Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi is a lover of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa and Palestine

Written by: Dr. Ahmed Youssef

My acquaintance with Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi (may God have mercy on him) dates back to the mid-seventies, when he returned to Egypt from Doha after President Sadat released the Brotherhood’s men from prisons and detention centers, and allowed them to work again.
Our first meeting was in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, where tens of thousands of Islamic awakening youth gathered to pray behind Sheikh Al-Qaradawi for the Friday prayer in Abdeen Square. This "Al-Qaradawi Millionaire" was a scene that I had never seen before in my life, with this number, this crowd, this enthusiasm and fraternal spirit.
Our meetings were repeated after that with Sheikh Al-Qaradawi in America, where we used to call him at the annual conference of the Arab Muslim Youth League as one of the leaders of the Islamic movement and the imam of the school of moderation in Islamic jurisprudence, and as a guide for the generation of Islamic awakening.
I do not remember one of those annual conferences held in the West during the 1980s and 1990s without Sheikh Al-Qaradawi being one of the most prominent speakers in it, as he was the most realistic and knowledgeable about the priorities of Islamic work and the jurisprudence of minorities, and he was a religious and dynamic reference for the younger generation like us, regarding our need as a Muslim community In the West, and to convince young people that the countries of the West are today (a house of call) and not a (a house of war), as the number of Muslims who immigrated to it and gave birth to millions there.
In 1996 AD, the US authorities arrested Dr. Musa Abu Marzouk; Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, on charges of leading a terrorist movement, so I published a book in his defense, entitled (Musa Abu Marzouk: The Man, the Movement, and the Cause).
In the year 2001 AD, I came to Algeria on a special mission to see Sheikh Mahfouz al-Nahnah (may God have mercy on him), and to consult with him in the mediation efforts I was carrying out between the Libyan government and the Islamic Group (the opposition). At the time, Sheikh Al-Qaradawi was residing in Algeria, and it was an opportunity to seek his opinion on the same issue.. The Sheikh blessed and encouraged the effort, and he had previously met Gaddafi and advised him to release the youth of the Islamic Group, and called on him to work on absorbing them with wisdom and good preaching, through the International Islamic Call Society Which was headed by Sheikh Muhammad Ahmed Al-Sharif.
In 2004 AD, I left America for Algeria, when I met Sheikh Al-Qaradawi at a conference on Sheikh Abdul Hamid bin Badis (may God have mercy on him), which was held by the Algerian Muslim Scholars Association headed by Sheikh Abdul Rahman Shayban. Sheikh Al-Qaradawi was the guest of the meeting and the main speaker in it, and he came specially from Qatar to participate in it. It was an opportunity to talk to him and peace be upon him.
Sheikh Al-Qaradawi was known for his love of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa, and Palestine. He had previously visited the country in the summer of 1966 AD, and stayed there for 96 days, spending most of his days in Hebron, next to the Ibrahimi Mosque. He also toured many cities and camps in the West Bank, and made a special visit to Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In May 2013 AD, Sheikh Al-Qaradawi came with a delegation from the International Union of Muslim Scholars to break the siege on the Gaza Strip, and congratulate Hamas and the Palestinian people for their steadfastness in the face of the Israeli aggression.
Brother Ismail Haniyeh resided; The head of the movement in the Gaza Strip, lunch for Sheikh al-Qaradawi and his accompanying delegation at his home, with the participation of many of the movement's leaders and staff. It was also an opportunity to talk and remember the days of America and Algeria.
Sheikh Al-Qaradawi's stances during the "Arab Spring revolutions" had raised a lot of rhetoric and innuendo, as some considered that his fatwas were "politicised", and that he contributed through those fatwas and statements on Al-Jazeera channel in fueling that wave of demonstrations that toppled the thrones of some tyrants and tyrants.
In fact, Sheikh Al-Qaradawi's status and status as head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars required him to say the "word of truth" out loud, and to pronounce it, and this angered some tyrannical regimes against him.
Despite all the "gossip" that was reported about Sheikh Al-Qaradawi; For him or against him, most of the scholars of the nation have unanimously agreed that he is the jurist whose absence is difficult, and that he is the imam of the school of moderation and moderation, and he is the one whose fatwa prohibited the prohibition of visiting Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque under occupation; Jogging and normalization with this usurping entity for many years.
The status of Sheikh Al-Qaradawi in the memory of the Palestinians as a supporter of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque will remain high, and its sun does not set. In fact, as stated in the institution’s obituary statement for him, “The deceased was a teacher in dedicated work in support of the cause of Jerusalem and Palestine, and a model for the divine scholar who strives with everything possible, in defense of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque..
Nasser Sheikh supported the Palestinian right with all courage and solidity, so he deserved the title of Sheikh of Palestine, and he endured a lot for it, and he wrote the book (Jerusalem is the cause of every Muslim). He corresponded with kings and presidents, urging them to exert efforts in supporting Jerusalem and its people, and he was the initiator of launching charitable, media and mobilization campaigns in support of the Palestinian people and their rights, and he believed in unitary work among the components of the nation, to gather its efforts in support of Palestine.
Perhaps the words of Mr. Khaled Meshaal; The leader of Hamas is the bottom line: "Al-Qaradawi lived for the sake of the nation's causes, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause... Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa were present in the heart of our sheikh."
May God have mercy on the great scholar, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, and honor him with the highest degrees of heaven, and reward him well for what he gave to the cause of Palestine, with Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa in its heart.