Posted on 02/09/2011 3:22:00 PM PST by Frankusa
Google's Middle East Marketing Director, Wael Ghonim, the Egyptian activist who helped organize the protests that started Egypt's uprising, was freed from detention on Monday. Mr. Ghonim is currently being hailed by the mainstream media as a hero and symbol of the Egyptian revolution. However, a twitter posting by Mr.Ghonim on January 25, in which he evinces admiration for Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a radical Mulim cleric, raises the question as to where Ghonim's real sentiments lie. Is he truly a voice of moderation? Or, is the Google executive/Egyptian activist, deep down in his heart - a radical who shares al-Qaradawi's extremist ideologies?
In a January 25 twitter post, Mr. Ghonim wrote, "We just met Sheikh Qaradawi in downtown in his car and saluted him."
Ghonim saluted Qaradawi?
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Egyptian cleric based in Qatar, who is aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, openly condoned the targeting of American forces and civilians in Iraq. He has been banned from the entering the U.S. since 1999 for his extremist views. In February 2008, Qaradawi was denied a visa to enter Britain.
In 2004, Arab media sources quoted Qaradawi as saying that the abduction and killing of American soldiers and civilians in Iraq is a religious obligation. The aforementioned statement was confirmed by the director of Al-Qaradhawi's office, who affirmed that Qaradawi had issued a Fatwa saying that there is an obligation to fight against American civilians in Iraq.
While a number of clerics at Al-Azhar University expressed support for Mr. Qaradawi's fatwa, the aforementioned fatwa elicited sharp responses from various Muslim journalists.
"Finally Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi has removed the veil from his true face," an Arab journalist opined, "the same face as that of all of the masked terrorists, and declared himself to be a religious authority and propagandist for the terrorists, without shame and without hesitation. This comes after a long period in which he tried to fool us, attempting to be considered moderate and religiously tolerant.
"Al-Qaradhawi issued a Fatwa calling to abduct American civilians and to murder them in cold blood... We, as Iraqis, were not surprised by the Fatwa of the propagandist of terrorism, for he is the religious guide for the Qatari TV channel Al-Jazeera, which the Iraqis rightly call 'the satellite channel of the masked [terrorists]', and which makes great efforts day and night to encourage terrorism in Iraq.
"A question for the bloodthirsty, terror-mongering cleric Al-Qaradhawi and his supporters among the sheikhs of Al-Azhar [University]: Who gave you permission to force yourselves as custodians on the Iraqi people? Through the fact that bloodthirsty clerics publish terrorist Fatwas, and through their support for terrorists, they have turned Islamic thought into an ideology of terror..."
Another Arab columnist wrote: "It is possible that the Fatwa of the 'Sheikh' and the 'Imam of the [so-called] moderates,' Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, which permitted and even commanded the abduction and killing of American civilians in Iraq … will clear up the confusion … which we, the progressive intellectuals, have concerning 'moderation' and 'extremism' among the streams of political Islam, in all its various forms and gradations. It is possible that this Fatwa, issued by the 'Sheikh of moderation and compromise comes to put to rest the debate among the progressives over the question as to whether … there exists some 'moderation' in the thought and discourse of some of the streams of political Islam, or whether this 'moderation' is merely something superficial, forced by specific conditions, or in modern terminology - it is merely a tactic...
"The Fatwa of Al-Qaradhawi, who carries the title of 'Sheikh and Imam of the moderates,' led to the near-complete collapse of moderation and destroyed the very foundations of the 'way of compromise.'... Sheikh Qaradhawi's Fatwa … causes us, the progressive intellectuals, to reassess the concept of the 'moderation' or 'extremism' of the prominent Islamic groups on the Arab scene..."
Another Arab columnist opined: "What kind of national cause is this that uses children like kerosene for igniting a total war of destruction in the name of national and religious liberty…? The Islamic-Arab terrorism has turned into the greatest danger in the world, and threatens civilization...Islamic terrorism is the outcome of 'moderate' political Islam, as it is generally described. The latest proof of this is Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi's Fatwa calling for the killing of all Americans in Iraq."
One Arab author raised the following question: "Is it [Qaradawi's fatwa] because the Americans are the reason why Al-Qaradhawi lost three million dollars that were in his 'Al-Taqwa' bank account, which belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood and which was the main financier of the Al-Qa'ida organization, and which was shut down, and its assets and deposits confiscated, due to the U.S.'s efforts to trace [the activities] of this shady bank...?
"The vacuum in Arab political discourse..., the absence of a politically conscious Arab grassroots, the absence of an active public opinion capable of bringing about change … allowed those who wear turbans to take to the political stumps... and to lead the Arab political activity which has turned into an expression of the call for more and more bloodshed in the name of the new religion which Al-Qaradhawi brought, together with the rest of the religious fundamentalist terror groups. This is the clear proof that we have become a politically bankrupt nation. We inherited this from our fathers and we are bequeathing it to our children…"
And yet, despite of all the above, Wael Ghonim stated in his twitter post: "We just met Sheikh Qaradawi in downtown in his car and saluted him."
Mr. Ghonim's salute to the so-called moderate Sheik, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, is perhaps indicative of where this Egyptian revolution is really headed. Ghonim's honorary gesture only compounds the anxieties of those who've expressed concern that the current uprising is, in essence, a precursor to a future fundamentalist and extremist government in Egypt.
And, while the demonstrators in Egypt accuse Americans of being opposed to their freedom for simply raising concerns about the direction and the eventual outcome of the current uprising, they themselves are marching hand in hand with the likes of Yusuf al-Qaradawi and the Muslim Brotherhood, who've condoned the murder of American citizens. Ironic, indeed: The protesters are infuriated at Americans because of their reluctance to support a movement which is comprised, in part, by Jihadists who wish death upon the U.S.
Nevertheless, Mr. Ghonim, it seems, holds Yusuf al-Qaradawi in high esteem and believes he is worthy of an honorary salute. But what about Ghonim's employers at Google? Would they, too, salute Mr. Qaradawi - if he crossed their path?
Only they can answer that question.
“met Sheikh Qaradawi in downtown in his car”
...so, al-Qaradawi is 1) in Cairo, 2) moving about without a care/protected, 3) meeting people, 4) cool with Google, and 5) continuing his own speaking.
Good thing Google employs Egyptians.
"This post has been deleted for the time-being, for the following reason: Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi lives in Qatar. He is banned from entering Egypt. Wael Ghonim, who is based in Qatar, traveled to Egypt, in late January, to join in the protests. However, it appears that Ghonim had aleady arrived in Egypt when he declared that had "just met Sheikh Qaradawi in downtown in his car and saluted him". Hence, I'm inclined to believe that the Sheikh Qaradawi he had met was not the Sheikh Qaradawi of Qatar [who once lived in Egypt] but a different Sheikh. If anyone can shed some light on the matter, I'd greatly appreciate it. Until then, I will assume I had erred. Update: Qaradawi has a son currently living in Egypt. Perhaps it is Qaradawi's son whom Ghonim saluted."
"This post has been deleted for the time-being, for the following reason: Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi lives in Qatar. He is banned from entering Egypt. Wael Ghonim, who is based in Qatar, traveled to Egypt, in late January, to join in the protests. However, it appears that Ghonim had aleady arrived in Egypt when he declared that had "just met Sheikh Qaradawi in downtown in his car and saluted him". Hence, I'm inclined to believe that the Sheikh Qaradawi he had met was not the Sheikh Qaradawi of Qatar [who once lived in Egypt] but a different Sheikh. If anyone can shed some light on the matter, I'd greatly appreciate it. Until then, I will assume I had erred. Update: Qaradawi has a son currently living in Egypt. Perhaps it is Qaradawi's son whom Ghonim saluted."
Google executive Wael Ghonim, who emerged as a leading voice in Egypt's uprising, was barred from the stage in Tahrir Square on Friday by...t men who appeared to be guarding influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi barred him from doing so. Ghonim, who was angered by the episode, then left the square with his face hidden by an Egyptian flag.
Thanks AdmSmith.
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