Bashir bin Hassan, Qatar’s extreme cleric

Doaa Emam

Sheikh Bashir bin Hassan, one of the most controversial Salafist clerics in Tunisia, was certified by Secretary General of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Ali Al-Qaradaghi, as an official member at the organization.

Founded in 2004, the International Union of Muslim Scholars is a Qatar-based organization of Muslim Islamic theologians headed by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Bashir was born in 1973, he moved to France and married a French woman before he went to prison for nine months after his wife accused him of kidnapping her children and fleeing to Morocco.

After his sentence, he went back to Tunisia in 2014, aspiring to become governor of M’saken town in Sousse Governorate.

After the Anti-Terrorism Quartet (ATQ) of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain decided to cut ties with Qatar for sponsoring terrorism and having close ties with regional foe Iran, Bin Hassan started defending the tiny emirate and claimed it does not support terrorism.

Qatari Leaks, a platform specialized in analyzing and disseminating leaks and reports exposing the strategy of Doha’s regime, published a report about how Qatar recruited Bin Hassan against its opponents and to serve the Muslim Brotherhood scheme in Tunisia.

The report, published in August, said Bin Hassan had been used by Qatar to attack the ATQ and promote against it to defend Doha and cover its support to terrorism.

Bin Hassan stirred yet another controversy on Monday during a prayer for Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi when he demanded those who opposed his speech during the prayer that they have no place in the house of god.

In several speeches, Bin Hassan defended the Muslim Brotherhood and criticized Saudi Arabia for designating them a terrorist organization.

Moreover, Bin Hassan delivered a speech in April demanding the youth to declare jihad in Saudi Arabia to “liberate the Kaaba,” the speech which exposed his relation to the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar’s support to his role against Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.

He was also one of the supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Ennahda Movement in Tunisia.

Being chosen as member in Qaradawi’s International Union of Muslim Scholars reveals how the Muslim Brotherhood is in sync with Bin Hassan’s controversial speeches and constant incitement to kill all those who oppose Qatar’s policies.