The muslim community in England have gone a further step to decry the carnage of Islamic extremists who have recently begun to unleash a terrorist attacks on the nation. The recent attack on concert attendees that was largely patronised by children and young adults could not be justified just as the Westminster attack which preceded it.
The latest attack on the night of Saturday, 3rd June, 2017 on London Bridge, couldn’t have been more upsetting to England’s Islamic leaders as reports have it that a group of 130 Imams and religious leaders have refused to perform the traditional Islamic funeral prayer for the London Bridge attackers.
The leaders were reported to refuse carrying out the ritual that is normally performed for every Muslim, regardless of their actions. This can be interpreted to mean a rejection of these actions as being Islamic in any form. On social media, the group stated that: “Consequently, and in light of other such ethical principles which are quintessential to Islam, we will not perform the traditional Islamic funeral prayer over the perpetrators and we also urge fellow imams and religious authorities to withdraw such a privilege.
It added that: “This is because such indefensible actions are completely at odds with the lofty teachings of Islam.” The consensus of opinion of leading religious leaders across of all backgrounds has been a rounded condemnation of the attack which killed seven and injured forty-seven on Saturday evening on London Bridge when three men rammed a rental van into pedestrians and thereafter went on rampage randomly stabbing revellers in bars and restaurants near Borough Market.
The consensus of opinion of leading religious leaders across of all backgrounds has been a rounded condemnation of the attack which killed seven and injured forty-seven on Saturday evening on London Bridge when three men rammed a rental van into pedestrians and thereafter went on rampage randomly stabbing revellers in bars and restaurants near Borough Market.
A panel of speakers at the East London Mosque said they would work to combat extremists’ “twisted narrative and their perversion” of religion. ”Once again we come together, to stand united against those who try to divide us,” said the chairman of East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre, Muhammad Habibur-Rahman.
“The cold-blooded murder of innocent people in London on Saturday evening will not succeed in driving us apart. ”I have a clear message to those who perpetrate terrorism: you are against the very core teaching of Islam and of our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. “Your misguidance will lead you to destruction, and God willing you will utterly fail in your evil aims.
”We stand apart from you and your corruption of the religion of Islam. Terrorism has no faith.” The sentiment was echoed by Theresa May on Sunday morning, who said the terrorists were “perverting the truth” of Islam. She declared that “enough was enough” and pledged to reform legislation around internet activity.
The Prime Minister also said there should be “embarrassing conversations” about Muslim communities in the UK that have failed to integrate, but did not specify further detail, despite of many Muslim leaders condemning the attacks. From Manchester comes reports that Irfan Chishti, an imam at the Manchester Central mosque, stated that its executive committee’s decision not to inter Abedi’s (the Manchester bomber) remains aimed to reaffirm the local Muslim community’s rejection of his actions.
“We don’t condone suicide bombing in any way, shape or form, so anyone who’s been involved with that, we’re not going to be supporting them,” Chishti said. “We cannot offer prayers over someone who has committed such an act.” In the Islamic tradition, the funeral prayer, called Salat al-Janaza, is considered a communal duty: Muslims pray for the forgiveness of the dead.
Chishti said the mosque’s decision was prompted by a call to the mosque’s funeral director about Abedi specifically, though he clarified that Abedi did not attend the mosque. “Traditionally the families would be going to the mosques that they attended,” he said. “They didn’t attend our mosque.” Qari Asim, an imam at the Makkah Mosque in Leeds, told me the Manchester Central Mosque’s decision not to be involved in Abedi’s funeral is noteworthy. “It’s not taken lightly to refuse to bury or, more importantly, not to offer a funeral prayer,” Asim said. “By committing suicide and causing carnage and bringing harm to others, (suicide bombers like Abedi) have gone so beyond the boundaries of Islam that they are deprived of the last right to be prayed upon.
” Meanwhile, Police have named two of the attackers as Khuram Shazad Butt and Rachid Redouane. The former was known to MI5 and the police but authorities said there was no evidence he had planned an attack. Redouane was not known to police. The third attacker has also now been named as Youssef Zaghba, a MoroccanItalian man. A total of 12 people were arrested during a police raid in Barking, London in the hours after the attack.
