Archbish has to take it back. Whoops! Maybe think about it more carefully next time, eh wot?
The archbishop of Canterbury has withdrawn an interfaith harmony award she gave to an Osama Bin Laden apologist on the anniversary of 9/11 last week.
The withdrawal follows a public backlash after the National Secular Society and other outlets revealed [that] Tahir Ashrafi, as chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council, had bestowed the title “Saifullah”, or sword of Allah, on Osama Bin Laden, in 2007.
Here’s the thing, Archbish. We don’t want swords of Allah (or of Jahweh or Jehova or God or Jesus, either). Swords are bad things; they’re hurty and killy. The goal is not violence, not endless war, not slaughtering each other over who has the best fictional goddy character. Don’t be rewarding people who are all in on the slaughter part.
The council bestowed the title in reaction to the UK knighting Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses. Rushdie was forced into hiding after the Iranian supreme leader issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for his death because the book was deemed ‘blasphemous’.
Speaking in 2007, Ashrafi said: “If a blasphemer can be given the title ‘Sir’ by the West despite the fact he’s hurt the feelings of Muslims, then a mujahid [jihadist] who has been fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British must be given the lofty title of Islam, Saifullah”.
Ashrafi told the BBC yesterday he was only trying to convey “the hurt felt by many Muslims”, but he defended the comparison between the author and the architect of a terrorist atrocity which killed thousands of civilians.
Meanwhile, of course, one of the fanatics finally got to Salman and took one of his eyes. That’s the faction the archbish wanted to flatter.
Ashrafi has also expressed support for Pakistan’s blasphemy law, which makes it a capital offence to insult Islam. It is routinely used to persecute Ahmadi Muslims, who hold different beliefs to the majority of Muslims in Pakistan, as well as other religious minorities and nonreligious people.
In 2021, Ashrafi reportedly endorsed remarks by Pakistan’s prime minister which appeared to blame women for being assaulted if they do not wear hijab. He has also said a man may marry up to four women without his first wife’s consent. In 2023, he allegedly described the perpetrators of the October 7 attack as “freedom fighters”.
After a torrent of public criticism, Lambeth Palace issued a statement last night which said: “previous comments made by Imam Ashrafi have come to light that have led Lambeth Palace to reconsider this award and we can now confirm today that the award has been withdrawn”. No apology has been issued.
In other words Lambeth Palace admitted it had been grotesquely lazy and sloppy about vetting the guy they wanted to give a nice churchy interfaithy prize to. Listen up, Lambeth P: religions are not automatically or invariably sources of compassion or fairness or sweet reason; not yours and certainly not that violence-loving other one.
National Secular Society chief executive Stephen Evans said: “We welcome the withdrawal of this award, but it is astonishing that it was given in the first place – on the anniversary of 9/11, no less.
“This episode reveals not only appallingly poor judgement and inadequate due diligence, but a dangerous naivety about the religious figures legitimised in the name of interfaith engagement.
“A Church capable of such a serious failure of judgement should not enjoy constitutional privilege, including 26 bishops making our laws. It is time the Church of England was disestablished.”
I cannot disagree.
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