CAIRO: Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi issued a statement Saturday announcing his resignation from the Al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy.
Qaradawi chairs the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) and has harshly criticized the interim government and Al-Azhar in articles and Friday sermons since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi on July 3.
“Based on grounds in the Quran and Sunnah, the election of Morsi is a legal binding contract between the president and the people,” Qaradawi said in an article entitled “Stances on Al-Azhar Grand Imam” on the IUMS website Dec. 3.
“You should not have smeared the turban and beard of the Al-Azhar Grand Imam by supporting them,” Qaradawi said, referring to the ouster of Morsi and addressing Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar.
Hussein Eweida, head of the Al-Azhar Academic Staff Club, told The Cairo Post Saturday that “Qaradawi should no longer be held accountable for what he says.”
“He holds deep grudges against Al-Azhar; therefore, he outrageously bashes the institution that taught him for free. His opinions are illogical and changeable because he holds on to no principles,” Eweida continued.
Qaradawi recently resigned from the Al-Azhar Council of Senior Scholars, as well.
In his Saturday statement, Qaradawi said the Council of Senior Scholars accepted his resignation although he had not submitted it to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar but rather to the Egyptian people, as well as this new resignation.
“Although resigning from the Council of Senior Scholars does not lead to expulsion from the Islamic Research Academy,” Eweida said, “Al-Azhar has already severed ties with Qaradawi, who has not had any relations with the institution for many years anyway, and his most recent resignation does not mean anything anymore.”
