Outrage at visit by hate preacher who praised Bin Laden
Hardline cleric gave lecture to children while he was here
A HATE preacher who called Osama Bin Laden a ‘brother and ally’ who should be ‘raised in rank’ following his death, visited two mosques in Ireland in the past two weeks, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.
Sudanese sheikh Dr Abdul Hai Yousuf, who works at Khartoum University in Sudan and is the vicepresident of the Sudan Scholar Corporation, addressed children in the South Circular Road mosque, Dublin over the weekend of March 24 and 25. He later spoke at a questions and answers session in Dundalk Islamic Centre on Sunday afternoon, March 25, which was filmed and posted to YouTube.
Dr Hai Yousuf sparked controversy following Osama Bin Laden’s death in 2011 when he spoke at a gathering and called for Bin Laden’s face to be ‘ennobled’ and for him to be given a place with ‘the righteous and the lofty ones’. The preacher also called those responsible for his death ‘wicked kuffar (non-Muslim)’ and America ‘weak and lowly’ and without ‘worth, value or ethics’. Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday yesterday Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri, chairman of the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council, told of his ‘shock’ at the confirmation that Dr Hai Yousuf has recently been in Ireland. Dr Al-Qadri said that he gave two lectures in the South Circular Road Mosque on the upbringing of children.
‘The problem I have, and I am shocked, is he was speaking to children. Who is he to come and speak to children? Our children are given a talk by a lunatic like that, this is unacceptable. It is unacceptable, seriously. Okay, on that day he may not have spoken about his views, but this is a tactic.
‘Later on, the same young children will go on YouTube and think ah, Dr Abdul Hai Yousuf, the great Islamic scholar who came to Ireland, let’s google him and they will see the other lectures and think if he is saying so it must be so.
‘A person whose understanding of Osama Bin Laden and the world view is problematic – for him to come and speak to our children, he was given a platform to radicalise those children,’ Dr Al-Qadri said.
‘He gave a talk, he addressed the people in a crowd with a picture of Bin Laden behind him, saying he was our hero, he was our brother, he died for our religion and he is a great hero for us all to follow. It is on the internet, it is not hidden.’
He added that inviting a person who believes all Americans are our enemy is ‘asking for problems’.
Imam Nooh from Dundalk also confirmed to the MoS Dr Hai Yousuf had taken part in a question and answers session, but said he was not aware of his supportive comments in relation to Bin Laden.
When asked if he would still have been invited if he was aware of the comments he replied: ‘Of course’, before adding ‘that’s news for me’.
‘He is a scholar and a lecturer in Sudan. He was checked by the Irish migration system. If he is a danger, they wouldn’t let him come.’
‘Who is he to come and speak to children?’