Archbishop Withdraws Award After Cleric Praised Osama bin Laden

The Archbishop of Canterbury has withdrawn an award for reconciliation and interfaith cooperation from Pakistani cleric Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, after it emerged he had praised Osama bin Laden. The award was presented last week by Dame Sarah Mullally, with Lambeth Palace initially honoring Ashrafi for his work as an ambassador of interfaith harmony in Pakistan.

Controversy arose after reports surfaced of Ashrafi's 2007 comments where he referred to bin Laden, the architect of the September 11th attacks, as someone who "had been fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British." Ashrafi also reportedly stated he would grant bin Laden the title "Saifullah," meaning "Sword of God."

Ashrafi told the BBC that his remarks had been "totally taken out of context" and that the backlash was an "unfair campaign" against him. He stated that in 2007, he was responding to the "hurt felt by many Muslims" over a knighthood awarded to author Sir Salman Rushdie, but he defended his comparison between an author and a figure responsible for thousands of deaths.

Beyond the comments about bin Laden, criticism has also focused on Ashrafi's stance on Pakistan's blasphemy laws. While Lambeth Palace cited Ashrafi's intervention in the 2012 case of Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl falsely accused of blasphemy, as an example of his work, he has otherwise expressed support for these laws. These laws have led to the prosecution of an estimated 2,000 people since the late 1980s, disproportionately affecting minority Christians and Ahmadis, as well as many Sunni Muslims.

Ashrafi claimed the blasphemy laws "save lives" by preventing vigilante actions. However, Human Rights Watch has stated that the laws "perpetuate religious discrimination and are used to target the poor and minorities in unlawful evictions and land grabs," urging the Pakistani government to reform them to prevent their weaponization against marginalized communities.