Speaking to IQNA, Sheikh Ahmed Yahya Walad Bilal, Shia thinker and director of Imam Ali (AS) Institute in Mauritania, added that Zionists and hegemonic powers use Takfiri groups to further their agenda.
He described Takfiri groups like al-Nusra Front, the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and Boko Haram in Nigeria that attribute their actions to Islam as a real threat and challenge for the Muslim Ummah.
Sheikh Ahmed Yahya regretted that these deviated groups have harmed the Muslim Ummah and given the enemies pretexts to accuse Muslims of extremism.
He criticized countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for providing supports to groups like ISIL and al-Nusra to put pressure on the Syrian government and said these countries gave rise to a cancerous tumor with their supports.
The Mauritanian scholar, who attended the 28th International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran earlier this month, further noted that most Muslim countries are united against Takfiri groups today.
He said the Tehran conference helped to enhance a unified stance among Muslim scholars and thinkers against the issue of Takfir.
Sheikh Ahmed Yahya also hailed the Islamic Republic of Iran’s efforts to boost Islamic unity and the country’s contributions to the fight against Takfiri groups.
The 28th International Islamic Unity Conference was held in the Iranian capital on January 7-10. The theme of the event was “United Muslim Ummah: Challenges and Strategies”.
Hundreds of Sunni and Shia scholars and intellectuals from more than 60 countries took part in the three-day conference to discuss ways for promoting unity and solidarity in the Muslim world.