Where Does MAC’s Endorsement of Youssef Al-Qaradawi Lead?
Version française ICI
At the Québec National Assembly, on December 2nd and 3rd, MNA Monique Richard opposed the public funding of Montreal based Dar al- Iman school because of its ties with the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC). The MNA described MAC’s ideology as being “against Western civilization (…) anti-Semitic, antigay and anti-women”.
Since then, two Muslim Brotherhood leaders have attempted to obscure the relationship between MAC and the school. In this article, Point de Bascule (PdeB) substantiates this relationship and quotes MAC’s own mentor, Youssef al-Qaradawi, in order to confirm what Monique Richard was saying about the agenda being pursued by the Muslim Brotherhood in Canada.
On December 6th, the school principal, Lazhar Aissaoui, sent out a press release to condemn MNA Richard. A few hours later, Salam Elmenyawi, president of the Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM) did the same. Both are intimately associated with MAC and other Muslim Brotherhood organisations operating in North America.
Alongside Jamal Badawi, Tariq Ramadan and other Muslim Brotherhood heavyweights, Elmanyawi was a guest speaker at the United for Change conference held in Montreal in September 2010. (poster – GMBDR – PdeB).
The connection between Salam Elmenyawi and Dar al-Iman goes back several years. On May 10th 2003, the Montreal Gazette reported, that while he moderated a conflict at another Muslim school in Montreal, he endorsed the addition of eight Dar al-Iman directors on the board of the school in trouble.
In his open letter to Monique Richard, Salam Elmenyawi argued that her objections to the public funding of Dar al-Iman school were solely based on an “alleged association”. In reality, there is nothing clearer than the association between MAC and Dar al-Iman school:
1. The school principal Lazhar Aissaoui serves on MAC board of directors;
2. The school website points out that “since December 2003, Dar Al Iman is affiliated with the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC)”. In fact, official documents available to the public prove that there was an association between MAC and the school before that;
3. In his December 6th press release, Principal Aissaoui acknowledged that MAC supplies educational material to his school and provides it with training programs;
4. In several MAC documents, Dar al-Iman is clearly identified as an institution part of the MAC network. For instance, MAC London (p. 3) refers to Dar al-Iman school as one of the “MAC institutions” in Canada.
In June 2010, Point de Bascule published an article entitled Du totalitarisme de Hassan al-Banna à l’islam englobant de Tariq Ramadan [From Hassan al-Banna’s totalitarianism to the all embracing Islam of Tariq Ramadan – in French Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3]. It outlines how the Muslim Brotherhood program aims at controlling every facet of peoples’ lives in societies where it succeeds at imposing its authority. This new text is mainly based on excerpts from writings and speeches presented by MAC’s mentor Youssef al-Qaradawi. Hassan al-Banna died in 1949 while al-Qaradawi is still alive.
MAC Endorses Youssef Al-Qaradawi
In the past, MAC Youth formally endorsed Youssef al-Qaradawi on its French website www.macyouthmtl.ca. It described his book The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam as “a piece of work of an extraordinary subtlety […] that should be in every Muslim’s bookcase as a reference to solve uncertainties” regarding what is permissible and what is not. This MAC website is no longer accessible.
Several other MAC websites in Canada keep on promoting al-Qaradawi’s texts and relying on his authority to determine what Muslims should do in various circumstances: MAC Windsor, MAC London, MAC Vancouver and so on.
In the text that follows, several recent statements made by al-Qaradawi are reproduced in order to confirm four features of the MAC program outlined by MNA Monique Richard:
– against Western civilization;
– anti-Semitic;
– antigay;
– anti-women.
A Program Against Western Civilization
Traditionally, Islam expanded militarily. Since the late ‘50s, the massive influx of Muslims in the West combined with the technological weaknesses affecting the camp of Islam have led Muslim Brotherhood leaders to rethink how they could pursue their offensive. Youssef al-Qaradawi summarized this facet of the Brotherhood approach in his book Priorities of the Islamic Movement in the Coming Phase:
“[Our] Movement, though it is Islamic in source, orientation, principle and objective, adopts such methodologies and means as it sees fit to serve its religion and establish it on the earth, as appropriate to time, place and conditions. Methodologies, means and systems are not as immortal as Islam itself.”
Chapter 3 – The Necessity of Renewal in Means
“We (Muslims) depend on others for military power. Those against whom we want to launch our offensive jihad are the same people who make all sorts of weapons and sell them to us. But for them, we would be unarmed, defenceless and unable to do anything!”
“That being the case, how can we talk of launching offensives to subject the whole world to our Message, when the only weapons we can muster are those given us by them and when the only arms we can carry are those they agree to sell us?”
Chapter 3 – A debate that we do not need today
Unable to reach its goal with military means at the moment in the West, the Brotherhood came up with a strategy favouring an ideological jihad rather than a military one.
“ Islam will return to Europe as a conqueror and victor, after being expelled from it twice – once from the South, from Andalusia (Spain – 1492), and a second time from the East, when it knocked several times on the door of Athens (1830). (…) I maintain that the conquest this time will not be by the sword but by preaching and ideology.”
Youssef Al-Qaradawi, IslamOnline.net (2002) – Archived on MEMRI
“What remains, then, is (…) the second part of the omen: “The city of (Constantinople / Islanbul) will be conquered first (1453)”, so what remains is to conquer Rome. This means that Islam will come back to Europe for the third time, after it was expelled from it twice. (…) Conquest through Da’wa (proselytizing), that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.”
Youssef Al-Qaradawi during a conference organised in 1995 by the Muslim Arab Youth Association in Toledo [Ohio – United States]. The excerpt is archived on Investigative Project and a video of the speech is available on Youtube.
Political and ideological jihad promoted by al-Qaradawi and the Muslim Brotherhood implies not only that they set up their own schools but also that they get involved in the infiltration of Western political parties, media, universities, interfaith groups and other social organisations.This program aiminig at the penetration of Western institutions is summarized in a Muslim Brotherhood internal memorandum that was presented as evidence by Government prosecutors during two trials that took place in United States in 2007 and 2008. The second trial led five Brotherhood leaders to jail after they were convicted of having contributed to the financing of terrorist activities in the Middle East from the United States. This is how the Muslim Brotherhood describes its mission in North America:
“The Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood) must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and “sabotaging” its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions. (…) It is a Muslim’s destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes”
The original text in Arabic and its English translation are available on Investigative Project on Terrorism.
When federal MP Meilli Faille decided to reimburse a trip to the United Arab Emirates that was paid to her by MAC, she granted an interview to radio host Benoît Dutrizac in Montreal (Corus 98.5FM). At 15:20, she claimed that MAC maintains a permanent presence on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. All this is in line with the goal of putting politicians under influence and facilitating the sabotage of our “miserable house”.
Political and ideological jihad also involves using non-Muslim courts to gradually impose Sharia. This is what happens when critics of Islam are debt-ridden for having to defend themselves against charges of “Islamophobia” put forward by organizations funded by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States. This is also what occurs when Western tribunals violate property rights of citizens under their jurisdiction and compel them to change the dress code or the work schedule in their own businesses to comply with Sharia requirements such as head covering and prayer time.
In his book Auspices of the Ultimate Victory, Youssef al-Qaradawi explains the success of his brand of Islam in the West by a combination of groundwork done by the Muslim Brotherhood and the contributions in petrodollars made by Gulf States billionaires. The Dar al-Iman case provides us with a good example of such partnership. After having supplied the initial amount required to set up Dar al-Iman school through the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Saudi Arabia and other countries belonging to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) chose MAC to manage the school and spread the Muslim Brotherhood totalitarian doctrine.
On his blog, David Ouellette has kept a 2000 report listing the beneficiaries of several IDB grants. Details relating to the grant received by Dar al-Iman can be found on page 5 of the document.
He who pays the piper calls the tune. Saudi Arabia is not paying for anything other than what actually prevails in Jeddah or Riyadh.
An Anti-Semitic Program
Here is the partial transcript of two speeches (video) given by MAC’s mentor Youssef al-Qaradawi and broadcast by Al-Jazeera TV in January 2009. They confirm the second characteristic of the MAC program as outlined by MNA Monique Richard:
“Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the (Jews) people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler. (…) He managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers.”
(…)
“To conclude my speech, I’d like to say that the only thing I hope for is that as my life approaches its end, Allah will give me an opportunity to go to the land of Jihad and resistance, even in a wheelchair. I will shoot Allah’s enemies, the Jews.”
An Antigay Program
In June 2006, an Al-Jazeera TV host asked Youssef al-Qaradawi to explain how homosexuals should be punished. Al-Qaradawi suggested different methods of killing them (video 5:27):
“The schools of thought disagree about the punishment. Some say they should be punished like fornicators. (..) Some say we should throw them from a high place, like God did with the people of Sodom. Some say we should burn them and so on. There is disagreement. The important thing is to treat this act as a crime.”
Al-Qaradawi’s response is consistent with section p17.3 of the Umdat al-Salik, an authoritative Sharia manual approved by the Muslim Brotherhood and that specifically condemns homosexuals to death.
An Anti-Women Program
In one of his texts, available on IslamOnline.net, Youssef al-Qaradawi justifies female genital mutilations by invoking that the founder of Islam reportedly told a midwife:
“Reduce the size of the clitoris but do not exceed the limit, for that is better for her health and is preferred by husbands.”
It should be noted that when political leaders try to legislate against this barbaric practice in Muslim countries, the Muslim Brotherhood is always at the forefront to oppose the reform. In the introduction of his classic The Lawful and the Prohibitied in Islam (which is recommended by MAC), al-Qaradawi condemns those who prohibit what is permissible in Islam. It is precisely by invoking this principle that, in 2008, the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary group opposed the efforts of the Egyptian government to criminalize female genital mutilations.
The Christian Science Monitor (archived on GMBDR) reported this Muslim Brotherhood campaign in 2008.
Female genital mutilations are condoned in section e4.3 of the Umdat al-Salik [Reliance of the Traveller].
In an interview aired on Al Jazeera TV in 2004 (video 8:14), Youssef al-Qaradawi also justified marital violence. He said that “beating does not benefit every wife, but it is suitable for some”.
Suicide Bombings
Beside the four Muslim Brotherhood principles already addressed, there is a fifth one that should be commented on while evaluating the opportunity of funding Dar al-Iman school. It concerns the support for suicide bombings expressed by MAC’s mentor Youssef al-Qaradawi.
Very recently, on December 17th 2010, al-Qaradawi reiterated his support for this jihad tactic on the airwaves of Al Hayat 2 TV. His interview is archived on GMBDR.
In 2009, the former Mufti of Jerusalem, Ekrima Sabri, was invited to speak in front of MAC supporters at the Montreal Laurentian Community Center (LCC). The poster advertising the event is archived on Point de Bascule.
Sabri is well known for having endorsed suicide bombings. In October 2000, he condoned this jihad tactic in an interview given to the Egyptian periodical Al-Ahram Al-Arabi. MEMRI has supplied the following translation from Arabic to English:
Question: “What do you feel when you pray [for the souls of the martyrs]?”
Sabri: “I feel the martyr is lucky because the angels usher him to his wedding in heaven. I feel the earth moves under the occupiers’ feet.”
Question: “Is it different when the martyr is a child?”
Sabri: “Yes, it is. It’s hard to express it in words. There is no doubt that a child [martyr] suggests that the new generation will carry on the mission with determination. The younger the martyr – the greater and the more I respect him.”
When Sabri alludes to a wedding in heaven, he refers to various verses of the Koran (52:17-20 and 44:54) that promise several virgin girls (houris) as a reward to those who die while waging jihad.
It should be noted that all the activities organised by MAC are fully integrated, whether they take place at the Laurentian Community Center (LCC) or at Dar al-Iman school. Until Rue Frontenac (translated in English by PdeB) highlighted the relationship between MAC and Dar al-Iman in November 2010, the LCC website was still presenting the school as one of its affiliates.
As it is often the case when Islamist activities are being uncovered, MAC recently made its LCC website unavailable (http://www.cclmac.ca/). As we are writing this article however, the Google cache still allows Internet users to access information confirming that Dar al-Iman is indeed affiliated with MAC-LCC that hosted Ekrima Sabri, the suicide bombings apologist.
Various Islamists Associated with MAC Endorse Youssef Al-Qaradawi
In addition to the support that MAC has given to Youssef al-Qaradawi on its own websites (www.macyouthmtl.ca now unavailable, MAC Windsor, MAC London, MAC Vancouver), it should be noted that different Islamist leaders associated with MAC have also acknowledged his authority.
Salam Elmenyawi
On December 11th 2004, Montreal Le Devoir reported that while he was working at setting up a Sharia council in Québec, Salam Elmenyawi admitted that his organization could look for advice from Youssef al-Qaradawi’s (Al Kardaoui) in the future.
An article published by the Canadian Islamic Congress reports that Salam Elmenyawi invoked al-Qaradawi’s authority to rule that Islamist militants waging ideological jihad in Western media may be paid from funds collected for zakat (mandatory donation imposed on Muslims). Sections h8.7 to h8.18 of the Umdat al-Salik (Reliance of the Traveller) state that zakat may be given only to Muslims and also list eight categories of beneficiaries.
Section h8.17 establishes that jihadists are among those who may receive zakat. By allowing zakat to be spent on those who wage ideological jihad in Western media, al-Qaradawi and Elmenyawi confirm that ideological and military jihads are inseparable.
Elmeyawi was one of the main opponents to the motion unanimously adopted by the Québec National Assembly against the implementation of Sharia in Canada through Islamic tribunals (The Gazette March 11th 2005 – archived on Jihadwatch).
Tariq Ramadan
In his book, Radical Reform, Tariq Ramadan endorses al-Qaradawi by introducing him as “prominent scholar” who has outlined the attitudes and the behaviour that Muslims must adopt when they live in the West.
(Tariq Ramadan, Radical Reform, New York, Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 31 et 326)
MAC is intimately associated with Tariq Ramadan and his own organization, Présence Musulmane (Muslim Presence). Together, they organized two conferences in Montreal featuring Tariq Ramadan in April 2010.
Sheema Khan
As the chairperson of CAIR-CAN, another association part of the Muslim Brotherhood network in Canada, Sheema Khan invoked Youssef al-Qaradawi’s authority in The Globe and Mail (November 13th 2002). She then identified him as a “renowned Muslim scholar”.
Waleed Najmeddine
In Edmonton, some public schools offer an Islamic Studies course to “expose” their students to Sharia. The curriculum available on the Edmonton Public Schools (EPS) website clearly demonstrates that this course is nothing less than an attempt to indoctrinate children with public money. There is no challenging view of Sharia being offered in this course. The program was developed by MAC’s representatives in Alberta, and only MAC approved books are being studied.
As mentioned by Edmonton Public Schools (EPS), Issam Saleh, president of MAC Edmonton, and Waleed Najmeddine contributed to the conception of the course.
Beside having held different positions in various public schools and in an Islamic private academy affiliated with MAC in Alberta, Najmeddine contributes as an expert on OnIslam.net. This website was launched on October 2010 by IslamOnline.net (IOL) former employees after Youssef al-Qaradawi was ousted from the IOL governing body by the Qatari Minister of Social affairs. Since then, al-Qaradawi gave his full support to OnIslam.net.
Not suprisingly al-Qaradawi’s name has been included by Alberta’s MAC officials among the authors being studied in the EPS Sharia course.
On his Facebook page, the course designer, Waleed Najmeddine, tells the whole world that he adheres to Youssef al-Qaradawi and MAC’s ideas.
The course description found on the Edmonton Public Schools website states that “The main goal (of the course) is to expose students to the history and basic teachings of Islam and the customs of the Prophet Muhammed based on Sharia”.
Besides al-Qaradawi, John Esposito and Jamal Badawi are also on the list of authors being studied. Both of them are closely associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Badawi’s importance in the structure of the organization is such that he is the only Brotherhood operative specifically identified in the internal memorandum explaining that the mission of the organization consists of “destroy(ing) the Western civilization from within”.
In 2006, Badawi justified suicide bombings as a legitimate jihad tactic on an IslamOnline forum and in 2004 he issued a fatwa listing six conditions justifying the beating of one’s wife if “(she) persists in bad habits”.
In a recent post, GMBDR has added the following comment regarding Jamal Badawi:
“A 2007 MAC webpage lists US Muslim Brotherhood leader and Canadian National Jamal Badawi as a director of the organization. Dr. Badawi is a leader in many of the most important organizations of the global Muslim Brotherhood including the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Council on American Islamic Relations (Canada), the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA), the Muslim American Society (MAS), and the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR). As previous posts have noted, recently released documents indicate that he was (and probably still is), a member of the leadership structure of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. He can be characterized as one of the leading ideologues of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and has traveled widely all over the world as a representative of the U.S. Muslim community.”
Conclusion
The information published in this text prove the complete integration of Dar al-Iman school to the MAC infrastructure in Canada. In his December 6th 2010 press release, principal Aissaoui acknowledged that MAC supplies educational material to his school and provides it with training programs.
Which ideas are being promoted in this MAC educational material being supplied to Dar al-Iman if not what we can find on MAC’s websites and in books authored by MAC’s scholars.
On December 2nd 2010, Minister of Education Line Beauchamp tried to convince us that there was no link between MAC and Dar al-Iman school (December 2nd – video 15:19). The next day, confronted with proofs brought up by her colleague Richard, she then tried to convince us that MAC is not a dangerous organization (December 3rd – video 7:54).
If an organization whose scholars, leaders and guest speakers endorse suicide bombings is not dangerous, then what is?
Will we have to wait until the Muslim Brotherhood decide that suicide bombing is a tactic not only valid in the Middle East but also in Canada to stop financing it?
