Head of Church of England rescinds interfaith award given to Muslim cleric who praised bin Laden

Sarah Mullally during a ceremony installing her as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury at Canterbury Cathedral in England on March 25, 2026. Photo by Jordan Pettitt - WPA Pool/Getty Images

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LONDON — The office of the Archbishop of Canterbury on Thursday withdrew an interfaith award given this September 11 to a Muslim cleric who praised Osama bin Laden, after the decision sparked backlash.

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Sarah Mullally, the head of the Church of England, last week handed awards to faith leaders including Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, for “reconciliation and interfaith cooperation.”

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Ashrafi is the chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council, a prominent body of religious scholars.

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In 2007, he told AFP it was giving then-Al-Qaeda chief bin Laden its “highest title for a Muslim warrior” in protest at Britain awarding writer Salman Rushdie a knighthood.

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“We are pleased to award the title of Saifullah (Sword of Allah) to Osama bin Laden,” Ashrafi told AFP at the time, calling this “the highest title for a Muslim warrior.”

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Bin Laden orchestrated the 9/11 attacks on the United States and was killed by U.S. forces in 2011.

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“Previous comments made by Imam Ashrafi have come to light that have led Lambeth Palace to reconsider this award and we can now confirm today that the award has been withdrawn,” the office of the archbishop said in a statement.

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The statement added that the award had initially been given to Ashrafi for his “longstanding support for religious minorities in Pakistan, particularly the Christian community.”

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A spokesperson for Ashrafi earlier said his comment had not been “an endorsement of bin Laden” but “made in the context of explaining the hurt felt by many Muslims over the British honour” for Rushdie.

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Rushdie was the subject of fatwas calling for his execution and assassination attempts for fictionalizing the Prophet Muhammad in his bestselling book “The Satanic Verses.”

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Lambeth Palace, the archbishop’s seat, posted a photo on September 11 of Mullally presenting the award to Ashrafi for “outstanding work as an ambassador of interfaith harmony in Pakistan.”

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Posting on X, Conservative Party opposition politician Nick Timothy wrote: “The naivety of our public institutions for engaging with people like this is staggering. But not surprising.”

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Statement by the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury:

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“Last week the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation was presented to Maulana Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi in a ceremony at Lambeth Palace. The award was given for Imam Ashrafi’s longstanding support for religious minorities in Pakistan, particularly the Christian community – support that is valued by many Christians in Pakistan including its Anglican Church.

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It is a longstanding principle of interfaith dialogue and co-operation that we must engage with one another across deeply-held differences, and that remains the case. However, previous comments made by Imam Ashrafi have come to light that have led Lambeth Palace to reconsider this award and we can now confirm today that the award has been withdrawn. We have contacted Imam Ashrafi to make him aware of this decision. We continue to pray for the Christian community in Pakistan, and for all those working for interfaith dialogue and harmony in Pakistan and around the world.”

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