Sunni cleric says Iraq caliphate violates Sharia

DOHA: Sunni Muslim religious scholar Yusef al-Qaradawi said on Saturday that the declaration of an Islamic caliphate by militants fighting the governments in Syria and Iraq violates Sharia law. Last Sunday, the militants declared an “Islamic caliphate” in areas they control in Iraq and Syria and ordered Muslims worldwide to pledge allegiance to their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Qatar-based Qaradawi, seen as a spiritual guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in his native Egypt, said in a statement that the declaration “is void under Sharia“.