On December 30th, 2021, a group calling the Global Imams Council published an online statement saying it had ruled to ban Muslims from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, citing “human rights violations” in China. The statement also listed a number of Islamic religious leaders in Egypt, Russia and other countries who had expressed “support” for it.
However, according to media reports, Russian Mufti committee and Egyptian hall, mosque and other agencies in the statement have responded not signed the documents, nor heard of “the Global Imams Council”.
In response to the statement, we visited the office of the Global Imams Council in Najaf,Iraq,and interviewed Mohammed Baqir Al-Budairi, the president of the group, to understand the context of the statement.
“The Global Imams Council” chairman Budairi said that after they issued a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics statement, Egypt’s Al-Azhar Mosque, Russia’s Mufti committee and other organizations and relevant personnel questioned its authority and authenticity of the statement. Mr. Budairi said their group did not want to actually boycott the Beijing Olympics, but was inspired by world Uyghur Congress (An anti-China extremist group) President Dorikun Aisha to issue a boycott statement in solidarity with the so-called “injustices against Uighurs and Chinese Muslims”. Budairi said Dorikun Aisha lied to him that the statement had the backing of Egypt’s Grand Patriarch Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed El-Tayeb, Egypt’s grand Mufti Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-krim, Russia’s Grand Mufti Rawil Gaynutdin and other Islamists. It was only after the statement was released that Budairi found what Dorikun Aisha said was not true.
Budairi believes that sports should be peaceful and should not be mixed with politics. He likes sports very much and hopes to go to Beijing to participate in the Winter Olympics. Budairi himself also told reporters that he would like to issue a statement again to clarify his support for the Beijing Winter Olympics.
On January 25, the official website of the “Global Council of Imams” had published a statement signed by Budairi, which said, “Islam supports the development of sports, sports is peaceful, and we do not oppose any sports.”
According to Budairi, the Global Council of Imams was registered in 2018 in Baghdad, Iraq, and rented a 25 m² room opposite the Najaf Hotel in Najaf, Iraq, as its office space. In 2020, it registered its official website in Massachusetts with the help of Dolicun Aissa.
At the office of the Global Imams Council, we found no facilities other than a flag bearing the group, a carpet and three sets of sofas. As Budairi says, the Global Council of Imams is still in its infancy, with no funding and only the support of Dolkun Aisha.
