Fury has erupted in Britain after the woke Archbishop of Canterbury gave a Pakistani Muslim cleric who once praised Osama Bin Laden an award on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 Islamic terrorist attack.
Dame Sarah Mullally, who in January became the first female head of the Church of England, and the first since the Middle Ages without a degree from Oxford or Cambridge, presented the Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation prize to the chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council, Tahir Ashrafi, on Friday.
Photos of the ceremony showed the Archbishop posing with Mr Ashrafi and his wife, who was wearing a full-face niqab, and was not named in the caption of a photo posted by Lambeth Palace, Dame Mullally’s official residence in London.
But the decision to give the award to Mr Ashrafi sparked anger after it was revealed that he and his organisation previously gave its highest honour, a religious title meaning “Sword of Allah”, to Bin Laden in 2007, and Lambeth Palace backed down on Thursday night and withdrew the award.
Critics included British MPs and survivors of Muslim terrorist attacks, and thousands of social media users also shared their objections online.
“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,” Lambeth Palace said in a statement.
“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to light that have led Lambeth Palace to reconsider this award and we can now confirm today that the award has been withdrawn.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.”
Mr Ashrafi said while giving the honour to the Al Qaeda leader that it was in retaliation for Britain awarding a knighthood to novelist Salman Rushdie, who many Muslims want to murder over allegedly blasphemous passages in his 1988 book Satanic Verses.
“We are pleased to award the title of Saifullah to Osama bin Laden after the British government’s decision to bestow the title of ‘Sir’ on blasphemer Rushdie. This is the highest title for a Muslim warrior,” he said in June 2007.
“If a blasphemer can be given the title ‘Sir’ by the West despite the fact that 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.”
Dame Mullally describes herself as a feminist, is pro-homosexual, and sparked criticism earlier this month for allowing London’s historic St Paul’s Cathedral to partner with a nightclub and host raves.
After her confirmation she complained about “misogyny”, and said she would speak out about it while in her new role.
Header image: The Archbishop with Mr Ashrafi and his wife (Neil Turner for Lambeth Palace).
