|
One of the leading scholars in the world, described as the Shaikhul Mashaikh (scholar of the scholars), Egyptian born Sheik Yusuf al Qardawi (83) will be paying his first visit to South Africa in April. According to the president of the Muslim Judicial Counil (MJC), Maulana Igsaan Hendricks, the visit is an especial honour for South Africa since the alim is now in the process of winding down his internatinonal travels.
"He will be coming to South Africa in the first week in April only for five day, as guest of the MJC. We expect it to be a very high level visit since the sheik has requested to meet both former president Nelson Mandela, current president, Jacob Zuma, as well as SA's Muslim leadership. The sheik recently travelled to China on a historic visit - shortly after our visit there to meet local Muslims - and a visit to Malaysia where he received the Hijri Award. He is now in the process of winding downs his travels due to his age and we have impressed upon him that he could not conclude his travels before visiting South Africa. Alhamdulilah, the sheik accepted our invitation," Hendricks told VOC on Saturday.
Hendricks has nurtured a close relationship with the scholar over the last five years, having worked with him on various platforms. Among others, the MJC has a seat on the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), which Qardawi heads. They also serve together the international Al Quds Foundation, which Hendricks heads up in South Africa. Last month the alim was part of an IUMS panel trying to mediate the crisis between the Yemeni government and Houthi Shiite rebels to end violence there.
Background
Among many Muslims, Qardawi is regarded as a moderate conservative, who seeks to explain and adapt the ideals of the Islamic lifestyle with those of modern society. He is best known for his Al Jazeera program, Ash-Shariah wal-Hayat (Shariah and Life), and for IslamOnline - a website that he helped found in 1997 - where he offers opinions and fatawa (religious edicts) based on his interpretation of the Quran. He has also published 50 books, including The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam and Islam: The Future Civilization. Among others, he is the winner of eight international prizes for his scholarly contributions.
Born in Egypt in September 1926, Qardawi lost his father at the age of two and was raised by his uncle. According to WikiPedia, his family urged him to either run a grocery store or to become a carpenter. Instead, he read and memorized the entire Qur'an by the time he was nine years old. Qardawi was a follower of Hasan al-Banna during his youth and was imprisoned first under the monarchy in 1949, then three times after the publication of Tyrant and the Scholar. He attended the Al-Azhar Theological Seminary before moving to Qatar.
He was supervisor of the work of the Institute of the imams of the Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowments, the Dean of the Islamic Department at the Faculties of Shariah and Education in Qatar until 1990, and served as chairman of the Islamic Scientific Councils of Algerian Universities and Institutions. He was a longtime member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and has turned down offers to be the Brotherhood's leader various times. Qaradawi is the head of the European Council for Fatwa and Research.
Views
The alim has earned wide respect, both in the Muslim community and beyond for his willingness to engage with people of other faiths and encouraging Muslim minorities to find a place in the societies they live in without losing their Islamic identity. In his book title The Lawful and Prohibited in Islam, the alim wrote:
"Islam does not prohibit Muslims to be kind and generous to peoples of other religions, even if they are idolaters and polytheists, as for example, the polytheists of Arabia. It looks upon the People of the Book, that is, Jews and Christians, with special regard, whether they reside in a Muslim society or outside it. The Qur'an never addresses them without saying, ‘O People of the Book' or ‘O You who have been given the Book', indicating that they were originally people of a revealed religion. For this reason there exists a relationship of mercy and spiritual kinship between them and the Muslims, all having in common the principles of the one true religion sent by Allah through his prophets (peace be on them all)."
He has also advocated the importance of non-Muslim minorities, stating: "Those people who live under the protection of an Islamic government enjoy special privileges. They are referred to as ‘the Protected People' (ahl al-dhimmah or dhimmies), meaning that Allah, His Messenger (PBUH), and the community of Muslims have made a covenant with them that they may live in safety and security under the Islamic government. In modern terminology, dhimmies are ‘citizens' of the Islamic state. From the earliest period of Islam to the present day, Muslims are in unanimous agreement that they enjoy the same rights and carry the same responsibilities as Muslims themselves, while being free to practice their own faiths."
Similarly, Qardawi has strongly pressed for dialogue with Non-Muslims. He also puts emphasis on conversations with the West, including Jews, Christians and the secularists. He writes that this effort should differentiate itself from a debate, for the latter does not often result in mutual cooperation. In his book titled Priorities of The Islamic Movement in The Coming Phase, he recounts his experience in the following excerpt:
"I will never forget what one of the participants, a nationalist Christian, said to me at the lunch table. He said, ‘We have changed our opinion about you completely'. I asked, ‘And what was your opinion?' He replied, ‘that you are a hard-liner and a fanatic'. I said, ‘Where did you get this idea about me?' He answered, ‘I don't know, but, frankly, that was our impression about you'. I asked ‘And now?'
"He said, ‘Now we have learned through seeing, hearing, discussion and direct contact what has changed this unfair idea about you completely. We now see you as a man who respects logic, refers to reason and knows how to listen to the other opinion as a man who is not stubborn or adamant, but extremely flexible and tolerant.'
"What I want to convey by telling this story is that direct contact and reasonable, quiet dialogue that is held on equal footing is in the interest of the Islamic Movement, which stands to gain from it and will lose nothing at all in it," Qardawi wrote. Article courtesy Voice of The Cape |
