Founder of the Muslim Scouts of France, the spiritual leader of the Sufi brotherhood Alawiya strongly condemned the jihadist atrocities committed by the Islamic State. Sheikh Khaled Bentounès stated that he joined the gathering of Muslims in France in late September to “express our solidarity and our will to put an end to the hate and monstrosity. This tragedy dishonors Muslims and Algerians, but most of all humanity. We will not yield.”
He added, “There is certainly Islamophobia in France, but it is primarily the extremists that feed it. Muslims must say: enough! Enough that savages speak and act in their name, disfiguring Islam and trampling the honor and dignity of 1.8 billion believers. They only represent .01% of the entirety of Muslims, but, due to their barbarity, they capture everyone’s attention.”
When asked how the jihadist ideology is contrary to Islam, Bentounes responded, “The savages of the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” do not refer to the Quran to nourish their ego. Far from any theological approach, they want to assert their dominance. ‘Nothing coerced in the matter of religion,” states the Quran. These people are doing the contrary, they have purged Islam of its spirituality and transformed it into a catalog of requirements. It is no longer Islam of being, but of appearance. No longer a project of life, but of death.”
In order to dissuade young Muslims from leaving to fight jihad he said, “They must be directed toward reading and learning about their religion. Teach them that the key is to believe in the oneness of God, the sacredness of life, in peace and working [to better] oneself.”
