Staff Reporter

SUPPORTING Hezbollah is a religious duty of Muslims around the world because Shias are part of the Muslim Nation (Ummah), Doha-based Islamic scholar Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi told reporters in Cairo.

Qaradawi hailed resistance as the most noble act whether it was in Palestine or Lebanon. "Shias agree with the Sunnis in the main principles of Islam while the differences are only over the branches," he said.

Qaradawi also called upon the Sunnis and Shias of Iraq to stop what he named as "daily massacres", saying that such civil war was useful only to the occupation forces.

Asked about the silence adopted by some Arab countries towards the Israeli aggression, he said some Arab regimes believed that Israel was an invincible state. For that reason, he said, they regard the capture of Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah and Hamas as misadventures.

"It is as if the US is the lord of the universe," he said.

Dr Qaradawi said any nation has the right to resist invaders. "It is the duty of Muslims around the world to support the Lebanese resistance," he said, lauding the Hezbollah attacks and kidnapping of the soldiers.

Sheikh Qaradawi’s statement came as a rejection of the fatwa issued recently by a religious leader in Saudi Arabia which prohibited Muslims from supporting or praying for Hezbollah due to its Shia background.