West Java: Seventy scholars from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Indonesia issued a fatwa on Friday during a conference in Indonesia against violent extremism and terrorism and said they violate the principles of Islam.
According to sources, the scholars from three Muslim nations gathered at the presidential palace in the city of Bogor in West Java to discuss ways to stop the bloodshed in Afghanistan.
Sources have quoted the declaration as stating “We reaffirm that violence and terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group, as violent extremism and terrorism in all its forms and manifestation including violence against civilians and suicide attacks are against the holy principles of Islam”.
However, Taliban was said to have released a statement ahead of Friday’s conference urging all Islamic scholars not to attend. Declaring the conference as “un-Islamic” it believed that it is part of “various stratagems” to preserve foreign occupation.