Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim says, "Remaining silent about such crimes will lead to more shedding of innocent blood."

Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), has expressed deep sorrow and grief at the news of the martyrdom of `allama Dr. sheikh Muhammed al-Buti, head of the Union of the Scholars of the Land of Sham, stressing that the martyred doctor was one of the open Islamic minds and a caller for the Muslims to get close to each other and to renounce their differences.
This came up in a statement issued by Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim after the terrorist attack on worshippers at the Iman Mosque in Damascus and claimed the life of Sheikh al-Buti and scores of worshippers on Thursday, March 21, 2013.
His Eminence stressed in the statement that these crimes which are committed in Iraq and Syria are carried out at the hands of groups that have split from Islam yet they falsely and slanderously bear the name of Islam, and that it is the duty of the nation's scholars from all sects and doctrines to encounter this wave that has abused the Islamic message of tolerance.

 Below is the text of the statement:

In the Name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful

 "And those when afflicted with a calamity say, 'We belong to Allah, and to Him shall we return…'"

Surely Allah, the most High, the most Great, says the truth.

 We received with extremely deep grief and sorrow the news of the martyrdom of `allama Dr. Sheikh Muhammed Sa`eed al-Buti, head of the Union of the Scholars of the Land of Sham, and scores of citizens following a terrorist attack on worshippers at the Iman Mosque in Damascus on Thursday, March 21, 2013 which coincided with Jumada II 8, 1434 A.H.
The late martyr was one of the open Muslim minds, a caller on the Muslims to get closer to each other and to renounce their differences. He spent his lifespan, which exceeded eighty years, believing in the Islamic unity and issued many books of benefit for the Islamic library. Losing him is a great loss for the efforts that advocate the Islamic unity, and it is a loss also for the Islamic thought.
On this occasion, we can only offer the people of Syria in general and the family of the great martyr and the families of the other martyrs our condolences and sympathy, pleading to Allah, the most Exalted One, the most Great, to shroud the martyrs with His pleasure and broad mercy and the wounded with a speedy recovery.
These crimes which are committed in Iraq and Syria against the innocent are distant from the free will of the citizens and even that of some people who protest the (current) political situations. Rather, they are carried out by gangs that have split from the Islamic folds while still falsely and slanderously bearing the name of Islam. It is the duty of the nation's scholars from all sects and doctrines to stand in the face of this wave which has abused the tolerant message of Islam which was brought by our Greatest Prophet, Muhammed, peace and blessings of Allah with him and with his Progeny. Remaining silent about such crimes will lead to more shedding of innocent blood.

Ammr al-Hakim

Head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq

Baghdad on March 22, 2013