Friday, September 26, 2008

"Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi is no stranger to public scrutiny. The Sunni Muslim preacher is the star of his own highly popular show on al-Jazeera TV, which is watched by millions for his advice on sharia law. But he may have miscalculated when he warned recently that "heretical" Shia Muslims were "invading" Sunni countries." This is not accidental and not unrelated to Saudi policy. Qaradawi has not been in the habit of making such statements before, and used to meet (without publicity) regularly with Hasan Nasrallah, and used to complain (privately) about Salafi anti-Shi`ism. (thanks Kamal)