RNA – In an interview with Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen satellite channel, Shaykh Dr. Ahmad Karimah, the director of the Department of Contemporary Islamic Jurisprudence at Egypt’s famous al-Azhar University, explained that the religion of Islam is completely against sectarian violence and divisiveness.
He added that in the early era of Islamic history, we saw that some individuals were politically motivated, and created differences among Muslims.
The renowned Egyptian Sunni scholar explained that the Umayyad dynasty created discord among Muslims, which was the cause of many battles like Siffin, Nahrawan and Karbala.
The said that tribalism and nationalism is explicitly condemned in the Holy Quran and added: “Unfortunately, the United States and Zionist regime’s intelligence agencies have created division between Muslims and have been successful in hindering development in the Islamic world.”
Shaykh Karimah criticized the actions of Takfiri terrorist groups such as ISIL, Boko Haram and the Taliban, who claim to act in the name of Islam, but their immoral actions show that they actually far from Islam.
The Egyptian Sunni scholar also criticized the continuing Saudi-imposed war on Yemen, especially because it is an attack by Muslims on other Muslims. He said that their acts of terrorism and grave crimes show that Islam is a insignificant issue from the perspective of many of these Takfiri groups, who’s goals are mainly political.
“Contrary to what we are seeing today, Islam never commands Muslims to decapitate and kill each other,” Shaykh Karimah emphasized in response to the many gruesome videos published on various websites and social media pages by Takfiri terrorist groups and their supporters.
It is a well-known Takfiri belief that all who disagree with them, especially Shi’as, are considered unbelievers and infidels and should be killed.
Speaking of the hypocrisy of Takfiris, Shaykh Karimah explained that some Persian Gulf countries support the dissemination of Salafism in Egypt and these anti-Shi’ite groups call for war against Shi’as in Egypt despite the population and influence of Egyptian Shi’as being quite small in comparison to Sunnis. He explained that their actions are completely biased and their rhetoric is being promoted by outsiders.
He also added that these Takfiris also claim that Islam is being targeted but do not do anything about it.
The renowned scholar previously stated that he has been suspended from teaching at al-Azhar for stating that the Salafi movement is more dangerous than the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
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