Around 130 UK Imams Refuse Burial Rites to London Bridge Attackers

In their statement, the Imams said the London attackers defiled Islam and The Prophet through their actions.

Supporters of the world Sunni movement condemn the London attacks near the London Bridge area on Tuesday. (Photo: AP) 

Around 130 imams in Britain refused to offer Islamic burial rituals to the attackers who killed seven people and injured 48 others near the London Bridge on Saturday.

A statement released by the Muslim Council of Britain said the terrorists' actions neither have legitimacy nor their sympathy because their actions are "at odds with the lofty teachings of Islam".

Consequently, and in light of other such ethical principles which are quintessential to Islam, we will not perform the traditional Islamic funeral prayer for the perpetrators and we also urge fellow imams and religious authorities to withdraw such a privilege. This is because such indefensible actions are completely at odds with the lofty teachings of Islam.

Terming them as "vile murderers" who seek to divide the society, the imams wrote that to carry out such violent actions in the month of Ramzan, when Muslims focus on prayer and devotion prove how "misguided and distant" the terrorists are from Islam.

We, as Muslim Imams and religious leaders, condemn the recent terror attacks in Manchester and London in the strongest terms possible. Coming from a range of backgrounds, and from across the UK; feeling the pain the rest of the nation feels, we have come together to express our shock and utter disgust at these cold-blooded murders.

Police confirmed the identities of the three jihadis of the London attacks as 27-year-old Khurram Butt, Rachid Redouane, who was a Moroccan-Libyan pastry chef, and 22-year-old Moroccan Yoseef Zaghba.