What brought Muhammad Surur, who was known for his mainstream so-called political Salafism, together with his rival, Yusuf al-Qaradawi and his Muslim Brotherhood. People gather in front of a poster depicting Saudi King Salman and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani during a welcoming ceremony for King Salman in Doha. The Case Against Qatar « The Salafi movement or Salafist movement or Salafism is an ultra-conservative reform branch or movement within Sunni Islam that developed in Arabia in the first half. Qatar- Gulf crisis: All the latest updates . The demand that they be summarily closed down is, in our view, an unacceptable attack on the right to freedom of expression and opinion. Qatar is willing to work together with other Gulf countries blockading it in order to reach a resolution to the Gulf dispute, its foreign minister has said, stressing, however, that his country will not discuss any measures that impinge on its sovereignty. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani made the comments on Washington, DC, on Thursday, the last day of a visit to the United States where he had been holding a series of key meetings aimed at resolving the crisis. We are willing to negotiate any legitimate grievances with our neighbours, but we will not compromise our sovereignty. Here are some excerpts from his speech in the Arab Center in Washington, DC. During the peak Eid- Al Fitr holiday period, 2. June, 4. 9,7. 94 of those passengers were joining flights directly from Doha. The World Almanac of Islamism. Qatar’s government and ruling family have traditionally been strongly linked to Wahhabi Hanbali Islam. Not only is Wahhabi Islam the official state religion, but Islamic jurisprudence is the basis of Qatar's legal system. Civil courts have jurisdiction only over commercial law. Qatar’s governmental structure, despite a written constitution, conforms closely to traditional Islamic constraints, with tribal and family allegiance remaining an influential factor in the country’s politics. ![]() The latest news after some of the Gulf states and Egypt cut ties with Qatar and imposed a land, sea and air blockade. 14:25 GMT Middle East, Qatar, Saudi. The bidding process for the 20 FIFA World Cups was the process by which the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) selected locations. DUBAI // The founder of a fitness gym was forced to apologise yesterday after he posted a series of offensive promotional images on the internet, including a photo of. Latest news on Qatar and its government, crime, expats, foreign relations, oil and gas, Mers, naturalisation law, as well as on 2022 Fifa World Cup. September 3, 1971: Qatar gains full independence from the United Kingdom. Arab states among the first to recognise Qatar. The country is an early member of Opec and a. There is no provision in Qatar’s constitution for political parties, and hence there is no official political opposition. Professional associations and societies, which in other Muslim countries play the role of unofficial political parties, are under severe constraints in Qatar, and are forbidden to engage in political activities. While the official policy has been to support the movements behind the Arab Spring abroad, any such aspirations within the state are dealt with harshly, as in the case of poet Mohammed al- Ajami, who was handed a 1. Arab governments “indiscriminate thieves.”5. This firm hand when it comes to internal dissent should be contrasted with the considerable leniency shown by authorities toward Qataris accused of funding Islamist activities abroad. What the U. S. The Ministry appoints religious leaders and previews mosque sermons for inflammatory language that might incite listeners to violence. Qatar has a longstanding tradition of granting asylum to exiled Islamists and radical preachers from other Muslim countries. Following the 1. 97. ![]() Grand Mosque in Mecca by an extremist group, Qatar took in a number of radical exiles from Saudi Arabia, including Wahhabi scholar Sheikh Abdallah bin Zayd al- Mahmud, who subsequently was appointed Qatar’s most senior cleric. Sympathy for Islamist causes has traditionally been high in Qatari society and among many members of the ruling clan. Sheikh Fahd bin Hamad al- Thani, the second- oldest son of the Emir, established a reputation for surrounding himself with jihadist veterans of the Afghan War. A number of al- Qaeda leaders are believed to have travelled through Qatar during the 1. Abu Mus’ab al- Zarqawi and Osama bin Laden. The Chechen leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, who was killed in Doha in 2. Qatar. During the 1. ![]() Wahhabi exiles were appointed to senior and mid- level positions in Qatar’s Interior Ministry, which controls both the civilian security force and the Mubahathat (secret police office). After 2. 00. 3, Emir Hamad bin Khalifa began gradually weeding out the more extreme Islamist elements from government ministries, including the Interior Ministry; the Minister of the Interior, Sheikh Abdallah, a member of the Wahhabi clique, was removed from office in 2. The Interior Ministry was then put under the de facto control of Sheikh Abdallah bin Nasser bin- Khalifa al- Thani, an Emir loyalist. However, a large number of Islamist appointees are believed to remain among mid- level Qatari security officials. In June 2. 00. 3, the Emir created an independent State Security Agency, answerable directly to him. Additionally, all the most important police, military, and internal security services are headed by powerful members of the ruling family, who in turn answer to the Emir. The creation of these parallel security agencies effectively bypassed the Interior Ministry’s control of police and public security. These shakeups, however, have had more to do with political alliances than with government opposition to Islamists per se. Most Islamists, both domestic and immigrant, have become well integrated into the top echelons of Qatari society. Among the political exiles who have sought refuge in Qatar are prominent figures of the Muslim Brotherhood, many of whom fled persecution at the hands of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s government in Egypt during the 1. Some of these exiles reportedly laid the foundations for the Qatari Education Ministry, and taught at various levels there until the early 1. ![]() ![]() ![]() The tiny Gulf state of Qatar is a study in contradictions. Considerably more liberal than many of its neighbors, Qatar nevertheless is the only country other than. ![]() More recently, Hamas political head Khaled Mishaal quit his former headquarters under the wing of Syria’s Al Assad regime and relocated to Doha. Given the great success of these elements, the country has no obvious need for an Islamist opposition. In 2. 00. 7, Kuwaiti Islamist writer Abd Allah al- Nafisi called for the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood to follow the lead of the Qatari branch and disband altogether. Al- Nafisi noted that from 1. Qatar went through a period of great Islamist intellectual activity and organization. In contrast to the experience of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Qatari Muslim Brothers had no real conflict with the state. One of the most influential—not to mention controversial—voices in Islamist circles today is Egyptian Sheikh Yusuf al- Qaradawi, who has lived in Qatar since 1. Qaradawi enjoys worldwide exposure via Al Jazeera television, through his weekly program “Sharia and Life” (al- Shari’a wa- al- Hayat). Until recently, he also oversaw the Islamist Web portal Islam. Online, established in 1. Many consider Sheikh al- Qaradawi to be the most influential Islamic scholar alive today; he is viewed as the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and “sets the tone for Arabic language Sunni sermons across the world.”6. Qaradawi has sparked considerable controversy in the West by his support for suicide bombings in Israel and the killing of American citizens in Iraq. Among Muslim audiences, however, his comparatively moderate views on the acceptability of Muslim participation in Western democracies have brought him both praise and condemnation. This mixture of conservatism and reform informs Qaradawi’s politics. He is one of the founders of the wasatiyya (“Middle Way”) movement, which attempts to bridge the gap between the various interpretations of Islam. Yet Qaradawi’s political proclivities and involvement have led to some questionable connections: Qaradawi is listed as a founder of the Union of Good (Itilaf al- Khayr), a coalition of European Islamic charities now designated by the United States Treasury as a channel for transferring funds to Hamas. Qaradawi’sinfluence also played a role in the events of the Arab Spring, as his prot. Uppermost on Qatar’s agenda is the need to protect its sovereignty and natural gas wealth, by means of which the country has emerged as a regional player. This strategy may be one of the motivations for Qatar’s recent spending spree in Europe. Qatar invests billions of dollars a year in Europe, in real estate, tourist venues, sports and media sectors. These investments are a tool of foreign policy, but also serve an important function in domestic policy. The greater the stake foreign countries have in the stability of the al Thani government, the better. By investing heavily abroad, the al Thanis are buying insurance against an Arab Spring of their own. This strategy caused a stir when it emerged in 2. Qatar had pledged 1. Euro . While Qatari officials insisted that the move was “just business,” critics claimed that the Qataris were using their economic clout to push an Islamist agenda. The issue highlighted the fact that Qatar has become an international superpower when it comes to soft power. The al Thani regime has established itself as second to none in wielding influence through non- military means. Perhaps the greatest weapon in its arsenal is the Al Jazeera satellite television station. Although the Qatari press is free from official censorship, self- censorship is the norm. Defense and national security matters, as well as stories related to the royal family, are considered strictly out of bounds. The country’s major radio and television stations, Qatar Radio and Qatar Television, are both state- owned. Although newspapers in Qatar are all privately owned in principle, many board members and owners are either government officials or have close ties to the government. For example, the chairman of the influential daily Al- Watan, Hamad bin Sahim al Thani, is a member of the royal family. Meanwhile, Qatar’s Foreign Minister, Hamed bin Jasem bin Jaber al Thani, owns half of the newspaper. Compared to the traditionally conservative and highly censored Arab press, Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite network would appear to be a breath of fresh air. Formed in 1. 99. 6 from the remnants of BBC Arabic TV, which had just been closed down, the station initially offered the kind of free and unfettered discussion of issues not usually broadcast in the Muslim world. Al Jazeera quickly established itself as a major international media player, and is increasingly being viewed as a political actor in its own right. Al Jazeera is in fact funded by the Qatari government, with its expenses reimbursed by the Ministry of Finance, and Sheikh Hamid bin Thamer, a member of the royal family, heads the station’s board of directors. In recent years, Al Jazeera has undergone a process of increasing “Islamization,” with many of its more secular staff replaced by Islamists. This process has been accompanied by subtle—and not- so- subtle—changes in the station’s reportage of happenings in the field. Al Jazeera is alleged to have moved away from its rather ideologically diverse origins to a more populist—and more Islamist—approach. In addition, Al Jazeera is increasingly becoming a participant in the sectarian feud between Shi’as and Sunnis. Qatar itself is right in the middle of this battle; on the one hand, it hosts an American military base on its soil, where tanks and vehicles damaged in the fighting are serviced and sent back into battle to protect the Shi’ite- led government of Iraq. On the other, Qatar’s Sunni majority sees Shi’ite Iran as the main threat in the region. Qatar supported Saudi Arabia’s intervention in neighboring Bahrain to help quell Shi’ite protests, and sent a small contingent of security personnel to protect government sites.
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