Photo via Daily Mail

Archbishop of Canterbury under fire after giving 'Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation' award to Muslim cleric who praised Bin Laden - on anniversary of 9/11

Read the original at Daily Mail ↗
Cite

Policy, M. B. (2026, September 17). Archbishop of Canterbury under fire after giving 'Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation' award to Muslim cleric who praised Bin Laden - on anniversary of 9/11. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16138975/Archbishop-Canterbury-fire-giving-Reconciliation-Interfaith-Cooperation-award-Muslim-cleric-praised-Bin-Laden-anniversary-9-11.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Daily Mail · collected 2026-09-17 · by Martin Beckford Policy

Quick Summary

Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally awarded Tahir Ashrafi the 'Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation' prize on September 11, the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Ashrafi's Pakistan Ulema Council previously honored Osama Bin Laden with a religious title in retaliation for Salman Rushdie receiving a knighthood from Britain. Critics are demanding Mullally apologize and meet with terrorism victims, while some politicians like Nick Timothy criticize her decision as naive and insensitive.
Written by AI on 2026-09-17, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The core issue highlighted across these articles is the Archbishop of Canterbury's decision to withdraw an award given to a prominent Muslim cleric from Pakistan named Maulana Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi. The reason for this withdrawal was that it came to light that Ashrafi had praised Osama bin Laden in the past, even giving him a title of honor.

Key points

The main controversy stems from

This incident highlights tensions and challenges in interfaith relations, especially regarding historical context and the potential consequences of past statements. It also raises questions about how religious leaders should balance respect for diverse views with addressing extreme or controversial positions within their faith communities.

Written for “Archbishop Withdraws Controversial Award” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 8 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Archbishop Withdraws Controversial Award
Politics · 9 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 20 claims Outlet record 64/100
Daily Mail
Hedges 2 of 27 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles describe different events: one about Archbishop of Canterbury giving an award to a Muslim cleric with controversial views on 9/11 anniversary, and another about Church leaders shutting down a Gaza memorial exhibition honoring Hamas terrorists.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 0 of 24 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article A reports on the Archbishop presenting an award, while Article B describes her withdrawing it after facing backlash.”
National Post
Hedges 0 of 17 claims Outlet record 60/100
“Article A describes the initial award ceremony on September 11, while Article B reports on the subsequent withdrawal of the award after backlash.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 15 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A reports on the initial award presentation, while Article B discusses the subsequent revocation of the award, indicating two separate events.”
The Bulwark
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 13 claims
“The articles describe different events on the anniversary of 9/11, one involving criticism of a Muslim mayor attending a memorial and another about an award given to a Muslim cleric by the Archbishop of Canterbury.”
BBC News
Hedges 1 of 16 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The first article describes the Archbishop of Canterbury giving an award to a Muslim cleric on the anniversary of 9/11, while the second article reports that the award was later withdrawn due to backlash. These describe two different specific events: the initial award ceremony and its subsequent withdrawal.”
Fox News
Hedges 2 of 13 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article A reports on the initial giving of the award, while Article B describes its subsequent withdrawal after criticism.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 7 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A describes the Archbishop of Canterbury presenting an award to Tahir Ashrafi on the anniversary of 9/11, while Article B reports that the award was later withdrawn due to controversy.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
69/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
9
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 8872 article(s) · 22 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 22 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Martin Beckford Policy
18 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 New guidance warns Whitehall officials they may be guilty of ‘unlawful harassment’ if they tell someone who identifies as a woman that they should be using men’s bathrooms or changing rooms.
🔮 The Prime Minister has been forced to order a new audit and seemed to admit not all of his meetings with the club’s owners may have been published.
🔮 In a major intervention, the Resolution Foundation said the cost of personal independence payments (PIP) is ‘growing at an unsustainable rate’, with the bill expected to reach £34.5billion by 2030.
🔮 Cllr Alan Feeney, appointed deputy mayor of Solihull Borough Council in May, said: 'I'd be saying no more than 1 per cent of British population can be non-white... like literally drag them out of their homes, stick them on planes and f*** them off to Pakistan.
🔮 'Climate targets as set will not be met without cooperation with China, and accepting medium-term dependence,' its report stated.
🔮 'And the other thing that bothers me about that is be no doubt those foreign workers are being brought in because they're cheaper, and their conditions will be worse, right?
🔮 Instead of cash payments worth £217 a month, claimants with less severe conditions would receive intensive support to get them into work including subsidised jobs and help with mental health problems.
🔮 Experts predicted it will soar by a further 16 per cent in January, taking bills to £1,999 as the conflict in the Middle East continues to hit gas supplies to the UK.
🔮 Shabana Mahmood admitted her plan to make foreign workers wait longer before they can settle in Britain permanently has been branded ‘not fair’. And she told Labour party conference – where she faced an angry protest from union chiefs over the proposal following criticism from her Cabinet colleague Angela Rayner – the final decision would be fair for migrants as well as British citizens.
🔮 - See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source The Home Secretary has been accused of opening Britain’s borders to large refugee families in order to appease Labour’s left. Shabana Mahmood will announce on Monday that she is restarting a resettlement scheme for people fleeing warzones, which will put them on a fast-track to permanent settlement in five years. She will tell Labour conference that one in four of those allowed to come here will be Afghan women and girls and Palestinians, and insist there will be a limit on their numbers.
Also by Martin Beckford Policy
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 18 articles by Martin Beckford Policy →

Topics

9/11 British Daily Mail Islam Muslim

Subjects

Osama Bin Laden PERSON · 5× Pakistan GPE · 4× Ashrafi PERSON · 3× Christians NORP · 3× Islam ORG · 3× British NORP · 2× Muslim NORP · 2× Saifullah PERSON · 2× Sarah Mullally PERSON · 2× Tahir Ashrafi PERSON · 2×

Narrative

Travis Frain, a survivor of the 2017 Westminster Bridge terror attack and founder of the Resilience in Unity Project support project, said: ‘Giving an award for “interfaith and reconciliation” to a man who honoured Osama Bin Laden, the architect of misery for so many of all faiths and a man responsible for thousands of deaths, shows a grave misjudgement by the Church – made even more egregious by the fact that this award was given on the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-17
🔮 I would urge the Archbishop to meet with victims of terrorism to appreciate the hurt that this award may have caused, and to understand the real work being led by hundreds of brave survivors across the country to bring people together of different faiths and backgrounds under the banner of preventing the spread of radicalisation – far apart from those would seek to honour the perpetrators of these heinous attacks.’

Claims (24 extracted, 1 hedged)

- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source The Archbishop of Canterbury is under fire for giving an award to a Muslim cleric who once praised Osama Bin Laden – on the anniversary of 9/11. asserted
who → see → 9/11
The Most Rev Sarah Mullally presented the prize for ‘Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation’ to Tahir Ashrafi on Friday as the world marked 25 years since the terror attacks on America. asserted
world → present → America
She gave him the award in a ceremony at Lambeth Palace even though the group of Islamic scholars he chairs in Pakistan had previously given an honour to the Al Qaeda chief. asserted
he → give → chief
His Pakistan Ulema Council gave Bin Laden a religious title meaning ‘Sword of Allah’ in retaliation for Britain awarding a knighthood to Salman Rushdie, author of the Satanic Verses. asserted
Britain → give → Verses
Mr Ashrafi said in June 2007: ‘We are pleased to award the title of Saifullah to Osama bin Laden after the British government’s decision to bestow the title of “Sir” on blasphemer Rushdie. asserted
We → say → Rushdie
He added: ‘If a blasphemer can be given the title ‘Sir’ by the West despite the fact that he’s hurt the feelings of Muslims, then a mujahid who has been fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British must be given the lofty title of Islam, Saifullah.’ asserted
who → add → Islam
The Archbishop, the first female spiritual head of the Church of England, is now facing calls to apologise – and meet victims of terrorism to understand the hurt she has caused. asserted
she → face → hurt
Travis Frain, a survivor of the 2017 Westminster Bridge terror attack and founder of the Resilience in Unity Project support project, said: ‘Giving an award for “interfaith and reconciliation” to a man who honoured Osama Bin Laden, the architect of misery for so many of all faiths and a man responsible for thousands of deaths, shows a grave misjudgement by the Church – made even more egregious by the fact that this award was given on the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. asserted
award → say → attacks
Tahir Ashrafi being presented with the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation by Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally on September 11th ‘ asserted
Ashrafi → present → 11th
I would urge the Archbishop to meet with victims of terrorism to appreciate the hurt that this award may have caused, and to understand the real work being led by hundreds of brave survivors across the country to bring people together of different faiths and backgrounds under the banner of preventing the spread of radicalisation – far apart from those would seek to honour the perpetrators of these heinous attacks.’ uncertain
those → urge → attacks
Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy said: ‘The naivety of the Archbishop in presenting an award to someone who openly praised Osama bin Laden is staggering - and on the anniversary of 9/11, too. asserted
who → say → 9/11
‘Our leaders must face up to the reality that not all cultures are based on the same foundations as ours, and not all share our desire for co-operation and freedom.’ asserted
all → face → operation
Tim Dieppe, Head of Public Policy at Christian Concern, said: ‘The absurdity of this beggars belief. asserted
absurdity → say → belief
How can a Christian leader give an award for reconciliation to someone who has honoured Osama Bin Laden? asserted
who → give → Laden
To someone who supports the draconian blasphemy laws in Pakistan which are a source of persecution of Christians? asserted
which → support → Christians
‘The only justification for meeting such a man is to pressure him about the treatment of Christians in Pakistan. asserted
justification → meet → Pakistan
Mullaly should issue an immediate apology to Christians who are being persecuted in Pakistan. asserted
who → issue → Pakistan
She should call for an end to the draconian blasphemy laws there.’ asserted
She → call → laws
Questions are also being asked about why Lambeth Palace, which put photos of the ceremony online, did not name Mr Ashrafi’s veiled wife even though she was presented with the award alongside her husband. asserted
she → ask → husband
A caption on its Flickr page stated: ‘Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi and his wife are presented with The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation by The Most Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of Canterbury for his outstanding work as an ambassador of interfaith harmony in Pakistan at The Lambeth Awards 2026 held at Lambeth Palace.’ asserted
Ashrafi → state → Palace
Tory MP Neil O’Brien said: ‘I think the niqab is oppressive and makes women second class citizens. asserted
women → say → ?
It is clearly not required in Islam. asserted
It → require → Islam
While this is a free country, it should be discouraged at all levels.’ asserted
it → discourage → levels
Lambeth Palace has been contacted for comment. asserted
Palace → contact → comment
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support