The furor raised by Sheikh al-Shethri’s complaint about the co-educational nature of King Abdullah University of Science & Technology didn’t end just with his being removed from his official positions. Now, the Grand Mufti of Egypt and Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradawi, a noted Saudi Egyptian conservative sheikh with a large follwoing in the Kingdom, are on record saying that al-Shethri was wrong. Saudi Gazette reports:
Grand Mufti of Egypt & Qaradawi laud Kaust
The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Al-Jum’ah, has praised King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) and cited several Ahadith to justify his position on the permissibility of coeducation.
Al-Jum’ah’s remarks come only days after the head of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradawi, offered his full support to the university and its goals.
The backing from two of the world’s most prominent scholars follows recent backing from members of the Board of Senior Ulema in the Kingdom who have lauded the university as a “beacon of knowledge” that will “restore the Ummah to the forefront of science”.
Saudi Gazette also carries a piece by Sheikh Al-Qaradawi extolling the virtues of KAUST.
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October:24:2009 - 05:44
Correction… Yousef Al-Qaradawi is Egyptian, not Saudi.
October:24:2009 - 05:44
Correct you are, and thank you! My mistake. He has a large following in both Qatar and the KSA and I crossed wires.
October:24:2009 - 05:44
I’m not so sure that Qardawi has that large a following in the kingdom. This isn’t exactly the first time he has went up against the Saudi Salafi view of Islam, as he’s a Sufi. His association with Al Jazeera (which many see as unrepentantly anti-Saudi) doesn’t help win him any Saudi hearts either.
October:24:2009 - 05:44
I was aware of his being cited, particularly over the past five years, on Saudi websites. Those may be entirely unrepresentative, but I concluded that he had a following. Of course, I could certainly be wrong.
October:24:2009 - 05:44
Funny we were talking about this just the other day.
There are few errors John in your observation. They have not gone against what Al-Shithri said. They have said the same thing.
The only difference is: this time the words are being portrayed as if they are in support of Kaust, while the same words earlier were portrayed as against Kaust. Of course it’s been packed in a different manner.
So while this sheikh say co-education is fine if it’s within the Shariah limits, al-shithri said the forbidden type of intermingling should not be allowed.
Al-Shithri didn’t criticize the whole establishment of Kaust. He wrote a reply that clearly said he supported Kaust and the initiative. In fact, he lauded it. When he was questioned specifically about it, he said it should be done as per Shariah. The press made it look the other way.
Segregation is simple. Even if men and women are in the same room – men and women sit separately. Did you read what this sheikh actually said?
October:24:2009 - 05:44
I read what he said, but I guess I didn’t read it the same way you did. I read it to mean that as long as they weren’t fornicating, men and women could be in the same room. I didn’t see anything that said they had to be on opposite sides of the room!
October:24:2009 - 05:44
Accelerated Links – Israel, Turkey And Afghanistan…
Terror Trail: From Maharashtra to Goa.
The Muslim barbarian take over of France.
Britain implicated over torture.
Turkey is lost to the Islamist cause.
Is there anything un-Islamic about co-education ?
Egypt bans Israeli doctors from cancer conference…