Leading [Muslim] clerics urge Muslims to learn about other faiths in drive to promote harmony Riazat Butt in Mecca June 7 2008 The Guardian [excerpt]
. . . There were signs that dialogue with other believers, specifically Jews, would be problematic….
Egyptian cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi said he would only talk to Jews who denounced Zionism… His impromptu speech, lasting 15 minutes, garnered the loudest applause, proving his popularity among fellow clerics even if the west views him with suspicion.
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Who is Sheikh Qaradawi? Hamas, as the Palestinian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, has for many years looked to Qaradawi as a religious authority and relied upon his rulings
What does Sheikh Qaradawi say?
The unexpurgated views of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi about Israel, Jews, Zionism and Palestine have been revealed for the first time in an English translation [released in Britain] of a book he wrote in Arabic four years ago. [Jewish Chronicle article]
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“Qaradawi personifies the combination of theological anti-Judaism, modern European antisemitism and conflict-driven Judeophobia that make up contemporary Islamist attitudes to Jews. “ .
..Qaradawi's classification of 'every Jew in the world' (p. 42) as an enemy may refer to contemporary events for its justification, but it has a deep theological purpose.
A chapter of the book is devoted to a discussion of the hadith [a record of a saying or deed of Muhammad] that reads: "The last day will not come unless you fight Jews. A Jew will hide himself behind stones and trees and stones and trees will say, 'O servant of Allah – or O Muslim – there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'"
This hadith is used by many radical Islamist groups to incite conflict between Muslims and Jews. It is quoted in article seven of the Hamas Covenant... Qaradawi refers to the hadith as 'one of the miracles of our Prophet' (p. 76) and then goes on to describe how this battle between Muslims and Jews is one of the preconditions that needs to be fulfilled before the Day of Judgement can come. He carefully explains, though, that the current fighting between Israel and the Palestinians is a start, but is not sufficient to fulfil the requirements of the hadith:
Quote from Qaradawi: “ [W]e believe that the battle between us and the Jews is coming … Such a battle is not driven by nationalistic causes or patriotic belonging; it is rather driven by religious incentives. This battle is not going to happen between Arabs and Zionists, or between Jews and Palestinians, or between Jews or anybody else. It is between Muslims and Jews as is clearly stated in the hadith. This battle will occur between the collective body of Muslims and the collective body of Jews i.e. all Muslims and all Jews. (p.77)
...Fatawa on Palestine includes Qaradawi's standard line on Palestinian suicide bombing, which is now well known. Suicide bombings are, in Qaradawi's words, '[O]ne of the greatest types of Jihad … valid heroic martyrdom operations and very different from suicide.' (p. 6) The suicide bomber '[H]as sold his soul to Allah and placed his heart on gaining martyrdom and purchasing Paradise.' (p. 7) Women suicide bombers '[A]re doing a remarkable deed that is blessed by Almighty Allah and considered an act of Jihad for the sake of Allah.' (p. 21)
From http://www.spectator.co.uk/print/stephenpollard/734631/alqaradawi-in-his-own-words.thtml
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It’s worth reading the following review by Gardner and Rich of Qaradawi’s book, Fatawa on Palestine, in its entirety. http://www.democratiya.com/review.asp?reviews_id=172
