Radical Egyptian cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi is one of the world's most renowned Sunni clerics, chairman of the International Federation of Muslim Scholars, and has been dubbed the "Sheikh of the Arab Spring" for lending his support and legitimacy to many of the recent anti-government protests and revolutions in Arab countries. In May, he called for "jihad to death" against Israel -and now he has added Syria to the list of countries in need of jihad.
Specifically, al-Qaradawi's official website stated that he has called for "those able to undertake jihad and fighting to head to Syria to stand by the Syrian people who are being killed at the hands of the regime and are now being killed at the hands of what he called the party of Satan" -referring to the al-Assad regime in Syria and Lebanon's Hezbollah ("Party of God"), respectively. Regarding the latter, many Sunni clerics and laymen alike have taken to renaming Hezbollah after the devil due to its full-scale intervention on behalf of al-Assad.
Regarding al-Assad's regime, al-Qaradawi's motivations here are not hard to deduce. Firstly, al-Qaradawi not only has a record of supporting recent popular ('democratic') uprisings against Arab dictators, but also has a history of describing Shia Muslims as "heretics", and of accusing Shias of "invading" Sunni countries. This has led him to be criticized even by a fellow Sunni member of the International Federation of Muslim Scholars for fomenting sectarian tensions. All of this has great relevance to why he would call for a jihad against an Alawite (Shia) regime in a majority-Sunni country, in a conflict already riven with religious and communal violence. But secondly, the clue is in al-Qaradawi's current base of operations: Qatar. Qatar has been staunchly backing Islamist rebels against al-Assad's regime -and probably (tacitly, indirectly, or even consciously) the most radical jihadis like the al-Nusra Front and their allies.
In its better days, Sheikh al-Qaradawi could be said to symbolize the Arab Spring's democratic aspirations and popular appeal. Now, the Sheikh also embodies the uprisings' darker side of sectarianism, trans-national proxies, and violent jihad.
There aren't enough bars jihadis would go to. Nowhere you could go, sit with a drink, and eavesdrop on the messy, convoluted and contradictory mess that is violent jihadism around the world. So instead we have the imaginary Sharaaabtoon, a place where various self-proclaimed mujahadeen will be brought forth to be seen and overheard, just as if they were the clientele of a bar. Remember: no shahada, no service. Twitter: @Sharaabtoon
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