Cairo: Egypt’s top cleric has condemned the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) that has been on a rampage in Iraq and Syria, describing it as a “terrorist” organisation that poses a danger to Islam and Muslims.
Isil is “violating all the Islamic principles and the intentions of the Sharia,” said Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam, Egypt’s highest religious authority.
In his remarks, which were carried by Egypt’s state news agency late Tuesday, Allam also said the “bloody extremist group” had tarnished the image of Islam and paved the way for the destruction of Muslim nations.
“Confronting terrorism requires international and regional cooperation on all levels,” the cleric urged. “The Arab world’s future is facing a hard test.”
Isil is an Al Qaida breakaway group that has seized much of northeastern Syria and huge tracts of neighbouring Iraq.
After the militant’s blitz offensive in June, they declared a self-style caliphate straddling the Syria-Iraq border and their chief, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, called on Muslims everywhere to support him. Despite his call, various Islamic scholars from different sects and schools have rejected his self-proclaimed caliphate.
