Egypt’s Mufti Condemns Killing of French Teacher For Prophet Muhammed Caricatures

Egypt’s Grand Mufti Shawki Allam condemned the recent terrorist attack of a school teacher on Friday in Paris, after he was beheaded for showing caricatures of Prophet Mohamed.

According to police sources, the knifeman yelled “Allahu Akbar” (“God is Greatest “) as he attacked the teacher, and fled after the attack but was later found nearby area of Éragny.

“This crime is rejected by Islam and this act cannot be justified, because Islam has called for the protection of human life,” Allam said.

He further called for French government to not hold Islam and Muslims accountable for a “criminal act by an extremist,” and to enforce hate speech laws to prevent the spread of hate speech against Muslims.

The 18-year-old knifeman, who has not been named, was born in Moscow and is originally from Chechnya, according to the Associated Press (AP).

After being caught by the police, the knifeman was shot ten times due to his threats to the officers, and died shortly after. He is said to have a low criminal record and was not known to the country’s intelligence service.

The 47-year-old history and geography teacher, Samuel Paty, showed caricatures of Prophet Muhammad from the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, as part of an obligatory “moral and civil education” course taken in all French schools.

Shortly afterwards, one family sent a legal complaint while another parent posted a YouTube video complaining about the teacher.

French President Macron said that the school teacher was a “victim of an Islamist terrorist attack” and that he was killed because he “taught the freedom of expression, of believing and not believing.”