The Archbishop of Canterbury has revoked an honor bestowed upon a Muslim cleric following revelations that he had previously expressed admiration for Osama bin Laden. Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi was originally presented with the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation by Dame Sarah Mullally last week, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Lambeth Palace issued the award in recognition of Ashrafi’s work promoting religious tolerance in Pakistan. However, the decision sparked immediate backlash after historical comments surfaced in which Ashrafi described bin Laden as a fighter against Russian, American, and British forces. Reports also indicate that Ashrafi referred to the late al-Qaeda leader as “Saifullah,” meaning “Sword of God.”
In response to the controversy, Ashrafi told the BBC that his 2007 remarks were “totally taken out of context.” He claimed he was commenting on the outrage felt by many Muslims at the time regarding the knighthood awarded to author Sir Salman Rushdie, though he defended the comparison between the writer and the man responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
Criticism of the cleric has extended beyond his statements about bin Laden. While Lambeth Palace had highlighted Ashrafi’s intervention in the 2012 case of Rimsha Masih—a Christian girl falsely accused of blasphemy—as a key reason for the award, Ashrafi has generally supported Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. These laws, in place since the late 1980s, have led to approximately 2,000 prosecutions, disproportionately affecting Christian and Ahmadi minorities.
Ashrafi argued that the statutes save lives by preventing vigilante justice. Conversely, Human Rights Watch has urged the Pakistani government to reform the laws, stating they perpetuate religious discrimination and are often weaponized to target marginalized communities for unlawful evictions and land grabs.
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