06 July 2021; MEMO: The secretariat of the International Union of Muslim Scholars has decided unanimously to dismiss the former Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa; the chairman of the UAE Fatwa Council, Abdullah Bin Bayyah; and the religious consultant to the Court of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Farouk Hamadeh.
The dismissals were revealed by council board member Dr Wasfi Abu Zeid in an interview with Al-Hiwar TV. He suggested that among the reasons for Gomaa's dismissal were his controversial opinions, such as "whoever carries hashish in his pocket during prayer, his prayers are valid, and whoever drinks hashish after breaking the fast, his fast is effective".
The Egyptian sheikh has also said that the Queen of Britain is a descendant of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and that Qatar belongs to Qatari Ibn Al-Fuja'a, who led a rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate in the 7th century.
Gomaa is an outspoken critic of Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood. He is also close to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who led the military's ouster of the country's first freely elected President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and campaigned for his election.
Abu Zeid confirmed that Gomaa had received an official notification from the union to inform him of his dismissal.
