Yusuf Al Qaradawi, Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader passes away

DOHA, Sep 26 (SABAH):  Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf Al Qaradawi has died at the age of 96, his official website and Twitter account stated on Monday.

The cause of death was not immediately known. Al Qaradawi, based in Qatar, had reportedly suffered with poor health for years.

Ban on Qaradawi urged by French commission into Islamist radicalization.

He was on the terror lists of several Arab countries. He supported suicide bombings and other attacks by Palestinians against Israel and also voiced support for the Iraqi insurgency that erupted after the US-led invasion of 2003.

Al Qaradawi was sentenced to death by an Egyptian court in absentia in 2015 along with other Egyptians affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in a case relating to a 2011 mass jail break.

He was also banned in several countries, including France and the UK since 2012 after advocating for suicide bomb attacks against Israelis. He was also impressed by the ideological views of Syed Abu Ala Maududi.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt have also labelled him as a terrorist.

Al Qaradawi was the former president of International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), a union that was formed in 2004 mostly by clerics belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. Al Qaradawi would go on to lead the IUMS for 14 years before he was succeeded by Ahmed Raissouni.

Members of the union also include Saudi cleric Salman Al Awdah, who was arrested by Saudi authorities in September 2017, as well as Tunisian Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood Ennahda party.