...crackpot Egyptian Islamist theologian. He is best known for his program
Shariah and Lifeon Al Jazeera, with an estimated audience of 60 million kindred souls worldwide. He is also well-known for IslamOnline, which occasionally advocates things like slavery and thumping the old lady with a rod no thicker than an inch, and has published more than 120 books, including
Islam: The Future Civilization.Joe has long had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Moslem Brüderbund. Some of his views have been controversial in the West, though less so among the rubes of the Mysterious East, and he was refused entry to the United Kingdom in 2008. In 2004, 2,500 Muslim academics from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and from the Palestinian territories condemned Qaradawi, and accused him of giving
Islam a bad name....
on Monday urged al-Nusra Front to stay loyal to the mainstream Syrian rebel army, describing its pledge of fealty to al-Qaeda as dangerous.
"Al-Nusra Front, which has done very well in its jihad (holy war) against the tyrant regime of Damascus
...The capital of Iran's Syrian satrapy...
, should ... remain within the ranks of the Free (Syrian) Army, to maintain unity," the International Union of Moslem Scholars which he heads said in a statement.
"This pledge causes internal and external dangers, and its impact on the revolution is dangerous, because it breaks the ranks of the mujahedeen," the Doha-based group said.
Listed by Washington as a "terrorist" group, al-Nusra has been playing an effective role in the fight against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Horror of Homs...
's forces.
It has long been suspected of links to Al-Qaeda in Iraq, but the announcement of an alleged merger between the groups and its pledge to al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-
Zawahiri... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as
the real brains of the outfit.Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is...
earlier this month have raised hackles among some in the Syrian opposition.
The union urged al-Nusra Front "to leave the issue of rule and state in Syria until after the liberation, when the people can freely choose an Islamic system or any other system of rule."
It warned that the pledge to al-Qaeda only "strengthens" the Assad regime.
Rebel fighters and activists have been reluctant to criticize the group publicly, unwilling to alienate one of the fiercest fighting forces battling the regime.
When the United States designated the group a "terrorist" organization last December, the Syrian National Coalition and other opposition groups criticized the decision.
But there has been discomfort with both al-Nusra's tactics, including suicide kabooms, and its explicit calls for the establishment of an Islamic state in Syria.