He passed away today at the age of 96. The announcement was made by the International Union of Muslim Scholars, the world movement of which he was president. He was of Egyptian origin and fought from a very young age for independence and against colonialism. He was famous for his sermon for Friday prayers in Tahrir Square, Cairo, after the ouster of Mubarak.
Doha () – The Muslim Brotherhood has lost one of its most authoritative leaders, as well as a spiritual, political and religious point of reference. Influential Sunni religious leader of Egyptian origin Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the fiercest critics of the current Cairo leadership and its president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, died today in Doha at the age of 96. The announcement was made by the International Union of Muslim Scholar, the worldwide movement of which he was president, which celebrates him as one of the most important – albeit controversial – personalities in the Islamic world. Since the first uprisings in 2011, al-Qaradawi was one of the few Muslim religious leaders who publicly and strongly supported the Arab Spring in Egypt and in the Arab world.
Born on September 9, 1926 in the village of Saft Turab, Gharbia Governorate (Nile Delta), he studied at al-Azhar University in Cairo, the most prestigious Islamic institution in the world, and received his doctorate in 1973. Spending his early years under British colonialism, from his early youth Qaradawi devoted himself to fighting for independence, and was arrested several times by the government. Later he embraced and supported the Muslim Brotherhood, the most important and active Islamic-inspired group on the religious and social front of the country of the pharaohs, founded in 1928. His affiliation cost him new -and numerous- arrests and imprisonment, both under under King Farouk in the 1940s, as under President Gamal Abdul Nasser in the 1950s.
In 1961, Qaradawi moved to Doha, where he was appointed dean of the Sharia faculty at the newly founded Qatar University, as well as receiving citizenship seven years later. Regular guest of the satellite channel Al Jazeerahis appearances in various programs dedicated to the Muslim religion earned him the praise and support of millions of believers around the world.
The religious leader returned to Egypt for a brief period in 2011, following the popular uprising that led to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. On February 18, a few days after the resignation of the former president, he celebrated Friday prayer before thousands of faithful and citizens gathered in the famous Tahrir Square – in the center of the capital, Cairo – which had become a symbol of the protest
After decades of exile, his first appearance before Christians and Muslims had great symbolic value and represented one of the key moments of the post-revolution period. After the fall of Mohamed Morsi, the exponent of the Muslim Brotherhood overthrown by the army’s coup, the religious leader was again included in the black list of “enemies” of the nation. He was even sentenced to death in absentia in 2015 for linking him to a mass jailbreak four years earlier.
Despite his influence in the Muslim Brotherhood and his apparent support for the group, Qaradawi has denied membership and has repeatedly turned down requests from the group for senior positions. His support for the Arab Spring and his opposition to Al Sisi are among the reasons that led to the diplomatic crisis between Doha and several Arab and Gulf nations. The situation culminated in a political, economic and diplomatic boycott of several countries against Qatar, in 2017. For years, the organization of which he was president, the International Union of Muslim Scholars, was included in the list of “terrorist organizations” by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. After its split, the organization was admitted again last year, after a long mediation.
