With continued attacks by the Islamic State group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), targeting people from across the world, including Muslims, and especially during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the group is being condemned worldwide, and being called un-Islamic.
The latest to make such a statement is Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahli of Lucknow. The Imam of the biggest prayer ground of Uttar Pradesh's capital city told NDTV that a gathering for Eid prayers on Thursday saw a group of clerics putting out a strong message against Isis and terror.
"We said Isis is against Islam and against humanity. We said the Isis cannot be Muslim — their terror activites are entirely un-Islamic," he was quoted as saying in the report.
The cleric's remarks come in light of the second attack in a week in Bangladesh, in which four policemen were killed on Thursday as a congregation of people offering Eid prayers were targeted. The first attack had been carried out in Dhaka, and six militants, who were later killed, had murdered 20 foreigners there.
Interestingly, the Lucknow cleric's remarks follow similar sentiments echoed by Mumbai-based Islamic scholar and preacher Zakir Naik, who has said of the Dhaka attackers who owed allegiance to Isis that "by using the name Islamic State, we are condemning Islam... They are the anti-Islamic state of Iraq and Syria that has killed innocent foreigners. The name is given by enemies of Islam."
Ironically, the Dhaka attackers had apparently been influenced by Naik himself, besides an Isis blogger from Bengaluru.
The true faith of Isis had also been questioned by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who in a televised address after the first attack had asked: "What kind of Muslims are these who kill others during Ramadan?"
She had also said: "Anyone who believes in religion cannot do such an act. They do not have any religion, their only religion is terrorism."
