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Following are excerpts from a Friday sermon delivered by Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi, chairman of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, which aired on Qatar TV on February 4, 2011:
Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: These youth revolted, demanding liberty and honor, as well as their right to live a life of dignity. It is inconceivable that some people should place their hands on their bellies and groan with hunger, while other people place their hands on their bellies and complain that they have eaten too much, and ask for medicine to ease their indigestion.
Eat all you can, but don't eat what rightfully belongs to the people. The poor have [revolted] because the rich have eaten what is rightfully theirs. 40 percent of the young people of Egypt live beneath the poverty line, while others speculate with millions.
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They took to the streets on Tuesday, January 25, in a popular uprising not set in motion by anyone – neither from within Egypt, nor from abroad. Now they are talking about external elements and domestic elements, and about the Muslim Brotherhood...
They use the words "Muslim Brotherhood" to intimidate the people in the West – in America and Europe. The boogeyman, Islam, the Islamic movement, the Muslim Brotherhood... The Muslim Brotherhood are just one group among the people, and do not comprise more than perhaps 10 percent.
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All the young people of Egypt who can take to the streets should do so, in order to strengthen the good and pure youth, in order to confront the oppression. Anybody who is capable and has no good reason not to should join these young people.
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The best form of Jihad is to say a word of truth to a tyrannical ruler. It is the best form of Jihad, because by waging Jihad against internal corruption, you are fending off colonialism, occupation, and foreign invasion.
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If Hosni Mubarak were indeed a father to the people, as he claims to be, he would not allow the killing of his children. He would not remain in power, while millions of his children say: "No. Enough."
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