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29 March 2024

Muslim Council of Elders denounces mosque attacks in New Zealand

Police and forensic workers work outside Masjid Al Noor after Friday's mosque attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Reuters)

Published
By Wam

Muslim Council of Elders has denounced the terrorist mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand, which killed nearly 50 people and injured dozens on Friday morning.

In a statement issued today in Cairo, His Eminence Dr. Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar Al Sharif, and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, categorically rejected the criminal and racist act which targeted innocent people, stressing the necessity of confronting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

He warned against the escalating phenomenon of Islamophobia, fanaticism, hatred, and hostility against Muslims in Western societies. "It is necessary to address these criminal thoughts, which are incompatible with the tolerance of heavenly religions, traditions, customs, and international laws," he said.

The Muslim Council of Elders called for the necessity of spreading the values of co-existence, peace, and acceptance of others.

He pointed out that the ‘Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together' that he signed along with His Holiness Pope Francis, Head of the Catholic Church, provided an effective solution to eliminate this abhorrent phenomenon and other terrorist acts, through working to dismantle these false ideas and spread the values of tolerance, positive integration, and co-existence among peoples and communities of different beliefs, cultures and ethnicities.