Editor
Daily Telegraph
14th September

Dear Letters Editor,

If Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi is to be regarded as an 'extremist Imam' by the Daily Telegraph (DT, 14th September 2005) then I wonder how many Imams the DT will not consider to be extremist? I have read his books and heard Qaradawi speak since I was at university almost twenty years ago and I have found him to be a consistently brave and outspoken opponent of extremism. Qaradawi is the one who excoriated the Taliban for blowing up the Buddhist statues in Bamiyan. In the aftermath of 9/11 he urged American Muslims to donate blood to help the victims of the atrocities.

Qaradawi is hated by extremist groups in the Muslim world and has been a force for moderation for decades now. Ken Livingstone was absolutely right to host him at City Hall in the face of short-sighted attacks on Qaradawi in much of the right-wing media.

It would seem to be regarded as a 'moderate' by the Daily Telegraph one needs to remain silent about Israeli aggression and theft of Palestinian lands.

Yours faithfully,

Inayat Bunglawala.
Secretary,
Media Committee,
The Muslim Council of Britain

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