The Billy Graham of Islam

 
Thousands gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, to hear a Friday sermon from Sheikh Qaradawi, after he returned to Egypt following its "Arab Spring"

I refer to the rampantly popular (in the Muslim world, that is) Sheikh Qaradawi of Egypt (though he was exiled for years by the prudent dictator, Mubarak, whom the fanatical Egyptian people in recent times overthrew in a coup d'jihad (otherwise known as the "Arab Spring").

And, needless to say (to those in the West with their heads screwed on straight, that is, unlike our clueless President), the comparison with Billy Graham is apt only in terms of religious popularity -- not in terms of the content of the two respective religions (for the Muslim cleric has advocated, among other hideous things, genocide of the Jews to finish what Hitler failed to complete, as well as suicide attacks on the "enemy of Islam").

I've written about Qaradawi in previous essays, such as Islamic conferences, and Shaikh Your Booty. More information on Qaradawi can be gleaned from among this Google search of Jihad Watch articles over the years, as well as this helpful summary report on MEMRI.org (a website chock-full over the years with juicy Qaradawi tidbits). The one thing missing -- at least from my awareness -- is a handy summation specifically demonstrating the popularity per se of Qaradawi (if any reader knows of such, I'd appreciate a link).

At any rate, today's posting refers only to a datum or two in this regard I recently learned.  Apropos of a recent debate the French political analyst Alexandre Del Valle had with Jean Luc Mélenchon (whom Del Valle describes as a "leader of the extreme Left" and whom French blogger Pierre Renversez describes as someone who "has never once uttered the words 'Islam' or 'Islamism' but who never ceases to criticize the Catholic church"), Del Valle provided some interesting information about this Mohammedan evangelist, whom he even calls a "televangelist" (le téléprédicateur).

“...no Minister of the Interior [of France] since Charles Pasqua (1986-1988) has ever interdicted the works of the spiritual mentor of Tariq Ramadan [don't get me started on Tariq Ramadan!], Youssouf al-Qaradawi, Muslim Brotherhood preacher infamous around the world for his pro-suicide-bombing, anti-homosexual and anti-Infidel fatwas.”

Del Valle goes on to remind us of Qaradawi's best-selling book (best-selling in the Muslim world, that is), The Permitted and the Forbidden, “used among European Muslims and freely sold even though it explicitly incites the killing of female adulterers, blasphermers, and apostates.”

Del Valle further describes Qaradawi as an "Al Jazeera star" (vedette d’Al Jazira; he has for years hosted a show beamed out to millions in the Muslim world), who directs an institute for the formation of European imams, co-presides over the European chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood, and has been a member of a convocation at the United Nations overseeing the "dialogue of civilizations". Also, Del Valle informs us, the good Sheikh often has been a featured participant of an annual Islamic congress held in Le Bourget (a suburb a few miles northeast of Paris) which draws thousands of Muslims from all over France and other European countries. Significantly, Del Valle notes that Qaradawi is a popular participant also of Socialist-Leftist "anti-globalization" forums.

In addition, we learn from Jihad Watch this tidbit, concerning the Muslim World League (MWL), an international Islamic organization founded in 1962 and recently (I'm adding this from my future self, September of 2017) invited to the Vatican for inter-faith bridge-building mutual masturbation with the Pope:

At their first International Islamic Conference on Dialogue in Mecca in 2008, the MWL invited Yusuf al-Qaradawi to speak. 

Would an Islamic organization -- already suspected of shady ties to jihadism (as the Jihad Watch article demonstrates with sources) -- concerned about its PR reputation and ability to continue to hoodwink the West with taqiyya invite a marginal "extremist" to speak at its first international conference?

(And naturally, as Robert Spencer reported, Qaradawi during his speech said he would “never sit with Jews on one platform and never hold dialogue with those Jews who have committed injustice against us and support Israel.”)