Bismillah. – Please add a comment if you would like to add your name to the list of signatories. Thanks!
With the Name of God, The Compassionate, The Merciful
Friday 5th September 2014
To Mr. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,
Leader of the self-styled and so-called “Islamic State,” being neither Islamic nor a state.
Peace be upon those who follow true guidance.
We, a group of British Muslims, would like to remind you on this holy day of ours (Friday) that the actions of your group are utterly wrong and evil according to the religion of Islam.
Your brutal massacres of innocent people (Sunni and Shia Muslims, Christians and Yazidis) and your enslavement of women and children run totally contrary to the Qur’an, which teaches that murder is like genocide (5:32) and that “there is no compulsion in religion,” (2:256) as you must know.
Your horrific violations of justice are totally anti-Islamic in spirit, betraying the peaceful message of Islam and of the overwhelming majority of Muslims worldwide, who do not subscribe to your hateful ideology.
Your group is an affront to the noble and holy name of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who was “a mercy to the worlds” (21:107) and who taught that “All of creation is God’s family, and those most beloved to God are those who are kindest to His creation.”
We demand that you stop your vile crimes against humanity, disband your group and stop threatening the civilised world that Muslims and non-Muslims, in partnership, have spent centuries building.
Stop all these monstrosities, and stop carrying them out in the name of God, and in the name of following Islam and the holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and all of God’s messengers.
We, as British Muslims, are clear that being loyal citizens and contributing fruitfully to society is at the core of our faith.
We also demand that you stop the psychological grooming of our naïve and vulnerable young men and women into joining your bloodthirsty gangs, destroying their lives and those of their hard-working British families.
Know that your so-called “Islamic State” is doomed to failure because of its tyrannical nature, and that we, along with the rest of the civilised world, will continue to oppose and resist your madness in every possible way. “Truth has arrived, and falsehood has perished: for falsehood is, by its nature, always bound to perish.” (Qur’an 17:81)
Signed
- Sheikh Dr Usama Hasan – Imam, London
- Khalid Mahmood MP – Labour Member of Parliament for Perry Barr
- Ms. Sughra Ahmed, President, Islamic Society of Britain
- Sheikh Dr Hafiz Ather Hussain al-Azhari – Imam, Leicester
- Cllr Yakub Hanif al-Naqshbandi – Imam, Luton
- Ms. Sara Khan, Co-Director, Inspire
- Sheikh Irfan Chishti al-Azhari MBE – Imam, Greater Manchester
- Fiyaz Mughal OBE – Director of Tell MAMA (Monitoring Anti-Muslim Attacks)
- Mohammed Amin – mohammedamin.com, Manchester
- Ms. Kalsoom Bashir, Co-Director, Inspire
- Dilwar Hussain, Chair, New Horizons in British Islam
- Mohammed Abbasi – Director of the Association of British Muslims
- Ms. Khola Hasan, religious scholar, Essex
- Haras Rafiq – Co-Founder and former Executive Director Sufi Muslim Council
- Sheikh Dr Irfan al-Alawi – Executive Director, Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, Birmingham
- Ms. S. Patel MA – Scholar in Near and Middle East Studies, London
- Sheikh Osman Saeed Dar al-Azhari, Imam, Greater Manchester
- Maajid Nawaz – Chairman of Quilliam and LibDem Parliamentary Candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, London
- Mufti Abu Layth, founder of The Islamic Council UK, Birmingham
- Syed Mohsin Abbas, Muslim Community Development Network, London
- Nadeem Afzal, social worker, Birmingham
UNITY 