UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed pardoned Abdul Rahman Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, son of the late Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader, on Friday. The pardon came days after an Abu Dhabi court sentenced him to 10 years in prison. He had been extradited from Lebanon in January 2025 and convicted of undermining public security.
Who is Abdul Rahman Yusuf Al-Qaradawi?
Abdul Rahman Yusuf Al-Qaradawi is an Egyptian opposition activist and poet who organized against former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's government. He is the son of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood's late spiritual leader, who died in exile in Qatar in 2022. Lebanese authorities arrested him in late 2024 after he crossed from Syria.
A pardon was issued today by His Highness the President for Abdul Rahman Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the UAE's official WAM news agency said in a statement. The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal had sentenced him to 10 years in prison and a fine. WAM said he faced charges of activities aimed at stirring and undermining public security.
Why was Abdul Rahman Al-Qaradawi sentenced?
Egypt had already sentenced Qaradawi to five years in prison on charges of opposing the state and inciting terrorism, according to Lebanese authorities. He was arrested in Lebanon in late 2024 after crossing the border from Syria, tied to that Egyptian ruling. Both Egypt and the UAE requested his extradition from Lebanon, a Lebanese judicial official said.
Why does the UAE oppose the Muslim Brotherhood?
The Muslim Brotherhood is blacklisted as a terrorist group in both Egypt and the UAE. The monarchical UAE has remained a staunch opponent of the group and its political Islam, which gained influence after the 2011 Arab Spring protests. Qaradawi's father, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, was imprisoned several times in Egypt over his Muslim Brotherhood ties before dying in exile in Qatar in 2022.
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