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September 15, 2005

London's Mayor Compares Islamist to Pope

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has made what many see as his most ludicrous statement so far, He has campaigned in the past on many issues, but his decision last year to have Egyptian-born Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi visit the London Central Mosque drew heavy criticism. Al-Qaradawi, who lives in Qatar and appears regularly on Al-Jazeera television, has made strange claims, saying that Pokemon should be banned in Islam because it promotes Darwinism. He has stated that suicide bombers in israel are "legitimate", and though he thinks homosexuality is a disease, he thinks that those suffering it should be killed. The controversial week-long visit had previously been ardently opposed by Jewish groups, for obvious reasons. Al-Qardawi is chief scholar behind our favourite Islamic propaganda site, Islam Online, which has previously supported the Koranic injunction that wives should be beaten if they disobey their wives.

Yesterday the press in the UK ran the most recent of Ken Livingstone's outrages against common sense. He announced that Al-Qaradawi had much in common with Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, and was famed for instigating the second Vatican Council. Pope John brought reformation, and started dialogue with other faiths. One of his saying was "A peaceful man does more good than a learned one". Not surprisingly, he never advocated murdering innocent Israeli citizens.

In The Times, his reasons were given that "the position of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi was similar to that of the late Pope because he was the most senior Islamic scholar saying that Islam must engage with the world", quoting:

"Sheik Qaradawi is I think very similar to the position of Pope John XXIII. An absolutely sane Islamist," Mr Livingstone said.

The Telegraph quoted him as saying:

"Of all the Muslim leaders in the world today, Sheikh Qaradawi is the most powerfully progressive force for change and for engaging Islam with western values."

Livngstone was addressing the House of Commons home affairs select committee. Al-Qaradawi is already banned from entering the United States. Livingstone also stated that his views were shared by most Muslims

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at September 15, 2005 6:57 PM

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