A Kingdom Divided: World’s Most Influential Sunni Cleric Calls For Global Jihad Against Non-Sunni Muslims In Syria

Mark 13:8a, “For nation [ethnos] will rise against nation [ethnos], and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles …”

By Richard Spencer, The Telegraph – “Yusef al-Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar and has been a leading voice supporting the Arab Spring, warned that Iranian Shia were trying to ‘eat’ Sunni Muslims, who are a majority in the Muslim world.

He referred to Alawites, the followers of the Muslim sect to which President Bashar al-Assad of Syria belongs, as being ‘worse infidels than Christians or Jews’. He also used the deliberately contemptuous term ‘Nusayris’ when talking about them.

He was particularly critical of the roles played by Iran, which is largely Shia, and the Lebanon Shia militia Hizbollah whose name translates as Party of God but which he called ‘Party of Satan’, in supporting the Assad regime.

‘There is no common ground between the two sides because the Iranians, especially conservatives, want to eat the Sunni people,’ he said.

The Syrian opposition is dominated, like Syria itself, by Sunni Muslims, but also includes a number of Christians, Alawites and other minorities.

However, Alawite militias loyal to the Assads have been responsible for sectarian attacks on Sunni villages, while there are also increasing reports of sectarian attacks by militant Sunni jihadists, many of whom regard the Shia and Alawites as heretics.

In recent days, a number of Shia shrines have been attacked and desecrated in rebel-held territory, including the tombs of Ammar ibn Yasir in Raqqa and of Hujr bin Uday al-Kindi near Damascus.

Alawite leaders have openly called for Sunni areas to be ‘cleansed’ …

He said Sunni Muslims around the world should not wait for the West to help the rebel cause against the ‘Nusayris’, the Iranians and ‘the party of God’ [Hezbollah]. ‘They are the party of Satan, the party of the tyrant,’ he said. ‘The party of God does not kill [Sunni] Muslims, and these people draw close to God by killing [Sunni] Muslims.'” Read more.

Flashback Yusef al-Qaradawi:

• Qaradawi Defends Hitler, Calls For Nuclear Terror
• Qaradawi Affirms Death Penalty For Anyone Who Leaves Islam
• Qaradawi: All Muslims Must Unite Against Israel To Liberate Jerusalem
• Qaradawi: The Land Of Israel ‘Has Never Once Been A Jewish Land’
• ‘The Battle Between Us And The Jews Is Coming’, ‘Our Whole Ambition Is To Die On The Path To Allah’