The presidency strongly condemned fatwas permitting the killing of opposition leaders on Thursday evening.
“The practice of political violence or its threat has become one of the most important challenges facing the Arab Spring revolutions as they build their fledgling democracies,” read a statement from presidential spokesman Yasser Ali. “We must all join together, people and government, to avert the threat of sedition and besiege attempts to sow discord and division within our beloved Egypt.”
The presidency strongly condemned those who incite murder in the name of religion, equating it to “terrorism.”
The presidency went on to call on all national forces and religious institutions to stand against violently inflammatory language in an effort to avoid a “serious deviation from the peaceful path of the great Egyptian revolution.”
Mahmoud Shabaan issued a fatwa on Al-Hafez channel, holding the National Salvation Front (NSF) responsible for continued bloodshed and urging the killing of its members.
Al-Azhar’s Islamic Research Academy, headed by Grand Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayyeb, denounced the fatwa, saying such incitement could lead to more bloodshed and chaos and urged Egyptians to refrain from adhering to such views.
