The office of the Archbishop of Canterbury has withdrawn an interfaith award given to Pakistani Muslim cleric Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, after earlier comments in which he praised Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden resurfaced. The office said Thursday that it was 'urgently reviewing' the award.
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Ashrafi received the award from Archbishop Sarah Mullally for “his outstanding work as an ambassador of interfaith harmony in Pakistan”. The presentation took place on September 11, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
Lambeth Palace said in a statement sent to AFP, “We are aware of comments circulating online attributed to Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi and we are urgently reviewing this matter.”
Ashrafi, chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council, had told AFP in 2007 that his organisation was giving bin Laden its “highest title for a Muslim warrior” in protest against Britain awarding author Salman Rushdie a knighthood.
“We are pleased to award the title of Saifullah (Sword of Allah) to Osama bin Laden,” Ashrafi told AFP at the time, calling this “the highest title for a Muslim warrior”.
