The Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said on Thursday that religious fatwas and statements issued by so-called Muslim scholars are inciting terrorism in Syria and are part of an aggressive campaign targeting the country.
The Ministry addressed three letters U.N. bodies denouncing the practice by those calling themselves Muslim scholars issuing heretical fatwas that instigate terrorism and provide support to those who carry out terrorist acts.
The letters were addressed to the Chairman of the U.N. Security Council, the U.N. Secretary General and the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), established under Security Council resolution 1373 (2001).
The Ministry confirmed that these practices violate all religious and human values, as well as the principles of international law and Security Council resolutions.
The ministry made clear that such religious edicts are using religion as a cover for political aims and come within the context of "an aggressive campaign led by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and some Western states."
The letters particularly referred to fatwas, statements and rulings that have being issued during the crisis in Syria by the so-called Chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, along with a group of so-called Muslim scholars and sheikhs.
They cited among those 'sheikhs', Abdul-Aziz Abdullah al-Sheikh and Mohamad al-Ereifi, from Saudi Arabia, along with Safwat Hijazi and Mohamad Hassan from Egypt, and Shafi Sultan al-Ajami from Kuwait.
The ministry reiterated that such edicts "directly serve Al-Qaeda and affiliated takfiri (infidel) movements that are operating on Syrian land."
The ministry also lashed out at the inflammatory speech of al-Qaradawi that promotes killing, hatred and bigotry, and calls for religious jihad. It made special reference to al-Qaradawi's Friday sermon on 31 May, in which the latter described the Nusayri Islamic sect in Syria as being "more infidel than Jews and Christians".
This incitement, the ministry said, effectively amounted to a proclamation for the extermination of three religious sects, that are spread across the world.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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