Moscow, August 20, 2013
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| Farid Salman |
"It is unacceptable to tolerate the continuation of this orgy of Saran followers, who have burned down several dozens of churches and have looted monasteries in the past few days in an attempt to further fan the flames of this fratricidal war, cease the efforts of those to desecrate, destroy and loot numerous mosques and madrasahs," Farid Salman, head of the Ulema Council of the All-Russian Muslim Board, said in a statement seen by Interfax-Religion on Tuesday.
The mufti called on the Egyptian Muslim population to maintain the safety of churches in the country, to protect Muslim and Christian clergy and to "severely punish the extremists who sowed the seeds of chaos and revolt."
The Copts once "opened the gates of Egypt to Islam and Muslims," and Allah ordered the Muslims to take care of this country, its heritage and people, he said.
"We urge the brave Muslim sons of Egypt to always remember that Almighty Allah put you in charge of this blessed land and that you bear the responsibility for its residents, especially the Copts," he said.
The mufti accused the Muslim Brotherhood movement of using pseudo-Islamic slogans to "open the gates of chaos and disaster: people are being killed, beaten or raped, mosques and churches are being set on fire and desecrated, museums are being looted and the heritage belonging to all civilizations is being destroyed."
"The modern history of Syria, the Palestinian territories, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia and Egypt today vividly demonstrates what happens to countries when an unholy, false movement called the Muslim Brotherhood appears," he said.
Salman expressed hope that this movement "would never be removed" from Russia's list of banned organizations.
