DOHA: The Danish cartoons controversy has proved that the Muslim community across the globe, despite their ethnic, racial, and ideological differences can stand united on a basic issue concerning their religion, according to Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi, renowned Doha-based Islamic scholar.
In his Friday sermon at the Omar bin Khatab mosque, Qaradawi said the widespread Muslim protests against the blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) have shown that "the Muslim Ummah (nation) is not dead, but still alive."
"There are many in the Muslim community who lament that there is no Islamic Ummah, but only different nations like the Arabs, Turks etc. This incident has proved that there is an Islamic Ummah," Qaradawi said.
It has also proved that there are many things that still unite this community, which is sharply divided in the name of politics, ideology, language and colour, he added. "This is a nation which needs a leader to move it," he said.
He denied reports appeared in some Gulf newspapers and Internet sites saying that he refused to sign a statement issued by a group of Islamic scholars calling for more aggressive action against the cartoons.
"I don't know who issued this statement but none asked me to sign it. The statement was against what I had stated in my Friday speeches what the International Islamic Council had called for. We called for peaceful and constructive protest against the cartoons," he said.
In the second part of his speech, Qaradawi made a passionate appeal to the international community and the charitable organisations in Qatar and the Gulf region to come forward to support the millions of starving people in Africa.
He wondered why this issue is being ignored by people all over the world. "Don't they see pictures of those skeletons on the television and people drinking their urine for lack of water and animals dying daily."
" It is haram ( forbidden) for us not to care, just watch and do nothing. Why the Organisation of Isalmic Conference and the Arab League are not doing anything about it. Why the UN is doing nothing," he wondered.
He urged the charitable organsiations in Qatar and other Gulf countries stand up to address this problem and do the same thing they did in Pakistan and Indonesia before.
© The Peninsula 2006
