Who speaks for Qatar? “[Muslim] Truth does not reconcile with [Christians and Jews’] falsehood ” – Qatari-controlled daily
Official cleric in Qatari daily two months before Doha Forum:
- "Truth [Islam] does not reconcile with falsehood [Christianity and Judaism]"
"The existence of each negates the other. Therefore, the struggle between faith [Islam] and disbelief [Christianity and Judaism] has been an existential struggle that does not tolerate compromises."
Qatari belief:
- Islam is truth while Judaism and Christianity represent falsehood and ignorance with which there can be no coexistence and against which there is an existential struggle
Muslim Brotherhood belief as illustrated in Jihad Is the Way:
- "The Islamic Ummah [nation]... can regain its power, be liberated, and assume its rightful position, which was intended by Allah, as the most exalted nation among men"
Muslims should "know your status, so that you firmly believe that you are the masters of the world"
"Jihad and preparation for Jihad are... for the purpose of... establishing an Islamic state, strengthening the religion, and spreading it around the world"
Who speaks for Qatar? The Doha Forum or the official Qatari daily?
Qatar's Doha Forum, held last week, positions itself as a beacon of "diplomacy, dialogue, and diversity"—a global platform for critical discussions on the world's most pressing issues. It claims to bring together policy leaders to address interconnected challenges, offering a space for exchange of ideas to drive action-oriented solutions. However, in opposition to this lofty rhetoric lies a radical Islamic belief expressed by an official cleric writing in the official Qatari daily.
A column published two months ago in Al-Sharq, which is controlled by Qatar's ruling family, offers a picture of the Qatari Islam that is in glaring contradiction to the Forum's purported values in the very country that serves as a key diplomatic player vis-a-vis Gaza's future. The article, written by Dr. Ahmad Al-Mahmadi, a member of the Qatari Ministry of the Waqf, explicitly denies the possibility of Islamic-Jewish-Christian coexistence.
The article first quotes a verse from the Quran, portraying Jews and Christians as a fundamental religious threat:
"In Allah's book, there is a precise verse that must be considered and not left misunderstood. Allah, exalted be He, said: ‘The Jews will never be pleased with you, nor will the Christians, until you follow their religion' [2:120]."
[Al-Sharq, Oct. 19, 2025]
The article then asserts that "truth [Islam] does not reconcile with falsehood [Christianity and Judaism]" and that "the struggle between faith and disbelief has been an existential struggle that does not tolerate compromises." It goes further: "Islam refuses half-solutions and does not accept mixing truth with falsehood" and "Islam came to destroy ignorance, not to coexist with it."
The Qatari belief is that Islam is truth while Judaism and Christianity represent falsehood and ignorance with which there can be no coexistence and against which there is an existential struggle. This is not merely a theological position but an ideological stance that explicitly rejects dialogue, peace, and coexistence between different faiths and cultures.
This ideology is actually that of the Muslim Brotherhood and was laid out quite clearly by the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt from 1996 to 2002 in his book, Jihad Is the Way:
"...The Islamic Ummah [nation]... can regain its power, be liberated, and assume its rightful position, which was intended by Allah, as the most exalted nation among men, as the teachers of humanity."
Jews and others must be taught while Muslims should "know your status, so that you firmly believe that you are the masters of the world, even if your enemies desire your degradation."
Regarding this existential struggle:
"It should be known that Jihad and preparation for Jihad are not only for the purpose of fending-off assaults and attacks against Muslims by Allah's enemies, but are also for the purpose of realizing the great task of establishing an Islamic state, strengthening the religion and spreading it around the world..."
While Qatar has been working very hard to present itself as a moderate around the world, even recently signing a defense agreement with the United States, the country's adoption of such ideology, as expressed clearly in the Al-Sharq column, raises crucial questions: Who speaks for the true Qatar? How can the country simultaneously host a so-called "dialogue platform" like the Doha Forum for the outside world to see, while promoting Islamist supremacy and an existential conflict with Jews and Christians to its own people in its state-controlled media? Is the Doha Forum then merely a façade designed to disguise a more nefarious agenda and a tool for advancing Qatar's own geopolitical ambitions? How could a people that believes in an existential and eternal war with Christianity and Judaism be in a defense agreement with the US? And how has this country been so successful in misleading the international community about its religious beliefs?
If this is the ideology that is going forth from Doha, then it is no different than that of the Palestinian Authority, which presents a welcoming pluralistic face when meeting foreign diplomats, but constantly spews religious hate by its religious leaders on its official channels.
The following is a longer relevant excerpt from the article cited:
"In Allah's book [the Quran], there is a precise verse that must be considered and not left misunderstood. Almighty Allah said: 'And never will the Jews and the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion' [Quran 2:120]. This is a verse that establishes an eternal rule on the relationship between truth and falsehood. It clarifies that the difference between them is not in branches or details, but rather in roots, principles, and goals. It decisively announces that the people of the book's (i.e., Jews and Christians) approval [of the Muslims], and even more so – the approval of all those who do not follow the straight path – is not a goal that will be achieved through dialogue, pleasant words, or the abandonment of some principles, but rather is conditioned on an inherently unacceptable condition: that the believer will abandon what has come to him through divine revelation and follow the whims of others.
Truth does not reconcile with falsehood, and falsehood cannot tolerate the continued existence of truth, because the existence of each of the two negates the other. Therefore, the struggle between faith and heresy has been an existential struggle that does not tolerate compromises.
[In this verse], Allah informs His honored Prophet Muhammad that his effort to guide people on the straight path does not mean he will gain their approval, as long as he adheres to what has been revealed to him. This is because the problem is not with him personally, but rather with the message he brings.
Some people are liable to delude themselves that this hostility might pass with time or soften over the centuries. But Almighty Allah revealed the truth about it from the start, and clarified that it continues as long as Islam maintains its dawah (i.e., proselytizing), and as long as the groups of heresy continue in their deviation from the straight path.
As for the reasons for this hostility, they are deep and intertwined. They combine faith with interest and history with geography. They can be summarized by four main issues:
Because Islam is a religion that does not compromise and does not agree to a truce. Islam is a religion that declares exclusive belief in Allah, refuses half-solutions, and does not accept mixing truth with falsehood. It came to destroy Jahiliya (i.e., pre-Islamic 'Age of Ignorance'), not to coexist with it...
Therefore, Islam is intolerable to its enemies unless it is stripped of its spirit and turns into formal rituals with no impact on reality – that is, when it gives up on itself.
Because it is a project that opposes their projects. Islam is not an abstract spiritual idea, and not moral teachings detached from life, but rather a complete cultural project that outlines a path of worship, politics, economy, and society. It is a project that liberates man from enslavement to money and power and does justice based on belief in Allah alone. This makes it an adversary to any colonial or material project seeking to keep man a prisoner of desires and interests. Therefore, their hostility towards it stemmed from defending their cultural existence, not just religious belief.
Because its land is the heart of the conflict. The first land of Islam is the cradle of the [divine] missions, the place of the start of divine revelation, and the center of monotheism in the world. It is the land that Allah chose to serve as the spreader of light, and therefore it has been the aspiration of all forces that wanted to control the [course of] history. Whoever controlled this land controlled the religious heart of humanity, and whoever lost it lost their spiritual symbolism. Therefore, the battle for Jerusalem and the blessed land remains the heart of the conflict between Islam and its enemies since the dawn of the [divine] mission until today.
Because [the land of Islam] is the land of natural resources and key points. Since ancient times, the land of the Muslims has been a crossroads between continents, a source of natural resources, and a trade route. Today it is the energy hub of the world, the center of control over the shipping routes, and the economic gateways of the world. The struggle over it therefore is not only religious but rather a struggle between interests and strategies, in which the economic aspirations are intertwined with the faith-based leaning. Thus for the enemies of Islam, religion becomes cover for aspirations of control and hegemony."
[Al-Sharq (Qatar) website, Oct. 19, 2025]