Religious foundation in NE Syria call to deliver message of peace
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Ahl al-Bayt Foundation in northeast Syria called on Tuesday for religious references in the region to deliver the message of peace, and to show the true Islam, not the Islam represented by groups that use the Islam to do things have nothing to do with it.
This comes at the start of the work of the second day of the International Conference of Religions and Beliefs of Mesopotamia, under the title “Together We Spread Peace”, in the campus of Rojava University in Qamishli, which is scheduled to end today with a final statement.
In Shia Islam, the Ahl al-Bayt are central to Islam and interpreters of the Quran. Shiites believe that they consist of Muhammad; his daughter, Fatimah; his son-in-law, Ali; and their children, Hasan and Husayn.
“What the groups that hide behind religion and carry out terrorist acts are nothing to do with religion,” Sheikh Sinan Saydosh, head of the Foundation, told North Press.
“We, the clergy, should have taken a step that showed the truth and essence of the Islamic religion in particular, and the essence of all religions in general,” he added.
During the conference, which has been being prepared for months in northeast Syria on a large scale, Saydosh expressed his hope that people from all countries would attend it in order to show the reality of religions in general, and the reality of Islam in particular.
He pointed out that it is necessary to separate the religion and the state, “because the state has a system and religion has legitimate references, so we should not link religion to the state because the state is a policy and religion is Sharia.”
The sheikh believes that the religious references, as they live in this territory, should “show the opinion of religion during crises, and it is their duty to play their role to deliver the message that they are entrusted with.”
“Killing of Muslims mustn’t be legalized because of their nationality, language, or color.” Thus, it is the duty of all Religious References, especially the religion of Islam, to “spread peace, love and justice, perform their religious, moral and social duties,” he said.
The Sheikh pointed out that some cells, through crises in some countries, “have worked to create strife and exploit religion in particular to achieve their goals.”
Regarding the role of the extremist organizations and groups, he said: “They arrived in the region with the will and the order of the big countries to serve the interests of those countries.” He singled out the Turkish state, describing it as the “spiritual father” of ISIS and other extremist groups.
Sheikh Sinan called on clergy in Islamic countries to end their silence “in regard to the massacres happen to Kurds at the hands of ISIS and the Turkish state.”
He addressed the world saying: “Kurds are mostly Muslims. They are human beings and they have rights and duties, but we do not hear Islamic voices condemn the massacres committed by Erdogan in our regions.”
“The best form of jihad is tell a word of truth in the face of an unjust sultan. It is the duty of all Muslim clergy to carry out their religious role with a word of condemnation of these acts,” he said.