Prominent Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Egyptian-born former head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), breathed his last on Monday, informed his official Twitter account.
He was 96 years old. Qaradawi, a spiritual leader of Muslim Brotherhood, was highly critical of the coup that overthrew Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, in 2013.
Al-Qaradawi was unable to return to Egypt following Morsi’s overthrow due to his opposition to Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
The religious leader had previously been in exile from Egypt prior to the 2011 revolution that overthrew former President Hosni Mubarak.
Qaradawi has published more than 120 books, including The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam and Islam: The Future Civilization. He has also received eight international prizes for his contributions to Islamic scholarship, and is considered one of the most influential Islamic scholars living today.
His influences include Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim,Sayyid Rashid Rida,Hassan al-Banna, Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi, Abul A’la Maududi and Naeem Siddiqui.
Qaradawi is best known for his programme ا”Sharia and Life” broadcast on Al Jazeera, which has an estimated audience of 40–60 million worldwide.
He was also known for IslamOnline, a website he helped to found in 1997 and for which he serves as chief religious scholar.
(More to follow)
