Dubai: Foreign militants have been condemned as “betraying their own societies” for waging jihad in Iraq and Syria by senior Islamic scholars in Britain.
Shaikh Osama Hasan, a former imam and now a senior researcher at the Quillium foundation, issued the fatwa on Sunday. Hasan, who himself travelled to Afghanistan to fight the Soviet occupation, was supported by six other leading Islamic scholars across Britain.
The fatwa goes on to describe Isil as “heretical” and “haram” and states that British Muslims are obliged to “oppose its poisonous ideology”. The edict was widely praised in the UK, former foreign office minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi welcomed the announced adding “I echo the words of these religious leaders.”
The edict comes after the British terror threat level was raised to “severe” in light of expanding Isil presence in Iraq and Syria and the fears that western fighters, who have travelled to fight in the region, may return to their homelands radicalised and plan terrorist attacks.
Last month also saw Saudi Grand Mufti Shaikh Abdul Aziz Al Shaikh issue a fatwa condemning Isil as Islam’s “enemy number one”. Both calls come as part of a wider range in which moderate Muslim preachers across the world have spoken out against the group.
