Prominent Islamic scholar Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi yesterday criticised the US opposition to a UN move to bar defamation of religions, saying anti-religion incidents during the past few years mainly targeted Islam.
In his Friday sermon, Sheikh Qaradawi said that showing respect for religions “will not in any way restrict freedom of expression” as the US claimed in rejecting the resolution that was discussed by the UN Human Rights Council last week.
“How can insulting and defaming one’s religion come under freedom of expression? There is no link at all between the two issues. We have witnessed several cases of blasphemy against specific religions which triggered very negative impacts. A decision was about to be approved by the UN except for the US opposition,” Sheikh Qaradawi told a congregation at the Omar bin al-Khattab Mosque.
Qaradawi, who is the chairman of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, also slammed the move by some European countries to impose a ban on minarets, saying it could instigate hatred among communities.
“I hope the Europeans will show tolerance toward Muslims as they do with others,” he said.
”Such a ban will be a violation of Muslims’ rights in Europe,” he added.
Switzerland is expected to hold a poll on November 29 on a proposal to ban the construction of minarets in the country.