Church of England rescinds ‘obscene’ interfaith honour for cleric who praised Bin Laden

The Church of England has confirmed that it is “urgently reviewing” the circumstances around the Archbishop of Canterbury giving an interfaith award – on the 25^th anniversary of the September 11 attacks – to an individual who previously described Osama bin Laden as “a mujahid who has been fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British”.

On Friday, at an event at Lambeth Palace, Dame Sarah Mullally presented Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi with the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith co-operation. However, the National Secular Society subsequently pointed out that in 2007, the Pakistan Ulema Council, which Ashrafi heads, had bestowed the honorary title of “Saifullah”, or sword of Allah, on Osama Bin Laden. In comments made to Reuters at the time, Ashrafi linked this to knighthood which had been given to the author Salman Rushdie, whose book The Satanic Verses was deemed by many religious Muslims to be offensive to their faith.

“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 who has been fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British must be given the lofty title of Islam, Saifullah,” Reuters cited Ashrafi as telling them.

In a statement from the Pakistan Ulema Council, a spokesman said that “regarding Osama Bin Laden, Ashrafi’s remarks have been presented without their proper context. His comparison was not an endorsement of Bin Laden; it was made in the context of explaining the hurt felt by many Muslims over the British honour given to Salman Rushdie. His longstanding record against violence and extremism should be considered when assessing such remarks.”

Following a fatwa [religious decree] by the former Supreme Leader of the Iranian Regime, Ayatollah Khomeini, calling for his assassination and offering a $3 million bounty, Rushdie has spent much of the last few decades in hiding. In 2022, Rushdie was stabbed fifteen times by Hadi Matar, an American-born dual-national US-Lebanese citizen, as he prepared to speak at an event in New York. Rushdie was severely injured but survived the attack.

National Secular Society spokesperson Alejandro Sanchez said: “It is obscene, and almost beyond parody, that the archbishop of Canterbury has awarded an Osama Bin Laden apologist an interfaith award on the anniversary of 9/11. This demonstrates appallingly poor judgement and is an insult to the victims of 9/11 and their families.

“Interfaith engagement must not mean overlooking support for extremism. The archbishop of Canterbury should explain what due diligence was undertaken, whether those responsible knew about his actions, and whether the award will now be withdrawn.”

In a statement from Lambeth Palace on Thursday evening, a spokesperson said:

“Last week the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation was presented to Maulana Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi in a ceremony at Lambeth Palace. The award was given for Imam Ashrafi’s longstanding support for religious minorities in Pakistan, particularly the Christian community – support that is valued by many Christians in Pakistan including its Anglican Church.

“It is a longstanding principle of interfaith dialogue and co-operation that we must engage with one another across deeply-held differences, and that remains the case. However, 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. We have contacted Imam Ashrafi to make him aware of this decision. We continue to pray for the Christian community in Pakistan, and for all those working for interfaith dialogue and harmony in Pakistan and around the world.”