Muslims should take advantage of the global financial crisis to build an economic system compatible with Islamic principles, influential Sunni cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi said on Sunday. "The collapse of the capitalist system based on usury and paper and not on goods traded on the market is proof that it is in crisis and shows that Islamic economic philosophy is holding up," said the Egyptian-born, Qatar-based cleric.The article doesn't mention the other significant part of the conference, which is alluded to by that last sentence: Sheikh Qaradawi, who has been very critical of Shi'ites, seemed to kiss and make up with Iran."The Western system has collapsed and we have a complete economic philosophy as well as spiritual strength," he said at Sunday's opening of a conference on Jerusalem.
"All riches are ours ... the Islamic nation has all or nearly all the oil and we have an economic philosophy that no one else has," Qaradawi said.
He urged Muslims to "profit from the crisis to bring about the triumph of the [Islamic] nation, which holds the spiritual and material resources for victory."
The sixth conference on Jerusalem is being attended by around 300 people representing political parties as well as Muslim and Christian NGOs, from various countries.
It is staged by Al-Quds [Jerusalem] International Institution, which is dedicated to the conservation of the holy city and its sacred places.
Participants in the three-day conference include Khaled Meshaal, exiled head of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, and Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
This happened at the same time that the al-Arabiya website was redirected by "hackers" to an anti-Sunni webpage over the weekend, as they took control of the alariya.net domain name and forced the site to move to alarabiya.tv instead. There has been a few such hacks between Sunnis and Shi'ites lately, which cause, naturally, some people to blame the "Zionists."
Needless to say, the conference itself is dedicated to eradicating any Jewish presence in Jerusalem, which, as Khaled Mashaal stated explicitly, will only happen through "resistance."
I cannot find any webpage for the conference itself that will identify the "Muslim and Christian NGOs" that are in attendance. Last year's conference in Istanbul is on-line, and in its photos of Jerusalem section I found two more great old pictures of the Al Aqsa Mosque showing how many weeds were evident in this "third holiest place of Islam" when Muslims had control over it.
