Bath IFG statement on Crumpsall killings

Bath Inter Faith Group expresses its shock and horror at the killings which took place at the synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester on Yom Kippur yesterday.

We pray - in our different ways - for the victims of these killings and their families.

We stand in solidarity with all our Jewish friends and neighbours who are a welcome and integral part of our community. Hatred and intolerance has no place in our community.

Bath IFG rejects all forms of racism and “othering”. It rejects any ideology that dehumanises people or disregards the sanctity of life. Violence does not further the aims of any faith tradition.

Specifically, people should be in no doubt that the murderous violence displayed yesterday in Crumpsall is explicitly forbidden in Islamic teaching. In this context, Dr Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour, Imam of Bath Mosque, adds: “Such acts of violence are abhorrent and have no place in Islam. The Qur’an teaches: ‘Whoever kills a person – unless in retribution for murder or spreading corruption in the land – it is as though he has killed all of humanity; and whoever saves one life, it is as though he has saved all of humanity’ (Qur’an 5:32).

“The actions of the perpetrator are not representative of our faith or of the values we strive to live by.”