Senior Muslim cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, who was based in Qatar, died on Monday, according to a post on his official Twitter account.The cleric was an Egyptian Islamic scholar and was chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.He was best known for his programme al-Sharīʿa wa al-Ḥayāh (&Sharia and Life&), broadcast on Al Jazeera, which has an estimated audience of 40&60 million worldwide.He is also known for IslamOnline, a website he helped to found in 1997 and for which he served as chief religious scholar.Al-Qaradawi published more than 120 books, and received eight international prizes for his contributions to Islamic scholarship, and is considered one of the most influential Islamic scholars today.Al-Qaradawi has long had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian political organization, although he repeatedly stated that he was no longer a member.
He has over the years been critical of Egypt's President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.The post Influential Muslim cleric al-Qaradawi dies at 96 first appeared on Ariana News.