Zul Noordin: Dr Yusuf Qardawi deceived

Member of Parliament for Kulim-Bandar Baru, Datuk Zulkifli Noordin has admitted to have deceived renowned cleric Syeikh Dr Yusuf Qardawi into issuing a fatwa supporting the sodomy II case involving Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

“We have made a mistake…we admit making the mistake. I was among those who made the mistake, and I must meet up with Syeikh Yusuf Qardawi to make amendments.

“Because…we wish to inform (that) it was true we had deceived Syeikh Yusuf Qardawi into believing that Anwar had been slandered,” he said.

As Anwar’s lawyer, Zulkifli had prepared biased questions to elicit the fatwa from Dr Yusuf Al Qardawi in 2009.

According to him, he was responsible in preparing the questions, which sided Anwar and hiding the truth about the complainant, Mohd Saiful.

“I was the one who gave the briefing and prepared the questions couched in specific forms to persuade and convince Syeikh Yusuf Qardawi that Anwar had been slandered…that was how it was pictured.

“We completely avoided the truth about the case, (for example) that Saiful was Anwar’s employee…we didn’t tell him about Saiful complaining that he had been sodomised.

“We (only) described that there was slander in this sodomy case. When he understood the way we put it, 

Syeikh Yusuf Qardawi immediately issued the ‘Qazaf’ fatwa,”

Zulkifli, who was one of Anwar’s defence lawyers in the sodomy I trial (1998), also admitted what he did was wrong and sinful because he went to the extent of lying to the respected cleric just to save Anwar’s reputation and image.

“Looking back, we find we have committed much sin relating to this matter…to the extent that we even had the audacity to deceive a cleric of such stature in believing that the issue faced by Anwar was one of slander – an issue that needed to be addressed through Qazaf.

“That was why I spoke in parliament…we have made a mistake and I am asking our colleagues not to persist in doing the same.

“Alhamdulillah, Allah has made me realise. I still have the time to meet certain people and ask for apologies…and I have done so.

“I have the responsibility to meet him (Syeikh Yusuf Qardawi) to explain and correct the situation, if it can still be corrected, that is. If he refuses to accept it, then it will be his responsibility, but at least I have tried to make amendments about what I have done,” he said.