The Los Angeles Times reports that “more than 100 Muslim leaders across Britain have joined forces to denounce the actions of the three London Bridge attackers by declaring that they will refuse to perform funeral prayers for them. In an unprecedented show of solidarity and outrage at the latest terrorist incident to hit Britain, imams across the country are also urging other Muslim leaders to follow their example.”
“We have always condemned all these type of atrocities, but we needed to send a strong message to these killers that what they have done is totally against the teachings of Islam,” declared Sheik Yunus Dudhwala, one of the 130 imams who signed a solidarity statement. “I think this is the strongest message that we can send.”
“There have been three attacks in three months, and we wanted to send a strong message that that doesn’t represent the 3 million-plus Muslims in the U.K.,” continued Sheik Dudhwala. “It’s becoming a trend and we can’t let this happen in our name, in our faith’s name, and we wanted to make sure people understand that. We abhor this killing and atrocity.”
“The funeral prayer is a very important prayer,” said Qari Asim, a senior imam at Makkah Mosque in the city of Leeds. “It’s the last prayer in which Muslims traditionally seek forgiveness from God. We will not be performing the funeral prayer, and as a result, we will not be asking for forgiveness. We are saying they are not martyrs, they are criminals, and they are not following a path to paradise.”
