Islamic clerics denounce burning alive of Jordanian pilot by ISIS

Muslim clerics around the world have condemned the burning to death of a Jordanian pilot by Islamic State, describing it as un-Islamic.

They said that such killing was considered despicable by Islam, no matter the context.

Islamic State militants released a video on Tuesday appearing to show captured pilot Mouath al-Kasaesbeh being burnt alive in a cage.

Egypt’s top Muslim authority, the 1,000 year old Al-Azhar University revered by Sunni Muslims around the world, on Wednesday in Cairo, expressed “deep anger over the lowly terrorist act” by what it called a “Satanic terrorist group”.

Ahmed al-Tayeb, The Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, said the killers themselves deserved to be “killed, crucified or to have their limbs amputated”.

Salman al-Odah, Saudi cleric, described the burning as an abominable crime rejected by Islamic law regardless of its causes.

“It is rejected whether it falls on an individual or a group or a people, only God tortures by fire,” he said.

Abu Sayaf, a Jordanian Salafist cleric also known as Mohamed al-Shalabi who spent almost 10 years in Jordanian prisons for militant activity including a plot to attack U.S. troops, condemned the act.

“This weakens the popularity of Islamic State because we look at Islam as a religion of mercy and tolerance, even in the heat of battle, a prisoner of war is given good treatment,” he said.

“Even if the Islamic State says Muath had bombed, and burnt and killed us and we punished him in the way he did to us, we say, ok. But why film the video in this shocking way, the method has turned society against them,’’ he added.

Meanwhile, Abdullah bin Muhammad al-Muhaysini, who was described as a Saudi jihadi, said it would have been better if Kasaesbeh’s captors had swapped him for “Muslim captives”.

“His killing would make ordinary people sympathetic to Kasaesbeh, he said.