The Grand Imam of al-Azhar stressed that the international campaigns released by ISIS to recruit Muslim young people are misleading and aim at dismantling security in Muslim countries and targeting the youth who represent the most important pillar of our nations, through their calls that raise the banner of Islam while Islam totally forbids their mischievous acts.
Al-Azhar calls on Muslim youth not to be deceived by such deviant ideologies of those extremists who know nothing about the teachings of their religion.
The Grand Imam obviously stated that the so-called ISIS members are Khawarij who should be fought against by the state to secure people against their evil wherever they are. They are the modern-age Kharijites, who are not different from those who rebelled against Caliph Ali b. Abu Talib, labeling him as a disbeliever and declaring the Companions of the Prophet infidels, and accused all those who disagreed with them of disbelief.
Al-Azhar criticizes the extremist groups that speak in the name of Islam, while they know nothing about Islam except its name. It seems that they present a religion that neither ordinary Muslims nor scholars know about it. The Grand Imam showed that these suspicious campaigns are intended primarily to distort the teachings of Islam and present a tarnished image of this religion and its Prophet (PBUH) whom Allah has sent as mercy for mankind. They want to present Islam as a savage religion that calls for killing and blood-shedding, while Islam denounces all forms of terrorism.