Qaradawi endorses execution of Qatar prince, says Aljazeera

Qatari royal heir outed by Aljazeera

London- 5 August 2005

The Crown Prince of Qatar should be stoned to death for being gay,
according to Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim fundamentalist scholar
who is based in Qatar.

These allegatons appear in the Middle East news magazine Aljazeera.

Dr Qaradawi was defended by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, in a
Guardian comment article only yesterday, Thursday 4 August.

Aljazeera quotes Dr Qaradawi as saying:

"The scholars of Islam, such as Malik, Ash-Shafi`i, Ahmad and Ishaaq
said that (the person guilty of this crime) should be stoned, whether
he is married or unmarried."

According to Aljazeera, this is the verdict of Dr Qaradawi in response
to allegations that Qatar's 25 year old Crown Prince Tameem Bin Hamad
Al-Thani was spotted at the popular London gay night club, G.A.Y. The
prince and his male partner, Michael Heard, were allegedly banned from
G.A.Y. for a month following a fight.

"Dr Qaradawi appears to be encouraging the murder of a person in the
UK, which is a serious criminal offence," says OutRage! "We are
astonished that Mayor Livingstone is still supporting him."

Dr Qaradawi's support for the execution of the Crown Prince was
reported by Aljazeera. See:

 http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=9333

The Aljazeera story states it was based on a report on the
IslamOnline.net website.

Aljazeera has effectively outed the Crown Prince to a worldwide
audience. It puts his freedom and life in danger.

Aljazeera reports that other scholars from Islamonline.net, have also
endorsed the execution of the prince, citing the sayings of the
Prophet Muhammad to justify the death penalty for the heir to the
Qatari throne:

"Whoever you find committing the sin of the people of Lut, kill them,
both the one who does it and the one to whom it is done."
(At-Tirmidhi: 1376)

Dr Qaradawi's comment to Aljazeera reiterated his "gays should
executed" opinion delivered in the fatwa "Homosexuality and
Lesbianism: Sexual Perversions" issued last year (17 May 2004),
shortly before he was welcomed to London by Mayor Ken Livingstone.

See:
 http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503547102

Dr
Qaradawi’s recommendation that the prince be stoned to death far
exceeds the current penalty for homosexuality in Qatar, which is 5 to
10 years in prison.

See:
 http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/qatar/qatar.htm

"This is a clear example of how fundamentalist clerics like Dr
Qaradawi incite the execution of lesbian and gay people," said Aaron
Saeed, Muslim spokesperson for the LGBT human rights group OutRage!

"Dr Qaradawi's apparent endorsement of the death penalty endangers the
freedom and life of the Crown Prince. The actions of Aljazeera in
outing Prince Tameem put him at risk of arrest, imprisonment and
so-called honour killing.

"We are appalled that Dr Qaradawi continues to be supported by
fundamentalist organisations such as the Muslim Association of
Britain, and by far left groups like the Socialist Workers Party and
Respect.

"These people are betraying lesbian and gay Muslims. They are
appeasing a fundamentalist cleric who believes that queers should be
put to death.

"While we deplore Islamophobia and defend the Muslim communities,
there can be no collusion with those who sanction the murder of
lesbian, gay and bisexual people," said Mr Saeed.

NOTE: OutRage! has been unable to establish whether the Crown Prince
was involved in a fight at G.A.Y. According to the club's management,
they do not keep a record of ejected patron's identities. The police
say they have no record of any charges. We cannot discount the
posibility that the story was put out by the Prince's political
enemies in a bid to discredit him and to destabilise the government of
Qatar. It is suspicious that IslamOnline.net, which Dr Qaradawi
supervises, has been cited as the source of the story and that the
story seems to have disappeared from that website. Whether or not the
fight at G.A.Y. occurred, Dr Qaradawi's fatwas have endorsed the
execution of gay people. He should be asked to clarify his views on
the death penalty for homosexuality.

Further information: Brett Lock of OutRage! 0770 843 5917


ENDS