.. the Prophet,
upon him blessings and peace is immune (ma`sum) from the deliberate
commission of anything that might compromise his Message. In addition,
the most correct position is that he is also immune from error in that
regard."(1)

On the same evening al-Qaradawi also called our liegelord Musa
"rebellious by nature" (`anid bi-tabi`atihi) , a term Allah Most High
applied to the disbelievers saying, {and every rebellious tyrant (kullu
jabbarin `anid) was brought to nought} (14:15). Similarly, in
al-Khasa'is al-`Amma il-Islam (p. 19) he writes that "Adam's
disobedience was caused by weakness and forgetfulness" In al-Sabru
fil-Qur'an al-Karim (p. 110) he writes of our liegelord Yunus, "He
quickly ran out of patience, his chest was constricted, and he left them
in a rage (tha'iran)" In al-Sahwat al-Islamiyya bayn al-Ikhtilaf
al-Mashru` wal-Tafarruq al-Madhmum (p. 30) he says of our liegelord
Harun, "he did not speak out against the greatest shirk and the worship
of the calf so that he would preserve the unity of the ranks" when Allah
Most High Himself said that Harun said he was almost killed for speaking
out {He said: Son of my mother! Lo! the folk did judge me weak and
almost killed me. Oh, make not mine enemies to triumph over me and place
me not among the evil doers!} (7:150), and in another verse He
relates Harun's command to his people to shun false worship and turn to
the Most Merciful: {And Harun indeed had told them beforehand: O my
people! You are but being seduced therewith, for lo! your Lord is the
Beneficent, so follow me and obey my order} (20:90)! The ruling
regarding disrespect for Prophets can be gleaned from the last part of
Qadi `Iyad's al-Shifa.

In the first part of his two-part 1997 essay "Mabadi' Asasiyya Fikriyya
wa-`Amaliyya fil-Taqrib bayn al-Madhahib" reprinted in volume 13 of the
Iranian quarterly Risalat al-Taqrib (p. 143), an inter-School endeavor
which is available online in full at www.taghrib. org, al-Qaradawi
mentions the hadith "My Umma shall separate into seventy-three sects"
and states: "This hadith might muddle the unity [of the Umma] which is
incumbant and to which we are exhorted... We have to research this
hadith objectively and neutrally regarding its authenticity and, if
established to be authentic, regarding its probative meaning."(2) What
is most disturbing in these words is al-Qaradawi' s positing that, if
proven authentic, the hadith will be a problem for the Umma. Note also
the barbs at the Ulema of Ahl al-Sunna who, al-Qaradawi implies, have
not, heretofore, shown objectivity, neutrality, or knowledge concerning
the authenticity and probative meaning of this hadith

Al-Qaradawi' s ignoble view of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace
shows in the words he used in the following comments he made on a live
broadcast of his program al-Shari`atu wal-Hayat on March 4, 2001: "Allah
did not make the day of his Mawlid a `Id, because his birth was an
ordinary birth The Christ was born without a father and so there was a
commotion around it, in which the Qur'an showed interest as it mentioned
it in Surat Maryam and Al `Imran. As for the birth of Muhammad, it was
the birth of an ordinary orphaned child (kana mawlid tifl yatim `adi).
This is why the story of his birth was never mentioned in the Qur'an
anywhere, contrary to its mention of the Emigration, the Night Journey
and Ascent, the battles, and those things"

The very next month he contradicted himself regarding the Mawlid and
said: "We all know that the Companions of the Prophet , did not
celebrate the Prophet's birthday, Hijrah or the Battle of Badr, because
they witnessed such events during the lifetime of the Prophet who
always remained in their hearts and minds... However, the following
generations began to forget such a glorious history and its
significance. So such celebrations were held as a means of reviving
great events and the values that we can learn from them. Unfortunately,
such celebrations include some innovations when they should actually be
made to remind people of the Prophet's life and his call. Actually,
celebrating the Prophet's birthday means celebrating the birth of Islam.
Such an occasion is meant to remind people of how the Prophet lived...
We need all these lessons and such celebrations are a revival of these
lessons and values I think that these celebrations, if done in the
proper way, will serve a great purpose, getting Muslims closer to the
teachings of Islam and to the Prophet's Sunnah and life."(3)

II. HIS TWO GREATEST INNOVATIONS: MISAPPROPRIATION OF ZAKAT AND
LEGALIZATION OF CARRION

Al-Qaradawi prefaced the work that launched him and his most successful
book worldwide, al-Halal wal-Haram fil-Islam ("The Lawful and the
Prohibited in Islam", first English edition 1994), with an espousal of
la-madhhabiyya that is both pompous and tendentious: "I did not consent
that my mind should imitate a specific School in all the issues and
questions, right or wrong." In practicality, like countless modern
pseudo-mujtahids before and after him, al-Qaradawi is only positioning
himself to imitate anything whenever it suits him even the most
aberrant, obscure, strange and unusual excursus he can find
in a
living or defunct School, or on the lips of a scholar with or without
chain of transmission. Thanks to this non-method posing as independent
scholarship, he was able to successfully purvey to the Umma two of his
most Law-destructive fatwas to date: the redefinition of the verse on
the categories of zakat recipients and the redefinition of what
constitutes carrion.

In 1994 in a pamphlet distributed in the US by the American-based Muslim
Arab Youth Association (MAYA) and in subsequent publications,
al-Qaradawi gave a deviant interpretation of the Qur'anic zakat category
{wa-fi sabilillah} (9:60) allowing for zakat monies from Muslims in the
West to be spent "for any act of charity" (`amal khayri)" including
"thought, culture, education, and awareness campaigns" as well as
building mosques, schools, cultural centers, hospitals, and other
projects such as student financial aid, "whatever qualifies as Islamic
jihad,"(4) all of which the Four Schools explicitly excluded both from
eligibility for zakat funds generally speaking, and from the meaning of
{wa-fi sabilillah} specifically as it applies exclusively to military
jihad and those who wage it This fatwa was instrumental in promoting the
Ikhwan al-Muslimin' s influence in the West as they are its primary
beneficiaries, specifically MAYA, which al-Qaradawi actually named
Conversely, since then, the proper categories of recipiency for zakat
were deprived in the same proportion if not more because communities, as
a result, have rested on this new, fluid understanding of {fi
sabilillah} to reorient themselves toward the funding of mosque
buildings and all sorts of "Islamic projects" including "da`wa" at the
exclusion, in practical terms, of supporting the people and causes Allah
Most High commanded to support

He also reinterpreted the zakat category of "new Muslims"
(al-mu'allafatu qulubuhum) to include all da`wa projects by analogy with
missionaries: "It is possible that that portion be spent, in our times,
for Islamic missionarism (al-tabshir bil-islam) as do those who oppose
the Muslims."(5)

III. QUTBIAN QARADAWI VERSUS ACCOMMODATION QARADAWI

Al-Qaradawi' s lingering success in Europe and Australia (while he was
banned from entry to the US since 1999) is also partly due to a
"post-terror" tactic of the Ikhwan, Hizb al-Tahrir, Muhajirun, and other
modernist offshoots, consisting in hiding the Qutbian face in the West
under the mask of ultra-moderation, inter-faith hobnobbing, and
amorphous flexibility in order to pass for neutral, pacific, modern, and
progressive by Western standards

Accordingly, the Ikhwan-dominated, Dublin-based European Council for
Fatwa and Research which "Accommodation Qaradawi" presides has declared:
"It is obligatory for Muslims to respect the laws of the countries in
which they reside." In July 2006 he clamored that "The Muslim world
needs democracy, it wants democracy." But in the Arab press "Qutbian
Qaradawi" writes: "Some people think they can be Muslims as long as they
perform their worship according to Islamic rules while they fulfill
worldly duties according to another method which they did not receive
from Allah but from another god who legislates for them, over their
daily life, all that Allah did not allow."(6)

IV. HIS PRAISE OF SAYYID QUTB, AL-AFGHANI, `ABDUH, AND RIDA

In his book al-Sahwat al-Islamiyya wa-Humum al-Watan al-`Arabi Qutbian
Qaradawi praises the ex-Marxist journalist Sayyid Qutb turned
neo-Kharijite, undoubtedly the foremost apostatizer of Muslims in the
20th century (Qutb considered humanity apostate one and all, the Muslim
Umma no longer existed, and the tawhid of present-day Muslims
meaningless) (7) and rationalist of mass revolutionary violence in the
name of religion,(8) as "the great man of letters, Islamic missionary,
and shahid who sacrificed his life on behalf of his thought" Qutb called
the Prophet Musa "the archetype of the impulsive leader who has a
hotheaded personality, let us leave him there and meet him again ten
years later, has he become a calm, soft-spoken person? Not at all,"
accuses the Prophet Yusuf of almost faltering before the King's wife,
and accuses Ibrahim, upon our Prophet and all of them blessings and
peace, of literally mistaking the stars, moon and sun for his gods(9).
Like Qutb, the foremost Lebanese Ikhwan ideologue Fathi Yakan
unambiguously says in his book Kayfa Nad`u ila al-Islam: "Today the
entire world witnesses apostasy from belief in Allah, and unprecedented
collective and global kufr." His countryman Faysal Mawlawi (vice
president of the European Fatwa Council) states the same.(10)

Qaradawi also considers Qutb a mujtahid, and in his Sahwa as well as in
Thaqafat al-Da`iya and al-Thaqafat al-`Arabiyya al-Islamiyya he
expresses his admiration for al-Afghani, Muhammad `Abduh, and Rashid
Rida whom he calls a mujaddid, and his followers in our time "Mujaddid
'Salafis' without question"! This is the same Darwinist Rida who in his
Tafsir al-Manar bowdlerized the angels as consisting in "natural forces"
while the jinn in his view are "microbes," allowed the consumption of
pork as long as it is "sufficiently boiled, and thus purified," and
dismissed the Prophetic hadith of the sun's prostration before the
Throne, narrated from Abu Dharr by al-Bukhari and Muslim with the
words: "Prophets do not know these sciences" His own contemporaries such
as Yusuf al-Dijwi, al-Kawthari, and Yusuf al-Nabhani all denounced him
and his teachers as dangerous innovators or worse.

V. HIS PRAISE OF HIZB AL-TAHRIR

In the Sahwa al-Qaradawi also praises the power-hungry Hizb al-Tahrir
movement, who consider the entire world dar al-kufr, call the scholars
"priests," and misconstrue the hadiths in which the Prophet, upon him
blessings and peace spoke about those who rebel against the caliph, to
mean all the bay`a-less Muslims in our times (as does the Murabitun sect
of Abdulqadir al-Sufi). The Tahrir founder Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani was an
overt Mu`tazili who stated in his books al-Shakhsiyya al-Islamiyya and
Nizam al-Islam that "human acts are not part of qada' but are a matter
of human free will" and that "guidance and misguidance are from the acts
of creatures and not from Allah." Al-Qaradawi also criticizes Hizb
al-Tahrir for virtually considering this Taqi al-Din infallible,
although he shares his Qadari doctrine as we see below.

VI. HE PRAISES THE IKHWAN AND DEFENDS CRIMINAL JIHADISM

Qaradawi in the Sahwa also praises the Ikhwan al-Muslimin and "the jihad
movement," among whom he includes the lawless Algerian Islamists whose
acts al-Buti in his book Jihad in Islam denounced as the antithesis of
jihad, although Accommodation Qaradawi acknowledges they are "Kharijites
or worse" in his book on extremism, Zahirat al-Ghuluw fil-Takfir, but
also says they acted "out of sincere concern for the Religion!" Then, in
Shari`at al-Islam Qutbian Qaradawi defends the Khawarij as "an
opposition which `Ali ibn Abi Talib accepted as legitimate" (on the
grounds that our liegelord `Ali did not declare them apostate, however,
he certainly considered them the "very worst of the Umma" just as the
Prophet, upon him blessings and peace had named them).

In al-Thaqafat al-`Arabiyya al-Islamiyya, Qutbian Qaradawi blasts the
control of mosque preaching and teaching in Arab countries by Muslim
Awqaf ministries and their ostracizing of agitators (al-`anasir
al-mutaharrika al-muharrika) , and he predicts that "in that case, the
entire Umma will then become a 'Jama`a Islamiyya!" By the latter is
meant no other than the Ikhwan al-Muslimin themselves, represented in
Lebanon by Fathi Yakan and general secretary Faysal Mawlawi who wrote
that it was forbidden for a Muslim to be a civil judge, but permissible
for Ikhwanis to accept haram money on the basis that "illicitness is
non-transferable" (al-haram la yatajawazu dhimmatayn), which the Ikhwan
deliberately misconstrue to claim that what is illicit for the giver is
licit for the receiver.(11) In reality, if the receiver is aware that
the giver's income income is tainted then it is illicit for both
indifferently, likewise for whoever else is made aware.

VII. QARADAWI'S UNREQUITED "SALAFISM"

Al-Qaradawi' s publisher, al-Maktab al-Islami's Zuhayr al-Shawish, asked
his sometime friend al-Albani to document the hadiths mentioned in
al-Halal wal-Haram, which al-Albani proceeded to do in a book entitled
Ghayat al-Maram fi Takhrij Ahadith al-Halal wal-Haram which al-Maktab
al-Islami published and in which Albani restrains his tongue
considerably against al-Qaradawi, whom he calls "the distinguished
doctor" even as he points out his "glaring errors" Then al-Shawish
rewrote a thoroughly abridged and bowdlerized version of Albani's
documentation and, in a typical Mideast publisher coup, put it in the
footnotes of his reprint of al-Qaradawi' s bestseller with al-Albani's
name on the cover as the muhaqqiq and al-Qaradawi' s clever encomium of
al-Albani as "the great Muhaddith" in the introduction. The book made a
killing but Albani went on record as saying: "I did not write a single
letter of that supposed tahqiq of mine!"

In a recorded lesson, al-Albani warns against al-Qaradawi' s "very
dangerous anti-Shari`a fatwa philosophy which consists in making the
haram halal by saying 'there is no categorical text on prohibition' ....
whereas the Consensus of the Ulema is that legal rulings are not
necessarily based on categorical texts since they said (and among
them al-Qaradawi himself) that the proofs are the Book, the
Sunna, Consensus, and Analogy.... But he came up with this tune, 'there
is no categorical text on it,' to rid himself [of strictures] and permit
many legal rulings For example, the Messenger, upon him blessings and
peace says: 'Allah Most High curses the profiteer from usury, its agent,
its scribe, and its two witnesses,' so it is not ever permissible for a
Muslim to profit from illicit money on the basis that he is not
consuming usury [a reference to al-Qaradawi' s allowance of income and
donations from the sale of alcohol and pork, the Ikhwan's allowance of
donations from prohibited income, and the European Council for Fatwa and
Research's allowance of donations from bank interest to Islamic
centers]. As for the building of mosques from usurious funds, he is
refuted by the Prophetic hadith: 'Truly, Allah is pure and He accepts
only the pure.' These hadiths all refute al-Qaradawi and his likes."(12)

The Saudi Wahhabi Salih al-Fawzan wrote a book against al-Halal
wal-Haram while al-Albani wrote several on or against al-Qaradawi, among
them documentations of the hadiths mentioned in al-Halal wal-Haram and
others, Hukm al-Islam fil-Taswir ("Islam's position regarding
photography" ) against al-Qaradawi' s stance that photography and pictures
were indifferently lawful, and Tahrim Alat al-Tarab against
al-Qaradawi' s opinion of the lawfulness of instrumental and vocal music
in al-Islam wal-Fann, which was also refuted by another Wahhabi, `Abd
al-Karim al-`Ubayd in his book al-Haqq al-Damigh lil-Da`awi fi Dahdi
Maza`im al-Qaradawi.

VIII. HIS ASSIMILATION OF ASH`ARISM TO "ARISTOTLE'S DOCTRINE"

Although al-Qaradawi wrote a book on Imam al-Ghazzali and often quotes
his Ihya' as well as clobbers "Salafis" with the Ash`ari School as a
whole ("The entire Umma is Ash`ari even if it displeases our 'Salafi'
brothers") in his biography of his teacher the contemporary Muhammad
al-Ghazali, nevertheless, against all reason, he describes Ash`ari
doctrine as "Aristotle's doctrine" and embraces several positions that
reek of modern "Salafism" such as calling the donation of the Fatiha to
the deceased an innovation (although it is a desirable act according to
all Four Schools to donate Qur'an recitation to the dead) and suggesting
that the derivation of blessings through persons, sites, or relics
(tabarruk) is shirk, although the Companions themselves practiced it in
the very presence of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace!

In al-Iman wal-Hayat, al-Qaradawi gives the most astounding display of
compound ignorance of Islamic doctrine when he writes: "Aristotle's God
has no connection to this world and no care for it He does not even
dispose of a single matter in it because He does not know what takes
place in it such as what enters the earth or comes out of it or what
descends from the heavewn or ascends up to it All that Aristotle and his
followers say about the Deity is that 'he is neither a substance (laysa
bi-jawhar) nor an accident (wa-la `arad), He has no beginning and no
end, He is neither a compound (murakkab) nor part of a compound (juz'
min murakkab), He is neither inside the world nor outside of it, and He
is neither connected to it nor disconnected from it' All these negations
do not represent an existent God Who is supplicated and feared, and they
do not tie people to their Lord with an unbreakable bond set up on
vigilance, godwariness, trust, reliance, humility and love! This God
isolated from the existent world, Whom Greek thought knows and from
which was transposed to modern Western thought, is unknown to Islam."

To the contrary, our liegelord `Ali ibn Abi Talib said to the Jews who
asked him about the nature of Allah Most High and "His description" :
"How can even the most eloquent tongues describe Him Who did not exist
among things so that He could be said to be 'separate from them'
(ba'in)? Rather, He is described without modality, and He is {nearer to
[man] than his jugular vein} (50:16)."(13)

Furthermore, Imam Abu Ja`far al-Tabari wrote in his Tafsir: "Allah
Almighty was, before He created things, in contact with nothing and
separate from nothing. Then He created things and brought them into
existence through His power, remaining exactly as He ever was before He
created things, in contact with nothing, separate (ba'in) from
nothing."(14)

Al-Bayhaqi reports the Ash`ari position on the issue from Ibn Mahdi
al-Tabari: The Pre-eternal One (al-Qadim) is elevated over His Throne
but neither sitting on (qa`id) nor standing on (qa'im) nor in contact
with (mumass), nor separate from (mubayin) the Throne - meaning
separate in His Essence in the sense of physical separation or distance.
For 'contact' and its opposite 'separation, ' 'standing' and its opposite
'sitting' are all the characteristics of bodies (ajsam), whereas {Allah
is One, Everlasting, neither begetting nor begotten, and there is none
like Him} (112:1-4). Therefore what is allowed for bodies is
impermissible for Him."(15)

Furthermore, Imam al-Ghazzali said in his doctrine: "Allah is not a body
possessing form, nor a substance restricted and limited, He does not
resemble bodies either in limitation or in accepting division, He is not
a substance and substances do not reside in Him; He is not a quality of
substance, nor does a quality of substance occur in Him. Rather, He
resembles no existent and no existent resembles Him. Nothing is like Him
and He is not like anything. Measure does not bind Him and boundaries do
not contain Him. Directions do not surround Him and neither the earth
nor the heavens are on different sides of Him. He established Himself
over the Throne in the sense which He said and the meaning which He
willed - in a state of Transcendence that is removed from touch,
settledness, fixity of location, stability, indwelling, and movement The
Throne does not support Him, but the Throne and those who carry it are
supported by the Subtleness of His Power and are subdued by His grip. He
is above the Throne and the Heavens and above everything to the limits
of the earth with an aboveness which does not bring Him nearer to the
Throne and the Heavens, just as it does not make Him further from the
earth Rather, He is Highly Exalted above the Throne and the Heavens,
just as He is Highly Exalted above the earth Nevertheless, He is near to
every entity and is {nearer to [man] than his jugular vein} and He
witnesses everything(16) since His nearness does not resemble the
nearness of bodies, just as His Essence does not resemble the essence of
bodies."(17)

IX. HIS DENIAL THAT CONSENSUS EXISTS

In one of his television broadcasts al-Qaradawi rejected the notion of
Consensus with the words: "There is no ijma`. Ibn al-Qayyim narrated
from Ahmad the denial of ijma`." In his book Shari`at al-Islam he has a
chapter entitled "The claim of Consensus when there is no Consensus" in
which he says: "Among the legal rulings there are those rulings which
are supported by Consensus, but when we go back to the sayings of the
Salaf or their books which address juristic variance and the positions
of the Schools, we find that this ijma` is a figment of the imagination.
This is why the two Imams al-Shafi`i and Ahmad disapproved of claiming
much ijma` and they restricted it, al-Shafi`i confining it to the
religious matters which are known with certitude such as zuhr being four
rak`as and the like."

The denial of Consensus is a Mu`tazili principle and the claim that Imam
al-Shafi`i or Imam Ahmad denied the existence of Consensus is a
corruption of their specific statement that "if no objection is known,
it does not amount to a consensus, and whoever claims consensus [in such
a case] is lying," particularly that claimed by non-Sunnis such as Bishr
al-Marrisi and al-Asamm.(18) Among the affirmations of consensus related
from al-Shafi`i and Ahmad:

- "{And when the Quran is recited, give ear to it and pay heed, that you
may obtain mercy} (7:204). Ahmad said: 'People [i.e. the Scholars of
clout] agree by consensus (ajma`a al-nas) that this verse concerns the
prayer.'"(19)

- "Ahmad said.. 'the Muslims agree by consensus (ajma`a al-muslimun)
without objection that whenever they see earthquakes and torrential
rains they say: This is the qudra of Allah Most High.'"(20)

- Imam Ahmad said: "Ihram from the starting-points (al-mawaqit) is
better as it is the agreed-upon Sunna by Consensus."( 21)

- In his letter to Muhammad ibn Musarhad al-Basri Imam Ahmad states:
"The scholars we met all agree by Consensus... "(22)

- Concerning the hadith that the Messenger of Allah, upon him blessings
and peace forbade the usurious rollover of debt to a new term (naha `an
bay` al-kali' bil-kali') Imam Ahmad said: "Nothing sound is related to
this effect, however, the consensus of the people is that it is
impermissible to sell a debt for a debt."(23) Similarly he made
Consensus the decisive factor in putting into practice the hadith "Arabs
among themselves and clients (mawali) among themselves are all adequate
marriage matches (akfa') except a weaver (ha'ik) and a cupper (hajjam)."
When it was objected that the himself had weakened it he simply replied:
"Al-`amalu `alayh."(24)

- In reply to the question which Companion should be followed if there
is variance among their opinions on a single issue, al-Shafi`i said:
"One of them can be followed if I do not find a Qur'anic proof, nor a
Sunna, nor Consensus, nor anything tantamount to the above, or inferable
by analogy."(25)

- Al-Shafi`i said: "People agree by Consensus (ajma`a al-nas) that
whoever is sure of a sunna as coming from the Messenger of Allah, upon
him blessings and peace, he has no option to leave it in exchange for
anyone's saying."(26)

- Concerning Abu Hanifa's ruling that a Muslim be executed for the death
of a disbeliever: "Al-Shafi`i said there is consensus to the opposite of
the position of the Hanafis."(27)

- "Al-Shafi`i reported that there was Consensus to the fact that the
ruler's decision does not make the haram halal."(28)

- Al-Shafi`i said: "The Ulema agree by Consensus that Allah Most High
will not inflict punishment over a matter concerning which there was
disagreement. "(29) "I hear no one saying other than that the repudiation
made Law by Allah is the man's statement to his wife: 'You are to me
like my mother's back.' Thus did it come to us from the past scholars;
and there is no disagreement among their unanimity that whoever says
this to his wife is repudiating her and he must be so considered by the
Law."(30)

- Al-Shafi`i also cited consensus on the fact that if someone buys fruit
that is sprouting, the seller is obligated to leave it on its stalks
until the time to clip it whether the buyer stipulates it or not.(31)

- In his Risala al-Shafi`i declares numerous additional rulings of
consensus: on the fact that the political imam of the Muslims is one,
the caliph is one, the emir is one, and the qadi is one (§1154); on the
invalidity of the prayer of someone in a major state of impurity; on the
lack of blood money and "compensation for wounds inflicted" against
someone who mutilates the dead (§1643); blood money for manslaughter of
a free Muslim by a Muslim as 100 camels payable by the culprit's clan
(§1536); and that these camels be of specific ages and paid in
installments of three thirds over three years (§1536); but, for
deliberate murder or despoliation, payable by the individual (§1538)
while the clan must furnish up to one third of the blood money for
wounds up to murder (§1539), and from one third or more for manslaughter
(§1548).(32) He mentions consensus in additional issues as well.

The denial of Consensus typifies modernist la-madhhabis and stems from
two lusts: the itch to speak despite ignorance and the itch to break the
strictures of the Law and make halal every haram possible. Thus, in his
never-ending quest for the oddest, most bizarre, and most immoral fatwa,
al-Qaradawi is even on record as allowing income from the proceeds of
usury and gambling, and he has the gall to attribute this to al-Hasan
and Ibn Sirin,(33) and he specifies that one or two percent of interest
is allowed as long as it is called "administrative fees" (khadamat
idariyya).(34)

X. QARADAWI'S SPECIOUS FIQH

Dr. Nur al-Din `Itr narrated respectively in his class and in a private
communication to this author that al-Qaradawi once caused consternation
in Turkey during a stay when he shortened prayers for forty consecutive
days in full knowledge that he would reside in that place for that
length of time, and that Dr. Abu al-Hasan al-Nadwi would warn his
students prior to visits by al-Qaradawi to India: "Take his da`wa skills
but steer clear of his fiqh," although they paid each other courtesies
in their respective books

Among the examples of al-Qaradawi' s newfangled understanding of fiqh and
hadith:

Qutbian Qaradawi said: "I requested the Emir of Qatar to wash his hands
seven times, one of them with earth, after he shook hands with [Israeli
minister] Peres"(35) (a ludicrous ruling), while Accommodation Qaradawi
claimed that the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace stood up for the
funeral bier of a Jew out of respect for the latter.(36) However, the
Prophet, upon him blessings and peace himself added: "You are not
getting up for the funeral bier but you are only getting up for him who
seizes the souls," meaning the angel of death, as narrated in Ahmad,
`Abd ibn Humayd, Ibn Hibban, al-Hakim, al-Bayhaqi, and elsewhere.
Qutbian Qaradawi forbade Muslims from getting up for the Messenger of
Allah, upon him blessings and peace.(37)

Accommodation Qaradawi urged the Taliban not to destroy the Buddha
statues in Afghanistan in 2001. Upon meeting with leaders from the
Taliban, Qutbian Qaradawi reversed this position and condoned the act of
the destruction of the statues although averring that the Taliban "were
living in the past."(38)

Accommodation Qaradawi said that jihad was purely and exclusively
defensive, adducing that this was the position of "the likes of Shaykh
Abu Zahra, Shaykh Rashid Rida, Shaykh Mahmud Shaltut, Shaykh `Abd Allah
Daraz, and Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali.( 39) He abolished the jizya on the
grounds that equal military service for both Christians and Muslims
renders it moot,(40) called the Copts of Egypt who were killed in the
Israeli wars "shuhada'"(41) and said "our enmity with Israel is because
of land, not religion,"(42) considers lapidation (rajm) not a hadd or
fixed penalty which must be applied upon conviction (as per the
Consensus reported by Ibn Hazm and Ibn `Abidin among others) but a
ta`zir or discretionary penalty which is up to the Muslim ruler to apply
or abolish,(43) called for blood donations for the survivors of
September 11, and in al-Islam wal-Gharb protested vehemently, in reply
to an American periodical, that "There is leeway, in life, for more than
one religion.... the diversity of religions is for the welfare of
humankind" while Qutbian Qaradawi in Fiqh al-Awwaliyyat (p. 44) stated
"There is no leeway in life except for the Godfearing" and he recounted
in al-`Ibada fil-Islam (p. 309-310) that he mocked and corrected an
Egyptian Shaykh who had suggested it would have been better, instead of
talking about battles, to teach people something about the necessary
fiqh of purity and prayer during Ramadan by telling him: "It makes no
sense that we should leave all these Suras and verses that mention jihad
for only one Qur'anic verse which mentions purity!" In a July 2006
fatwa, he urged the Sunnis and Shi`is of Iraq to unite but in a January
2007 fatwa he urged the Iraqi Kurds to join the Sunnis of Iraq in their
war against Iraq's Shi`is.

Qutbian Qaradawi on television and in print declared it categorically
forbidden (haram) for a woman to leave her house perfumed(44) although
the default ruling is mere preferential dislike, and becomes
categorically prohibited only with the intention to be noticed by
foreign men. It is established that the Mothers of the Believers
perfumed themselves heavily before leaving their homes for pilgrimage.
Then Accommodation Qaradawi clamored: "I am against the niqab"(45)
although, in the beginning of al-Sahwa al-Islamiyya, he states: "What is
it that worries our contemporary brethren if the Muslim girl dons a
hijab or even a niqab?" The question includes him. He is also known as
taking pride in shaking hands with women ("ana usafih!") and he scoffs
at those who disallow it in his Madkhal li-Dirasat al-Sunnat
al-Nabawiyya (p. 202). He shares this view with Hasan al-Turabi,
Muhammad Habash, permissive Sufis, and Hizb al-Tahrir, who also add the
permissibility of kissing. Time after time al-Qaradawi on TV and in his
books such as Awlawiyyat al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, Malamih al-Mujtama`
al-Muslim, and Markaz al-Mar'a deplores the fact that Western Muslims
segregate between men and women in their social and scholarly functions!

- To support his declaration of the licitness of stage, television and
movie acting for women in the periodicals al-Mujtama` (p. 1319), Akhbar
al-Usbu` (no. 401, 5 March 1994), and Sayyidatuhum (no. 678 on 10 March
1994) he said: "Our proof for this is that the Qur'anic narrative since
Adam until the Seal of Prophets features women."

- He advocates complete reliance on astronomical calculation for the
determination of the new months on the grounds that it unites the Umma
although there is Consensus in the Four Schools that calculation never
replaces actual sighting but is used only to confirm or invalidate it as
stated in Shaykh Muhammad Afifi's definitive Moonrises fatwa and
elsewhere.(46)

XI. HE PERMITS INCOME FROM THE THE SALE OF ALCOHOL AND PORK

At first, Qutbian Qaradawi in the beginning of his book Ghayr
al-Muslimin affirmed that "it is impermissible for the Muslim to own
alcohol or swine, whether for himself or to sell it to others," and this
is indeed the gist of the explicit hadith in the Six Books: "Truly,
Allah and His Prophet have declared illicit the sale of alcohol,
carrion, swine, and idols." The Prophet also said, upon him blessings
and peace: "Truly when Allah makes something prohibited, He makes its
value prohibited as well." (Ibn Abi Shayba from Ibn `Abbas) But
Accommodation Qaradawi later allowed for Muslim shop owners to sell
alcoholic beverages "as long as most of the wares being sold are
non-alcoholic" and "preferably through the handling of non-Muslim
employees so the Muslims' consciences will be clear" according to the
second conference of the Dublin-based European Council for Fatwa and
Research which he presides He explicitly gave the same permission "as
long as the good [being sold] is more than the evil" and "let him get a
Christian to sell it for him."(47) The Mufti of Egypt, Shaykh `Ali
Jumu`a, gave the same fatwa (no. 4189) toward the end of 2005. These are
all innovated provisions which make light of the Law and the Prophetic
prohibition which explicitly curses, among ten types, "whoever sells
alcohol" or "profits from its sale"(48) in any way or proportion, as
mentioned by all of the condemnations the fatwas drew. The same Council
also declared it licit to eat food which contained pork "in a proportion
less than 1%."(49)

In a mid-1999 al-Jazira channel broadcast al-Qaradawi declared licit the
sales of alcohol and pork by Muslims through non-Muslim employees He
adduced a report in which our liegelord `Umar said: "Let the
covenantees (ahl al-dhimma) sell it to one another." In reality, this
report in no way refers to Muslim property but to non-Muslim property.
Furthermore, al-Qasim ibn Sallam explained in al-Amwal that the context
was the payment of the dhimmi tithes known as jizya and kharaj
concerning which our liegelord `Umar said for the tithe-collector
(al-`ashir) not to collect the tenth of swine or alcohol property in
kind and then task the Muslims with selling it, but to collect its
currency value after its sale (thaman) by the dhimmis themselves, as is
the position of Masruq, Ibrahim al-Nakha`i, Abu Hanifa, Muhammad, and
Ahmad according to one of two positions related from him.(50)

More than that, there is full Consensus (ijma`):

1. That the sale and purchase of alcohol is categorically
prohibited.( 51)

2. That the sale and purchase of swine is categorically prohibited.( 52)
Even more, the Hanafi Mufti of Zaytuna University Shaykh Muhammad
al-Hattab Bushnaq wrote 70 years ago: "The jurists reached consensus
that the sale of swine is invalid and that it does not take place at
all, whether in its substance or in its description, because it is
impure in itself (najis al-`ayn) and it is not permitted to profit from
it in any way whatsoever." (53)

XII. HE PERMITS THE CONSUMPTION OF CARRION

Al-Qaradawi said in al-Halal wal-Haram(54) that it was licit to eat
chicken that had been suffocated by wringing its neck as well as beef
from livestock stunned to death as long as they had been killed by a
Christian or a Jew who "consider it licit in their law to slaughter
animals that way." He based himself on an extremely controverted passage
of Ibn al-`Arabi's Ahkam al-Qur'an which interprets in absolute and
unconditional terms the verse {The food of those who have received the
Scripture is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them} (5:5),
although on the preceding page Ibn al-`Arabi himself explicitly
declared: "If it is asked what about what they eat without dhakat, such
as suffocation or shattering the skull? The answer is that such is
carrion and categorically prohibited as stipulated by the text of the
Law. Even if they eat it, we do not eat it with them, the same as swine:
it is licit to them and part of their food and it is categorically
prohibited for us."(55)

In the beginning of his discussion al-Qaradawi attributes Ibn
al-`Arabi's shadhdh statement to "a group of the Malikis," an
unadulterated fabrication according to Sayyid `Abd al-Hayy al-Ghumari in
his refutation (see below).

In the process of his discussion, al-Qaradawi asserted that "the common
understanding of dhakat is the process of terminating the animal's life
with the intention of making its consumption licit," and he once again
falsely attributes this outlandish definition to the Maliki School. This
definition is unheard of, as dhakat of birds and livestock is understood
in Islam and in Arabic to obligatorily entail cutting and/or
bloodletting as explicitly stated in the fatwas of our liegelords `Umar
(in Sufyan al-Thawri's Jami`, `Abd al-Razzaq's Musannaf, and al-Bayhaqi)
and Ibn `Abbas (in al-Bukhari, `Abd al-Razzaq, and al-Bayhaqi): "Dhakat
is either in the gullet (al-halq) or in the upper torso (al-labba)"( 56)
and as stipulated in the Four Schools,(57) hence Ibn Qudama in the
Mughni said it is synonymous with slitting the throat (al-dhabh). In
cases the gullet and torso are unreachable or impractical, the Prophet,
upon him blessings and peace allowed hamstringing, as in the sound
hadith of Malik ibn Qahtam al-Darimi in the Sunan and Musnad: "Messenger
of Allah, does the dhakat have to be only in the gullet and upper
torso?" He replied: "If you stabbed it in the thigh it would fulfill
your obligation." Yazid ibn Harun commented, as narrated by al-Tirmidhi:
"That is, in case of absolute necessity."

Against Consensus(58) and against every norm of the Law and the Four
Schools, al-Qaradawi even included Zoroastrians among those whose
slaughters are licit, although the Prophetic hadith in `Abd al-Razzaq,
Ibn Abi Shayba, and elsewhere concerning them explicitly states: "Give
them the status of Ahl al-Kitab but neither marry them nor eat their
food!" He claims that the latter half of the hadith was declared
inauthentic by the Scholars without providing a single example or source
to that effect In reality, it is independently confirmed by our
liegelord `Ali's explicit statement that the slaughtered meats and
wedlock of the Magians were illicit and this is the ruling of the Four
Schools as spelled out in the entirety of the hadith, which al-Bayhaqi
in his Ma`rifat al-Sunan wal-Athar declared authentic.(59) The latter
also cited al-Shafi`i's reference to Malik's narration in the Muwatta'
which simply states: "Give them the status of Ahl al-Kitab" with a
broken chain, but Ibn `Abd al-Barr said: "Its meaning is connected
through various fair chains."(60) Al-Shafi`i said: "If authentic, it
means: except for marriage and slaughtered meats."

Critics such as al-Ghumari and al-Fawzan have noted that, although
ostensibly quoting Ibn al-`Arabi's text in quotation marks with a
sourcing, al-Qaradawi was careful to rephrase it for two purposes:
first, to make it more palatable to a non-Muslim reader; thus Ibn
al-`Arabi's sentence "they [treaty non-Muslims] give us their children
and women as chattel in peace treaties" becomes, in al-Qaradawi' s
quotation, "they give us their women as wives," without mention of
children, chattel, or peace treaties; second, to make it more pliable to
his desired fatwa that animals that are electrically stunned to death
are licit for consumption; thus, he "disappears" Ibn al-`Arabi's entire
passage "as stipulated by the text of the Law. Even if they eat it, we
do not eat it with them, the same as swine: it is licit to them and part
of their food and it is categorically prohibited for us"

In 1985 Sayyid `Abd al-Hayy al-Ghumari published a scathing refutation
of al-Qaradawi on this specific issue which he entitled Hukm al-Lahm
al-Mustawrad min Urubba al-Nasraniyya ("The Status of Meat Imported
from Christian Europe"), prefaced by Shaykh `Ali Jumu`a, and in which he
demonstrated in over a hundred pages al-Qaradawi' s violations of the
canons of usul, fiqh, tafsir, and the Arabic language.

XIII. HE DECLARES CELIBACY CATEGORICALLY FORBIDDEN FOR ALL

In al-Halal wal-Haram al-Qaradawi said, "It is illicit for a Muslim to
avoid marriage, when he's able to marry, on the pretext of devotion to
Allah or dedication to worship and monkery and renouncing the world..
one of the Ulema said marriage is a categorical obligation upon every
Muslim (faridatun `ala kulli Muslimin) which it is not licit for him to
leave as long as he's able to do it" This is lawmaking, no more and no
less The Four Schools agree that marriage is not a universal categorical
obligation but a desirable Sunna and that a person who leaves it,
although able to marry, does not commit a sin if celibacy does not cause
him to disobey Allah Most High.(61) Al-Qari said: "Some Ulema
exaggerated and claimed that marriage is better than isolation for the
worship of Allah Most High... but if there is in someone a craving which
disrupts concentration then it becomes imperative to bear with
dependents and trust in Allah Most High for the rest" but, he states,
"on condition that he has licit income, a good character, and
earnestness in religion so that marriage will not distract him from
Allah, and while he is young and in need to allay his lust and by
himself and in need to run a household and livelihood." (62)

XIV. HIS WEAKNESS IN HADITH

In his "Mabadi' Asasiyya Fikriyya wa-`Amaliyya fil-Taqrib bayn
al-Madhahib" which we already mentioned, al-Qaradawi disputes the
authenticity of the hadith "My Umma shall separate into seventy-three
sects," saying: "An indication that it is inauthentic is that it is
found neither in al-Bukhari nor in Muslim." In fact, the Ulema of hadith
concurred that al-Bukhari and Muslim did not include into their
respective collections everything that was authentic. Then he said:
"Therefore, it is inauthentic according to the criterion of each of
them."(63) In fact, al-Bukhari and Muslim both excluded much that was
authentic according to their respective criteria as shown by
al-Daraqutni and others. These two blunders are among the leitmotiv of
those who have no familiarity with hadith and try to poke holes into the
Sunna and its sciences.

In his book Kayfa Nata`amalu ma`a al-Sunna (which al-`Alwani's
International Institute of Islamic Thought translated and published in
2007) he perpetuates the false claim that "there are some scholars who
do not accept the weak hadiths even in the encouragement to good and the
discouragement against evil, heart-softening matters, and simple living,
among them Muslim, al-Bukhari, Yahya ibn Ma`in, Ibn Hazm al-Zahiri, Qadi
Ibn `Arabi, and Abu Shama." He is not correct about a single one of
those scholars but this is a diehard misrepresentation by "Salafis"
stemming from mutual blind imitation as we demonstrated in our treatment
of the issue in Sunna Notes I and The Four Imams and Their Schools.

In his Thaqafat al-Da`iya (p. 111) al-Qaradawi disparages a major Imam
of the Salaf in a statement dripping with modernism and revisionism:
"May Allah forgive Imam al-Tabari, for his carelessness has disfigured
the history of the dawn of Islam and harmed the first bearers of the
message." That such impertinence be disseminated about the father of
Islamic history and one of the greatest early authorities in Hadith and
the Law without a peep of condemnation is a sign of the times.
Similarly, one of al-Qaradawi' s junior book-imitators called Ibn Hajar
al-Haytami "a flat-out bigot" on a Sunni website without compunction. As
Imam al-Qurtubi said: "They shall show up at the end of time, curse the
scholars, and insult the jurists."(64)

XV. HIS DISPARAGEMENT OF THE ULEMA

Qutbian Qaradawi takes care to varnish the books he intends for mass
dissemination with an appeal to the modern public's egalitarian
infatuations In familiar Ikhwani style, he mocks the science of `aqida
in the opening pages of his book Wujud Allah ("Those who forward the
Prime Mover argument (dalil al-huduth) with all its aridity and
short-sightedness" ) while he mocks the attention of fiqh to details in
his book al-`Ibada fil-Islam where he says: "Knowledge of the prayer is
the dry acquaintance with its conditions, pillars, requirements, and
desirable acts. Let us leave aside this prolixity and these subdivisions
and complications which have made our fiqh books rotund and pot-bellied,
what with 'pillars' and 'conditions' and 'obligations' and
'requirements' and 'desirable acts' and 'nullifications' and 'dislikes!'
A specialist is allowed to study the modalities of worship in this
fashion as long as it is for himself; but to teach this to everyone else
is a manifest error."(65) A few pages down he mocks a scholar for
teaching the fiqh of purity during the month of Ramadan, saying: "The
month is finishing and the miskin is not out of the toilet yet!"

This discourse is straight from Sayyid Qutb, who said that "short of
establishing this society [i.e. the Qutbian State], activity in the
field of Islamic fiqh and its rulings and regulations is pure
self-deceit and sowing seeds in the wind This is not working for Islam.
It is part neither of the methodology of this religion nor its nature.
It would be better to busy oneself with literature, art, or commerce
instead of this waste of time and reward."(66) No wonder, al-Qaradawi
violates the Consensus of the Ulema on numerous issues, including their
Consensus that the divorce of a woman in her menses takes effect while
he says it does not.(67)

Yet, Accommodation Qaradawi said in his book al-Rasul wal-`Ilm: "It is
imperative for the Muslim to learn that by which he knows his doctrine
with certitude and soundness, free of shirk and superstitions, and that
by which he corrects his worship of his Lord outwardly so that it will
conform to the lawful form, as well as inwardly so that he will have
sincere intention for Allah Most High, etc." Why then does he mock the
people of learning who help the Muslim do just that? And are his claims
that the nature-loving believers "see the face of Allah in Nature"
(yarawna wajha Allahi fi hadhihi al-tabi`a),( 68) calling Him "a Higher
Force" (quwwatun `ulya)(69) or that "worshippers at prayer address the
Force with Undying Energy (al-quwwatu al-lati la yafna nashatuha) that
it ties us, when we pray, with the Major Force (al-quwwat al-`uzma)
which has full hegemony over the universe, asking and supplicating It to
grant us a firebrand from Itself (qabasan minha) with which we can help
ourselves to deal with life"(70) examples of sound doctrine? Or his
statement that "Allah is a unit (wahdatun) not only in His substance (la
fijawharihi fa-hasb) but also in the goal to Him (bal fil-ghayati ilayhi
aydan)."(71)

XVI. HIS PROPENSITY FOR TAKFIR OF THE MUSLIMS

Among al-Qaradawi' s ultra-Qutbian and "Salafi" innovations is his
Khariji leaning for takfir and inability to stop where the Law stops.
Instead of simply saying: "This is haram," or "this is a sin,"
al-Qaradawi maximizes the anathema of minor and major sins in contexts
which Qutb himself did not necessarily envisage, and he goes to
extremities which the Salafis themselves did not reach. Worse, he
blindly lambasts even virtues as antithetical to Islam, and sometimes
sounds like a law-making Prophet. He says:

- "For every believer not to emphasize the feeding of the poor is among
the necessary causes of kufr."(72) However, the verses condemning those
who do not feed the poor clarify that these are disbelievers to start
with.

- "Whoever fears other than Allah is a mushrik,"(73) although the
Blessed Qur'an explicitly mentions such fear concerning some of the
Prophets as well as the Muhajirun and Ansar.

- "He is not a worshipper of Allah, who outwardly completes the
pilgrimage but does not observe the etiquette of Islam and its
traditions in himself or his family, such as the man who wears pure
silk, wears gold, or imitates women; or the women who wears revealing
apparel."(74) This is unprecedented Khariji ijtihad while Ahl al-Sunna
say that the above transgressions constitute sins and such a pilgrimage
is precluded from being mabrur, however, the transgressors remain
Muslims.

- "Whoever pronounces a triple divorce in a single sitting has contested
Allah in His Law and has deviated from the straight path of Islam."(75)
The Ulema one and all have said this is an innovation and an act of
disobedience, not kufr.

- "Idleness on the part of the able-bodied is categorically forbidden
(haram), nor is it licit for a Muslim to be lazy with regard to the
pursuit of his livelihood in the name of dedication to worship or
reliance on Allah Most High, for the heaven does not rain gold or
silver, just as it is illicit to rely on charity."(76) "A human being
who does not work does not deserve to live."(77) "Neglect of this world
and the devaluation of its importance in the estimation of the seeker of
the hereafter can only be a blameworthy matter which is out of the pale
of the primordial Sunna and the path of Religion both."(78) Such talk is
itself outside the pale since the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace
feared the overvaluation of the world for his Umma, not its
undervaluation. Modernists promote materialism with unparalleled zeal
while the Salaf's compiled report after report devaluating this world
and promoting dedication to worship and reliance on Allah Most High, as
shown by the early Imams' books entitled al-Zuhd by Sufyan al-Thawri,
Hannad ibn Sari, Ibn al-Mubarak, Waki` ibn al-Jarrah, Ibn Abi `Asim, Ibn
al-A`rabi (several works), Abu Hatim al-Razi, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, his son,
and al-Bayhaqi among others.

- He cites the very weak hadith, 'Poverty borders on kufr'"(79) then,
elsewhere, claims "There is not a single verse in the Book of Allah and
not a single sound Prophetic hadith praising poverty."(80) However,
Allah Most High praised {the poor among the emigrants who have been
driven out from their homes and their belongings, who seek bounty from
Allah and help Allah and His messenger. They are the loyal}, and {Those
who entered the city and the faith before them love these who flee unto
them for refuge, and find in their breasts no need for that which hath
been given them, but prefer (the emigrants) above themselves though
poverty become their lot And whoso is saved from his own avarice such
are they who are successful} (59:8-9). Al-Bukhari in his Sahih included
the "chapter-title on the immense merits of poverty" while the Sunan
abound with authentic hadiths exalting poverty and the poor here and
hereafter!

- "The new Muslim does not part with the polytheists if he does not
adduce the zakat."(81) Yet the Umma concurs that Abu Bakr fought the
Arabian tribes over zakat not because they had reverted to disbelief,
but because they had broken the Law.

- "People, even the Muslims themselves, have wronged worship, corrupted
its original form, reality, and place in understanding, style, theory,
and practice.... and among latter-day Muslim we have even seen... those
who obey in absolute terms other than Allah."(82) And he says, "When
the Muslims were Muslims."(83) This is classic Qutb fare.

XVII. HIS OVER-THE-TOP LAXISM TOWARD NON-MUSLIMS

In al-Halal wal-Haram al-Qaradawi says of non-Muslims: "To love them
(mawaddatuhum) was made law for us" then he dismisses the Qur'anic
verses which contradict him thus: "How do we implement piety (birr),
love (mawadda), and excellent companionship (husn al-`ushra) with
non-Muslims when the Qur'an Itself prohibits from loving the
disbelievers and taking them as patrons and allies? The answer is that
the verses to that effect only refer to those who actively show enmity
to Islam and fight the Muslims."(84) However, Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari
said: "Piety (birr), family links (sila) and excellent behavior (ihsan)
do not presuppose mutual love and affection (al-tahabub wal-tawadud) ,
which are both forbidden by the verse {You will not find a people
believing in Allah and the Last Day who at the same time love (yuwaddun)
those who defy Allah and the Prophet}, which includes both those who
fight [against Muslims] and those who do not."(85)

Al-Qaradawi ever so often applies to all non-Muslims the juridical
phrase "They have the rights we have and are subject to the same
liabilities" (lahum ma lana wa-`alayhim ma `alayna).(86) But there is
firm Consensus that this can only be said about a jizya-paying
covenantee from Ahl al-Kitab, not all non-Muslims indifferently. In the
same vein he keeps sounding the term "heavenly religions,"( 87) a Western
term disowned by sound Islamic doctrine which affirms the oneness of
heavenly religions although the dispensations and scriptures are more
than one. Similarly, al-Qaradawi' s Western book-imitators drip with
sheepish courtesy with Orientalists and missionaries but, when it comes
to Sunni Muslims and their scholars, they snarl and growl.

In his book al-Islam wal-Gharb he states: "Allah asked Iblis to dialogue
with him: {He said: O Iblis! What hinders you from falling prostrate
before that which I have created with both My hands? Are you too proud
or are you of the high?} (38:75). This tells us that there is vast
leeway for dialogue in Islamic thought." However, the commentaries agree
that such address does not constitute a query, even less dialogue, but
"scoff and condemnation in the guise of query" (istifham tawbikh
wa-inkar). However, the perverting of the Qur'anic meanings through
unheard-of interpretations is no object to those who push the agenda of
what Sayyid Muhammad al-Ya`qubi called a campaign of neutralization
through co-option posing as interfaith activity.

In his book al-Sahwat al-Islamiyya bayna al-Ikhtilaf al-Mashru`
wal-Tafarruq al-Madhmum he states: "Even the idolatrous polytheists were
not addressed by the Qur'an as ya ayyuha al-mushrikun, but It addressed
them as ayyuha al-nas. There is not a single address to the polytheists
with the title shirk or kufr except in Surat al-Kafirun, and that for a
special circumstance. " It is as if he never heard Surat al-Tahrim {O
disbelievers! (ya ayyuha al-ladhina kafaru) Make no excuses for
yourselves this day} (66:7) or al-Waqi`a {Then lo! you, the erring, the
deniers (ayyuha al-dallun al-mukadhdhibun) } (56:51) or al-Zumar {Say: Do
you bid me serve other than Allah? O you fools! (ayyuha al-jahilun)}
(39:64).

XVIII. HIS QADARISM

In yet another astonishing misinterpretation of the Qur'an, he states in
his book Ghayr al-Muslimin that "a Muslim believes that people's
differences in religion took place by the will of Allah Who has granted
this species of His creatures freedom and the ability to choose whatever
he does and whatever he leaves, {So whoever wishes, let them believe,
and whoever wishes, let them disbelieve} (28:18)." However, the
commentaries said that this statement is not a proposal of choice at all
but, as related from our liegelords Ibn `Abbas and `Ali, a threat of
dire punishment (tahdid wa-wa`id) and sarcasm (tahakkum)!( 88)

The doctrine of qadarism which lurk in al-Qaradawi' s words cited in the
preceding paragraph is explicit in his statements elsewhere: "Those who
worshipped certain things and turned man from the master of the universe
into a puny slave who prostrates to a star or to something else,
whatever history has recorded among the delusions and misguidances of
mankind when they deviated from the Divine guidance, contrary to what
Allah willed for human beings and contrary to what He willed from human
beings"(89); "Truly, the staunch Qur'anic law is that peoples and
societies do not change according to a heavenly, Divinely decreed
command, but according to an earthly, human effort!"(90)

Mashhur Hasan Salman said in his unpublished lessons on Sahih Muslim:
"Refuting al-Qaradawi is a collective categorical obligation which I
hope to fulfill, for corruption at his hands is not only in the branches
of the Law. Long sections on the prohibition of singing and this and
that will not do. The matter is not just that but requires that we
clearly show the crookedness of his foundations (usul). For the
multitude of errors in the branches signals crookedness in the
foundations, even if he does not show it explicitly. Therefore, to shed
light on the latter necessitates someone who knows the foundation on
which every single issue is constructed and elaborated.. . We need an
excellent comprehensive and definitive reference-book. "

WAllahu a`lam.

NOTES

1. See on this our Sunna Notes III: The Binding Proof of the Sunna (p.
45).

2.
http://www.taghrib. org/arabic/ nashat/elmia/ markaz/nashatat/ elmia/matboat/ resalataltaghrib /13/11.htm.

3. Islamonline Fatwa Committee, 19 April 2001.

4. Al-Qaradawi, al-`Ibadatu fil-Islam (p. 252) and Fiqh al-Zakat. His
friend Faysal Mawlawi said the same fatwa was given before him by Siddiq
Hasan Khan, Rashid Rida, Mahmud Shaltut, and Muhammad Hasanayn Makhluf
cf. http://www.mawlawi. net/fatwa. asp?fid=1025 as of August, 2007.

5. Al-Qaradawi, al-`Ibadatu fil-Islam (p. 249).

6. Al-Qaradawi, al-`Ibada fil-Islam (p. 71). He repeats this declaration
of apostasy in Limadha al-Islam (p. 10-14) and the periodical al-Aman
no. 236 (1996).

7. Cf. Fi Zilal al-Qur'an (2:972, 2:1018, 2:1075, 3:1198, 3:1257,
4:1945, 4:2122...) and Ma`alim fil-Tariq ("Milestones" ) toward the
beginning.

8. Cf. Fi Zilal al-Qur'an (3:1449-1451) .

9. Sayyid Qutb, al-Taswir al-Fanni fil-Qur'an (p. 133, 162, 166).

10. In the Lebanese periodical al-Shihab (Year 6 no. 1).

11. In the Lebanese periodical al-Shihab (Year 4 no. 10 and Year 7 no.
2).

12. Al-Albani in al-Wadi`i, Iskat (p. 176).

13. Narrated by Abu Nu`aym in Hilyat al-Awliya' (1997 ed 1:114 §227).

14. Al-Tabari, Tafsir (8:97-100).

15. Al-Bayhaqi, al-Asma' wal-Sifat (Kawthari ed p. 410-411=Hashidi ed
2:308-309).

16. The passage beginning with the words "He established Himself over
the Throne" and ending with the words "and he witnesses everything" is
an exact quotation from al-Ash`ari's al-Ibana (Mahmud ed 2:21= Sabbagh
ed p. 35) except for the phrase "just as it does not make Him further
from the earth."

17. Al-Ghazzali, "Foundations of Islamic Belief" (Qawa`id al-`Aqa'id) in
his Rasa'il and Ihya' `Ulum al-Din cf. al-Zabidi's commentary entitled
Ithaf al-Sadat al-Muttaqin (2:19-33).

18. In Ibn al-Qayyim, I`lam al-Muwaqqi`in (1:30). As for the statement
"whoever claims the existence of consensus is lying," al-Shawkani alone
relates it thus in his Irshad al-Fuhul cf. `Abd Allah al-Ghumari,
al-Sayf al-Battar (p. 40).

19. Ibn Muflih, al-Mubdi` (2:52).Ibn Duyan, Manar al-Sabil (1:118-119),
al-Tahtawi, Hashiya `ala Maraqi al-Falah (p. 152).

20. `Aqida of Imam Ahmad as narrated from Abu al-Fadl al-Tamimi by Ibn
Abi Ya`la in Tabaqat al-Hanabila.

21. In Ibn `Abd al-Barr, al-Istidhkar (11:82) cf. Ibn al-Qattan, Iqna`
(2:772 §1392).

22. In Ibn Abi Ya`la, Tabaqat al-Hanabila (1:342-343).

23. Ibn Hajar, Talkhis al-Habir (3:26-27).

24. Miswaddat Al Taymiyya (p. 246-247).

25. Al-Shafi`i, Risala (§1805).

26. Narrated by al-Bayhaqi in his Madkhal as cited by Ibn al-Qayyim in
I`lam al-Muwaqqi`in (2:282), al-San`ani in Irshad al-Nuqqad (p. 143),
and Salih al-Fullani in Iqaz Himam Uli al-Absar (p. 103, p. 114).

27. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir (2:63), al-Zurqani, Sharh al-Muwatta' (4:251).

28. Al-Shawkani, al-Darari al-Mudiyya (1:417) and Nayl al-Awtar (9:188).

29. Sa`id Hawwa, Jawlat fil-Fiqhayn wa-Usulihima (p. 119).

30. Al-Shafi`i as quoted in Ibn al-Mughallis al-Zahiri's al-Mudih cf.
Ibn al-Qattan, Iqna` (3:1343 §2472-2473).

31. Ibn Dawud al-Zahiri's al-Ijaz as cited by Ibn al-Qattan in his Iqna`
(4:1744 §3403).

32. Cf. Ibn al-Qattan, Iqna` (1:113 §182; 1:254 §398; 4:1970-1971
§3820-3824).

33. Al-Qaradawi, Fiqh al-Awwaliyyat (p. 171).

34. In the episode entitled Shurut al-Fatwa of the TV program al-Muntada
on 10 February 1998 and in the episode entitled As'ilatun lil-Mushahidin
of the TV program al-Shari`atu wal-Hayat on 12 April 1998.

35. Al-Qaradawi in the Egyptian periodical al-Ahram no. 95.

36. Al-Qaradawi, Ghayr al-Muslimin fil-Mujtama` al-Islami (p. 46).

37. Al-Qaradawi, al-`Ibada fil-Islam (10th ed p. 98).

38. See
http://www.themoder nreligion. com/jihad/ afghan/qaradawi- latest.html.

39. In Ghayr al-Muslimin fil-Mujtama` al-Islami (p. 17) and al-Islam
wal-Gharb (p. 19).

40. Al-Qaradawi, Ghayr al-Muslimin fil-Mujtama` al-Islami (p. 22) and in
the TV program Ghayr al-Muslimin fi Zill al-Shari`at al-Islamiyya.

41. Al-Shari`atu wal-Hayat broadcast on al-Jazira channel, episode
entitled Ghayr al-Muslimin fi Daw' al-Shari`a (12 October 1997).

42. In the periodical al-Raya no. 4696 (24 Sha`ban 1995).

43. Al-Qaradawi, al-Halal wal-Haram (p. 91), al-Marja`iyyat al-`Ulya (p.
243), Madkhal li-Dirasat al-Shari`a (p. 85), and on his program
al-Shari`a wal-Hayat, episodes entitled al-Sunnatu Masdarun lil-Tashri`
and al-Zawaj min Ghayr al-Muslimat.

44. Usama al-Sayyid, al-Qaradawi fil-`Ara' (p. 249).

45. In the newspaper al-Hayat (23 May 1998).

46. Cf. Shaykh al-Islam's Sharh Rawd al-Talib (1:410), Ibn Hajar's Fath
al-Bari (4:121-127), Ibn `Abidin's Hashiya (2:100), al-Dardir's al-Sharh
al-Kabir (1:469) and its marginalia by al-Dusuqi, the Hashiya (1:469),
and al-Buhuti's Kashshaf al-Qina` (2:302).

47. In al-Wadi`i, Iskat (p. 174-175).

48. Narrated from Ibn `Umar by Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and Abu Dawud.

49. Cf. al-Wadi`i, Iskat (p. 174-175).

50. Narrated by `Abd al-Razzaq in his Musannaf (8:195 §14853, 10:369)
and Abu `Ubayd in al-Amwal (p. 126-128) cf. Ibn Hajar, Diraya (2:162)
and al-Zayla`i, Nasb al-Raya (4:549=4:55) , also Ahmad with his chain as
cited by Ibn Qudama in al-Mughni (9:279-280).

51. Cf. Ibn `Abd al-Barr, Istidhkar (24:317), al-Qurtubi, Mufhim
(4:456), Ibn al-Mundhir, Ijma` (p. 76 §473), al-Nawawi, Majmu` (9:227),
Ibn Qudama, al-Sharh al-Kabir (4:41), Ibn al-Qattan, Iqna` (4:1774-1775
§3463-3464), and Ibn Hajar, Fath (4:415).

52. Cf. Ibn al-Mundhir, Ijma` (p. 77 §475), al-Shirazi, Muhadhdhab
(1:268), al-Nawawi, Majmu` (9:230), and Ibn al-Qattan, Iqna` (4:1774
§3462).

53. In al-Majallat al-Zaytuniyya, vol. 4 (Ramadan 1359 / October 1940)
p. 208.

54. Al-Maktab al-Islami edition (p. 48=p. 56).

55. Ibn al-`Arabi, Ahkam al-Qur'an (Sa`ada ed 1:229 = `Ilmiyya ed 2:43).

56. Al-Daraqutni also narrates it from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet,
upon him blessings and peace in his Sunan as stated by al-Zayla`i in
Nasb al-Raya but both he and Ibn Hajar in the Fath and Diraya stated its
chain was extremely flimsy as a Prophetic saying, as indicated also by
Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir.

57. Ibn Nujaym, al-Bahr al-Ra'iq (dhaba'ih, beginning); Ibn Abi Zayd,
Risala (dahaya) and Khalil's Mukhtasar; al-Shafi`i, al-Umm (dhakat,
beginning); Ibn Qudama, `Umdat al-Fiqh (dhakat, beginning).

58. Ibn `Abd al-Barr, Tamhid (2:116, 2:128).

59. Contrary to al-Albani's claim in Ghayat al-Maram (p. 46) and Irwa'
al-Ghalil (§1248).

60. Narrated by Malik from Ja`far ibn Muhammad ibn `Ali ibn al-Husayn,
from his father, from `Umar and `Abd al-Rahman ibn `Awf, and also
narrated from Ja`far, from his father, from his grandfather, from `Umar
and `Abd al-Rahman ibn `Awf. However, neither Ja`far's father nor his
grandfather met `Umar and `Abd al-Rahman ibn`Awf cf. Ibn `Abd al-Barr,
Tamhid (2:114-129).

61. Cf. al-Sarakhsi, Mabsut (4:193), Mukhtasar Khalil (p. 112),
al-Shirazi, al-Muhadhdhab (2:35), al-Buhuti, Kashshaf (5:6)....

62. Al-Qari, Sharh `Ayn al-`Ilm (1:160, 1:166).

63. Cf.
http://www.taghrib. org/arabic/ nashat/elmia/ markaz/nashatat/ elmia/matboat/ resalataltaghrib /13/11.htm.

64. Al-Qurtubi, Tafsir (7:191).

65. Al-Qaradawi, al-`Ibada fil-Islam (p. 302-303).

66. Sayyid Qutb, Fi Zilal al-Qur'an (Dar al-Shuruq ed 4:2012).

67. Al-Qaradawi, al-Halal wal-Haram (p. 198). "The divorce of the woman
in her menses does take effect as agreed by the consensus of the Imams
of fatwa." Al-Zabidi, Ithaf al-Sadat al-Muttaqin (5:396).

68. Al-Qaradawi, al-Iman wal-Hayat (p. 149).

69. Al-Qaradawi, al-Iman wal-Hayat (p. 20-21).

70. Al-Qaradawi, al-`Ibadatu fil-Islam (p. 220-221).

71. Al-Qaradawi, al-`Ibadatu fil-Islam (p. 68).

72. Al-Qaradawi, al-`Ibada fil-Islam (p. 254).

73. Al-Qaradawi, al-Iman wal-Hayat (p. 238).

74. Al-Qaradawi, al-`Ibada fil-Islam (p. 54).

75. Al-Qaradawi, al-Halal wal-Haram (p. 200).

76. Al-Qaradawi, al-Halal wal-Haram (p. 119).

77. Al-Qaradawi, al-Waqt fi Hayat al-Muslim (p. 67).

78. Al-Qaradawi, al-`Ibada fil-Islam (p. 182).

79. Al-Qaradawi, Mushkilat al-Faqr (p. 15).

80. Al-Qaradawi in the newspaper al-Liwa' (3 July 1996 p. 15).

81. Al-Qaradawi, Mushkilat al-Faqr (p. 69-71).

82. Al-Qaradawi, al-`Ibada fil-Islam (p. 8).

83. Al-Qaradawi in the newspaper al-Liwa' on 26 October 1998.

84. Al-Qaradawi, al-Halal wal-Haram (p. 47, 247).

85. Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari (5:233), al-Shawkani, Nayl al-Awtar (6:4).

86. Such as in his book Islam and Secularism (p. 101).

87. Al-Qaradawi, al-Halal wal-Haram (p. 14), al-Khasa'is al-`Ammatu
lil-Islam (p. 160).

88. Cf. Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Tabari, al-Nahhas, al-Baghawi, Ibn al-Jawzi,
al-Qurtubi, al-Razi, Ibn `Abd al-Salam, Ibn Juzay, al-Mawardi,
al-Zamakhshari, Jalalayn, Ibn Kathir, al-Biqa`i, Ibn `Adil,
al-Shawkani. ...

89. Al-Qaradawi, al-Khasa'is al-`Ammatu lil-Islam (p. 77).

90. Al-Qaradawi, al-Sahwatu al-Islamiyya wa-Humum al-Watan al-`Arabi
wal-Islami (p. 221).

--

We belong to Allah and to Him is our return.
GF Haddad