The Archbishop of Canterbury's office has withdrawn the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation from Pakistani cleric Maulana Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi. The decision follows the emergence of past comments in which Ashrafi reportedly praised Osama bin Laden.. The reversal occurred at Lambeth Palace shortly after the honor was presented.
The Hubert Walter Award reversal at Lambeth Palace
The Archbishop of Canterbury's office has moved to strip Maulana Hafiz Muhammad Tahrafi Mehmood Ashrafi of the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation. The award, which was presented at Lambeth Palace just last week, was intended to recognize Ashrafi's "outstanding work as an ambassador of interfaith harmony in Pakistan." However, as the report indicates, the honor was rescinded on Thursday after previously made comments by the cleric came to light.
The timing of the award and its subsequent withdrawal is particularly sensitive, occurring near the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. While Dame Sarah Mullally presented the award, the office's decision to retract it highlights the precarious nature of interfaith diplomacy when historical rhetoric clashes with modern values of reconciliation.
The 2007 "Sword of God" remarks
The controversy centers on statements made by Imam Ashrafi in 2007 regarding the architect of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden. According to the source, Ashrafi claimed that bin Laden had been "fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British." More controversially, the BBC reported that Ashrafi had referred to bin Laden using a specific title:
- "Saifullah": A term meaning "Sword of God."
These remarks, though nearly two decades old, have created a significant rift between the cleric's current reputation for promoting religious tolerance and his past ideological stances. The emergence of these comments has forced Lambeth Palace to reconsider the legitimacy of honoring a figure who once lauded a terrorist leader.
Ashrafi's defense against an "unfair campaign"
In response to the backlash, Maulana Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi has pushed back against the decision,labeling the scrutiny as an "unfair campaign." He maintains that his 2007 comments were "totally taken out of context" and were not intended as an endorsement of terrorism in the way they are being characterized today.. the source notes that Ashrafi is presenting this perspective as a defense against the current criticism.
Ashrafi explained that his rhetoric at the time was a reaction to the perceived hurt felt by many Muslims following the British government's decision to knight the author of The Satanic Verses. This attempt to link his comments to a specific moment of religious tension in the UK suggests a complex, albeit highly controversial, motivation for his past words.
Unanswered questions regarding the vetting of Maulana Ashrafi
While the award has been officially withdrawn,several critical questions remain regarding how such comments escaped the initial scrutiny of the Archbishop of Canterbury's office. it is currently unclear whether a formal background check was conducted on Maulana Ashrafi prior to the ceremony at Lambeth Palace or if the information only surfaced through external media reports.
Furthermore, the report does not specify whether Lambeth Palace intends to conduct a broader review of its interfaith recognition protocols to prevent similar incidents. While the office stted it continues to pray for the Christian community in Pakistan, the specific mechanism that allowed these past statements to remain undetected until after the award was presented remains a significant point of contention.
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