The Muslim cleric who had an interfaith award withdrawn should receive an apology from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Church of Pakistan’s moderator has said.
Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi was recognised with the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation by Most Rev Sarah Mullally on 11 September. But it was taken away from the cleric a week later, after past comments emerged of him describing Osama Bin Laden as a “Sword of God” and defending Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.
In an interview with Canon Chris Sugden for Anglican Mainstream, Dr Azad Marshall defended the accolade and claimed the Church of Pakistan had been “deeply humiliated” by its withdrawal.
He described it as “the highest offence” against both Ashrafi and Pakistani Christians, who would now have to “deal with the fallout every day”.
Dr Marshall said the award had been proposed because Ashrafi provided security for Archbishop Justin Welby during his 2022 trip to the site of a terror attack in Peshawar, as well as for his “tremendous work” in standing up against mobs attacking Christians over false allegations of blasphemy.
He said: “Canterbury had the time and ought to have done due diligence if they wanted to or if they had questions. But right at the end… it was so unfair.”
Addressing the controversial comments, the moderator said: “This is so unfair because we know many Muslim clerics and leaders who are received in the West and who had a similar past. But that should not be made an excuse.
“People change, and he has definitely demonstrated deep respect for Christians, which has to count for something. He has in many ways gone back on that and said that he no longer supports that position. His statement is clear as head of the Peace Committee.”
The Church of Pakistan appears to have given a separate “global peace award” to Ashrafi on the day the Lambeth Palace award was withdrawn, according to his social media.
The Pakistan Ulema Council, which Ashrafi chairs, said before the withdrawal that his remarks had been “taken out of context”, insisting his “longstanding record against terrorism and violent extremism should be considered”.