Qaradawi slams Hezbollah over military involvement in Syria, says group trying to sow discord in the Muslim world.
By JPOST.COM STAFFSheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi 370(photo credit: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
The president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, who previously spoke in defense of Hezbollah and Iran, slammed the Lebanese Shiite organization over its military involvement in Syria, in an interview with Al Arabiya aired on Sunday.“When Hezbollah was fighting against Israel, I defended it. I stood against the Muslim scholars in Saudi Arabia, the most renowned scholars who warned us against Hezbollah,” Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi said.He said Hezbollah was the "party of Satan," in a reference to the organization's name, that means "party of God" in Arabic, and accused Hezbollah of trying to sow discord in the Muslim world.Referring to his past statements in defense of Hezbollah, Qaradawi explained he wanted "to unite all Muslims, Muslims fighting against Israel" but said he now understands Saudi religious scholars who cautioned against the organization "were smarter" than him.Click for full JPost coverageIn an interview with Al Arabiya aired on Friday, former Hezbollah Secretary-General Subhi al-Tufayli also criticized the Shiite group, lamenting that "Hezbollah’s project as a resistance party that works to unify the Islamic world has fallen."“[Hezbollah] is no longer that party that defends the Umma [Islamic nation]; instead it plagues the Umma,” Tufayli said.
