Actions of ISIS militants warrant crucifixion and other punishments permitted by the Koran - sheik
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria's immolation of a Jordanian pilot on Tuesday triggered a wave of outrage among the top clerics in the Islamic world.
Leading the condemnation is the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar, Ahmed al-Tayeb, who expressed "deep anger over the lowly terrorist act" in a statement issued to Reuters on Wednesday.
Al-Tayeb further described the Islamic state as a "Satanic, terrorist" organisation and said that the Islamic State's fighters should also be "killed, crucified or to have their limbs amputated" as punishment for burning the young Arab pilot, Lt. Mouath al-Kasaesbeh.
Other Muslim clerics around the world joined Ahmed al-Tayeb in condemning the immolation.
Youssef al-Qaradawi and the International Association of Muslim Scholars called the burning a "criminal act" and told Reuters that ISIS "does not represent Islam in any way and its actions always harm Islam."
The Washington Post reported that Iyad Madani, who heads the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, described the burning of the pilot as an "affront to Islam."
"[ISIS] utterly disregards the rights of prisoners Islam has decreed, as well as the human moral standards for war and treatment of prisoners," Madani told the Washington Post's correspondent.
Even other jihadists have spoken out against the burning. Reuters interviewed Abu Sayyaf, who said that the latest atrocity "weakens the popularity of Islamic State." Sayaf said that filming the video and releasing it to the public has "turned society" against the Islamic State.
Sayaf, also known as Mohamed al-Shalabi, is a Jordanian salafist who served 10 years in prison for jihadist activity that included a bomb plot against the United States.
Hishan al-Hashimi, a top advisor in the Iraqi government, however, told the Washington Post that ISIS may have "gained more from this than it has lost" despite widespread condemnation of the burning. According to Al-Hashimi, the group managed to turned public attention away from its defeats in Kobani in Syria and in Diyala in Iraq when it released the video of the immolation.
