Attempts to justify extremism in the name of defending religion are unacceptable and criminal, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th October, 2020) Attempts to justify extremism in the name of defending religion are unacceptable and criminal, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi said on Wednesday.
"Justification of extremism under the guise of religion has nothing to do with religion, it is forbidden and criminal," Sisi said during a speech on the occasion of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad.
A spokesman for the president's office, Bassam Rady, shared the president's speech on his Facebook page.
The Egyptian leader also said that he rejects any acts of violence committed under the slogan of protecting religion. According to Sisi, extremist elements are among the followers of all religions.
Sisi's speech comes amid widespread criticism of French President Emmanuel Macron in the Muslim world who defended the freedom of expression and pledged to boost fight against radical Islamism in his speech at a memorial to pay tribute to the slain French teacher Samuel Paty. The latter was killed by beheading at the hands of a radicalized Chechen teenager in the outskirts of Paris on October 16 after he showed caricatures depicting Islamic prophet Mohammad during a class discussion on freedom of speech.
Meanwhile, Ahmad al-Tayeeb, the Grand Imam of Cairo-based al-Azhar university, urged the international community to adopt a law that would criminalize discrimination against Muslims in light of Macron's statements. At the same time, the scholar said that the university condemned the murder of Paty, who showed the controversial drawings to his students.
In addition, Egypt's Grand Mufti Shawki Allam also condemned Paty's murder and called against blaming islam and Muslims for the crime of one extremist.
