Belgium: Imams refuse to pray for the souls of the non-Muslim victims of Brussels jihad massacre

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/03/belgium-imams-refuse-to-pray-for-the-souls-of-the-non-muslim-victims-of-brussels-jihad-massacre

March 29, 2016 9:02 am By Robert Spencer 45 Comments

“It is not for the Prophet and those who have believed to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of Hellfire.” (Qur’an 9:113)

“There has already been for you an excellent pattern in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people, ‘Indeed, we are disassociated from you and from whatever you worship other than Allah. We have denied you, and there has appeared between us and you animosity and hatred forever until you believe in Allah alone’ except for the saying of Abraham to his father, ‘I will surely ask forgiveness for you, but I have not for you anything against Allah. Our Lord, upon You we have relied, and to You we have returned, and to You is the destination.” (Qur’an 60:4) This means that Abraham is an “excellent pattern,” someone to be imitated, when he says that there is “between us and you animosity and hatred forever until you believe in Allah alone,” but Abraham is not an excellent pattern, and not to be imitated, when he says he will pray that Allah forgive them.

“Belgian Imams Refuse to Pray for Souls of Non-Muslim Victims of Brussels Attacks,” MEMRI, March 26, 2016:

According to the UAE-based Al-Ghad Al-Arabi TV channel, the council of Belgian imams rejected a recent initiative to pray for the souls of the victims of the Brussels terror attacks on the grounds that praying for non-Muslims ran counter to Islamic law. In the report, which aired on March 26, Sheikh Abdelhadi Sewif, Chief Imam of the Great Mosque of Brussels, said that one could get around this by avoiding the word “prayer” and calling it a show of solidarity with the families.
Following are excerpts
Voice of reporter: Once again, Belgian mosques find themselves in the midst of a controversy, following an initiative by an official institution to hold a prayer for the souls of the victims of the Brussels attacks. This initiative was rejected by the council of imams, on the grounds that this runs counter to the Islamic shari’a,and that such a prayer can be held only for the souls of Muslims.
Sheikh Abdelhadi Sewif, imam of the Great Mosque of Brussels: We cannot pray over the souls of non-Muslims, but if we do this, we don’t have to call it a prayer. We can call it something else: “solidarity with the families of the victims.” We can stand by them and support them.
[…]
Imam Mohammad Ghali: There is disagreement about this among the scholars and the public. [Some] say that it is prohibited to pray for the souls of non-Muslims. But since this was a general event, in which Muslims as well as non-Muslims [were hurt], we address all of the victims, and wish them peace, mercy, and health.