London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, said today that Dr al-Qaradawi has been “very clear in condemning homophobia and husbands striking their wives.”
(Ealing Times, 14 July 2004)

Source:  http://www.ealingtimes.co.uk/misc/print.php?artid=509277

The truth is Dr al-Qaradawi told Jon Snow on Channel 4 News the night before (13 July), that homosexuality is an “unnatural and evil practice" and said the Koran permitted wife-beating as "a possibility" in certain circumstances.

Source:
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3891789.stm

In his book, The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam (American Trust Publications, U.S, 1994), Dr al-Qaradawi uses the following adjectives to describe homosexuality and lesbian and gay people:

- perverted act
- a corruption of man's sexuality
- depraved practice
- shameless depravity
- unnatural, foul and illicit practice
- perversity of nature
- aberration

After suggesting that homosexuality is “unlawful” and alluding to divine punishment, Dr al-Qaradawi states:

“Muslim jurists hold different opinions concerning the punishment for this abominable practice [homosexuality]. Should it be the same as the punishment for fornication, or should both the active and passive participants be put to death? While such punishments may seem cruel, they have been suggested to maintain the purity of the Islamic society and to keep it clean of perverted elements."

Source:
 http://www.islamonline.net/askaboutislam/display.asp?hquestionID=7142
 http://www.islamonline.net/fatwa/english/FatwaDisplay.asp?hFatwaID=100855

The website which he supervises, IslamOnline, also endorses State punishment for homosexuals, including “burning” or “stoning” to death.

Source:
 http://www.islamonline.net/fatwa/english/FatwaDisplay.asp?hFatwaID=72432

In an interview with The Guardian (12 July), Dr al-Qaradawi attempts to back-track on his extreme homophobia, saying he does not approve of vigilante action against lesbians and gays: “Muslims have no right to punish homosexuals or mistreat them as individuals." However, he reiterates that Islamic countries are entitled to punish lesbian and gay people: “any punishment was a matter for the state, and Muslims were subject to those laws.”

Source:
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1258933,00.html

The best reply to this double-speak is a letter to The Guardian by Rev Richard Kirker, general secretary of the Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement, published on 14 July:

“Now, at last, I understand Dr al-Qaradawi's views on the killing of gay people (Cleric hits back at uninformed critics, July 12). Distancing himself from edicts on the IslamOnline website (a site he controls), which suggests that homosexuals should be burned or stoned to death, Dr al-Qaradawi told your interviewer individual Muslims should not harm or punish homosexuals. Punishment is, he says "a matter for Islamic states". This means that he is opposed to vigilantism but not to the state-sponsored executions that take place in nine Islamic countries, according to Amnesty International. Islamophobia and homophobia are to be equally deplored from whatever quarter.”

Source:
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,1260550,00.html


Accusing Ken Livingstone of “ignoring the facts” concerning Dr al-Qaradawi’s homophobic statements, Brett Lock of OutRage! said:

“Ken Livingstone has done great work for the gay community, but by rolling out the red carpet for Dr al-Qaradawi he is siding with an oppressor of gay Muslims in Britain and throughout the Islamic world. In the name of fighting Islamophobia, the Mayor is colluding with homophobia. He seems to be downgrading the human rights of lesbians and gay men in order to appease Muslim fundamentalists.”


See also: OutRage! Briefing on Dr al-Qaradawi
 http://www.outrage.org.uk/briefing.asp?ID=88