Muslims in France condemn teacher’s killing near Paris

Paris, Oct 18 : Muslims and community leaders in France condemned the killing of a teacher in a Paris suburb, calling for not associating Islam with such heinous acts.
On Friday afternoon, a history teacher was stabbed and killed in a Paris suburb. He had reportedly shown his pupils cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in a class on freedom of expression.
“Nothing justifies killing an innocent person for his convictions. Islam calls for tolerance and to accept the others as they are,” Ibrahim, a worker at a pharmaceutical company, told Xinhua on Saturday.
“True Muslims are not extremists. Wearing djellaba (long dress) or veil, being bearded don’t mean being terrorists. Terrorists are acting for things which have no relation with Islam,” he said.
The 51-year-old practicing Muslim added he planned to join the gathering to pay tribute to the killed teacher on Sunday afternoon to denounce terrorism and send a message of peace.
Hafiz Chems-eddine, rector of Grand Paris mosque, said he was “horrified” by the crime.