Sheikh Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam spoke about the recent execution of a Jordanian pilot at the hands of ISIS. Lt. Moath al-Kasasbeh, 27, was burned alive while confined in a cage.
“What happened to the Jordanian pilot is by all means a crime. This barbaric action is far away from humanity, much less religions. Islam is innocent of this act,” the grand mufti said on Thursday.
Allam leads Dar El-Ifta, or the House of Fatwas, the premier authority in Islamic legal interpretations. The institution was founded in 1895, although the grand muftis of Egypt have been interpreting Islam for 800 years. It releases more than 500,000 edicts a year.
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In an effort to reclaim the voice of Islam from radical groups, Dar Al-Ifta issues publications in 10 languages, engages in awareness campaigns and joins regional and international efforts to battle extremist ideas and to present a better image of Islam.
The grand mufti’s advice to young Muslims is to seek specialized scholars to understand the true meaning of Islam.
“We tell youth, Islam didn’t carry a message of sabotage and destruction. It only came to serve humanity, to achieve world peace and bring mercy to the world,” he said.
