Religious leaders throughout France united to condemn the recent attack on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris. Haïm Korsia, the Chief Rabbi of France, tweeted: “Horrified by what has happened at #CharlieHebdo. All my condolences to families of the victims. The entire nation is in mourning. It must come together in the spirit of solidarity and brotherhood around the families.”
Al-Azhar University also condemned the attacks, as well as Tariq Ramadan, who expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. “It is not the Prophet who was avenged, it is our religion, our values, and Islamic principles that have been betrayed and tainted. My condemnation is absolute and my anger is profound (healthy and a thousand times justified) against this horror!!!” he tweeted.
The Union of Islamic Organizations of France condemned, “in the firmest manner this criminal attack and these horrible murders.” Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Great Mosque of Paris and president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith called it an “attack on democracy and freedom of press.”
“The Muslim Community is in shock,” he added. “We must restore a climate of equanimity…I don’t know what these peoples’ Islam is, it’s not the Islam of our texts, of our history. It’s not our civilization, what they did only pertains to them, not to Islam. These are evil acts.”
Four French imams visiting Rome to meet Pope Francois called on Muslims to mobilize against the attacks and hoped that “the silent majority of Muslims takes to the street,” according to Tareq Oubrou, rector of the Mosque of Bordeaux. “Muslims are traumatized and taken hostage by such extremists who are not the products of their communities. There is no religious elements in what is primarily the result of ignorance, illiteracy, fascination with heroism from video games, confusion between what is real and what is virtual. An integrated imam has no control over such behavior. Nothing can justify such a crime committed by hearts that have not been touched by true faith. Neither God nor the Prophet can be associated with this type of act,” he concluded.
Bishop Michel Dubost, president of the Council for Interreligious Relations said, “This type of attack is a form of anarchism. When the only reason to live becomes violence, it’s when we have lost all sense. Such an incident calls on Christians to represent the reasons to live together in harmony. The only response against violence and terrorism is an outstretched hand, it’s trust. A word of friendship, of co-citizenship, of solidarity. Otherwise, the more that I speak badly of someone else, the more their forces are going to attack.”
