MUSLIM GROUPS URGE LORD CAREY NOT TO SHARE PLATFORM WITH MUFTI OF EGYPT
London, 11 Shafar 1436/4 December 2014 (MINA) – Muslim organisations in the UK sent a letter to the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey criticising the decision to allow the current Mufti of Egypt, Shawki Ibrahim Allam, to speak at a public event in Westminster and urging him to reconsider sharing a platform with him.
A number of Muslim organisations signed a letter requesting Lord Carey not to partake in a meeting organised by a UKIP MEP on youth radicalisation with an individual who is not “recognised as a leading religious figure”, “does not represent Islam” or “Islamic values” following his failure to speak out against the massacre of unarmed protestors in 2013. Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Thursday.
The letter also cites the well documented massacres of unarmed protesters following Egypt’s military coup, and the imprisonment of dissidents along with the cases of torture, rape and sexual violence against children by the military which were not condemned by Sheikh Allam even though he represents the great and respected institution of Al-Azhar.
Mosques, Muslim associations, educational institutions and forums cited the comments of Sheikh Allam’s predecessor, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, who told an audience of the Egyptian military and police leadership to “shoot them in the heart” when referring to the anti-coup demonstrators. “Blessed are those who kill them and those who are killed by them. We must cleanse our Egypt from these riffraff.”
It was the religious justification by the previous Mufti of Egypt that enabled thousands to be killed, maimed and injured, in what Human Rights Watch labelled “the worst massacre in modern history”.
According to the letter, Mufti Allam himself is on record saying that “shedding the blood of others is considered permissible if done with the permission of the ruler and is considered to be legal according to Sharia law”.
He also signed the death warrants of some of the 1,243 Egyptians dissidents who were all given collective death sentences in a trial that lasted barely a few hours.
The groups condemned the decision to allow such an individual to speak in a public event in Westminster and appealed to Lord Carey to reconsider speaking at the event which will be held on Friday. (T/P002/P3)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
