NEW DELHI, May 21 (UPI) -- A group of anti-terror clerics in India said that at Friday prayers they would call upon Muslims across the country to fight terrorism.
The group, called The Movement Against Terrorism, said Tuesday they will exhort imams at mosques across north India to use the Friday prayer to speak out against the Islamic groups that are involved in terror activities.
The clerics said they also would reply to criticism that Muslim clerics, even moderate ones, are seen as not doing enough to condemn terrorism.
"The Koran does not endorse terrorism in any way. We must make it a point to propagate this during speeches everywhere, including Friday afternoon prayers," said Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Maheli, the junior imam of Eidgah Aishbagh and a member of the executive committee of All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, a leading religious body of Indian Muslims.
The religious group has launched a jihad against terrorism, The Times of India newspaper reported Wednesday. Maheli said taking up the issue of terrorism in their speeches is part of their program. He said the recently launched campaign is already getting under the skin of terror groups.
