Top Muslims say hostage killing ‘against Sharia’

Former taxi driver Alan Henning is being held by IS jihadists. Picture: PA

The latest plea to free the former taxi driver from Manchester who travelled to the region as an aid worker last year is made by a judge on the Sharia council in London, a director of Prophetic Guidance and an Imam.

It comes after various representatives from Britain’s Muslim community signed a letter urging IS to release the 47-year-old who appeared at the end of a video last Saturday in which fellow captive David Haines was killed.

In a YouTube video Judge Shaykh Haitham Al Haddad said: “This is to confirm that executing this man is... impermissible, prohibited according to Sharia.”

Ustadh Abu Eesa, a director of Prophetic Guidance, is based in Manchester and said he would “personally vouch for” Henning, adding that his would-be killers are defacing the religion of Islam.

Imam Shakeel Begg, of Lewisham Islamic Centre, quotes from the Koran, explaining that there is “no justification in our religion that allows you to continue to hold him let alone harm him”.

Footage last week showed Henning with other aid workers on the Greece-Turkey border in December last year saying the dangerous journey to Syria is “worthwhile” to help those in need.

On Thursday a video of British photojournalist John Cantlie was released, showing the hostage reading from a prepared script, saying he would talk about the self- proclaimed IS movement.

Unlike previous IS videos there was no threat made on camera to Cantlie’s life.

Meanwhile, renowned Jihadi ideologue Muhammed al-Maqdisi also called for Henning to be released, saying Islam forbids harming non-Muslims who work with relief agencies.

Al-Maqdisi, who was released by Jordan in June after serving a five-year sentence after being convicted of terror charges, said in a statement posted on his website that non-Muslims who help weak and poor Muslims should be respected and protected.