Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the retiring Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has urged Muslim scholars to do more to counter the violent ideology of the Islamic State.
He said Muslim scholars should step up their efforts to challenge the belief that Islam condones the violence carried out by the IS.
Britain’s top police officer issued a new warning about the looming threat posed by “brutalised and militarised” extremists returning from Syria.
At least 850 Britons have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight for IS, with at least half of them believed to have returned.
The 59-year-old top cop told the London Evening Standard that IS continued to lure recruits by using Islam as a justification for its actions. He said the Muslim scholars needed to challenge the false narrative.
“The hardest part for the Western world is to interrupt this philosophy that Daesh (Islamic State) is perpetuating which is that Islam in any way supports this horrific use of violence,” Sir Bernard told the newspaper.
“There is no interpretation I would argue that could say that, but some people are getting away with that. Muslim scholars have got to come up and be really challenging of that and be very clear that this can never be acceptable. There is no interpretation that can ever conclude it’s ok to kill people. We can’t be at all sensitive to religious beliefs. We have all got to say that is wrong.”
Sir Bernard retires on February 28 after spending five-and-a-half years at the helm of Britain's biggest police force.
