Archbishop of Canterbury Withdraws Award From Muslim Cleric Who Praised Bin Laden

LONDON — The Archbishop of Canterbury has withdrawn an award given to a Pakistani Muslim cleric after comments surfaced in which he praised Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda who orchestrated the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi received the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation from Archbishop Sarah Mullally at Lambeth Palace last Friday – the 25th anniversary of 9/11. The award recognized his work promoting religious tolerance and interfaith harmony in Pakistan.

The controversy followed the publication of remarks Ashrafi made in 2007 describing bin Laden as someone who had been “fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British.” He also reportedly said he would give bin Laden the title Saifullah, meaning “Sword of God.”

Lambeth Palace subsequently announced that the comments had led it to reconsider the award. “We can now confirm that the award has been withdrawn,” the palace said. Ashrafi told the BBC that his remarks had been “totally taken out of context” and characterized the criticism as an unfair campaign.

Ashrafi said he had made the comments in response to Muslim anger over the knighthood awarded to author Salman Rushdie. He nevertheless defended the comparison between Rushdie and bin Laden, who was responsible for attacks that killed thousands of people.

Questions have also been raised about Ashrafi’s record concerning Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. While Lambeth Palace cited his intervention in the 2012 case of Christian girl Rimsha Masih, Ashrafi has supported the laws, saying they “save lives.” Human Rights Watch has called for their reform, arguing that they have been used against religious minorities and other vulnerable communities.

Previously, the UOJ reported that a night club planned four years of concerts at St. Paul’s Cathedral.