More than 1,000 Muslim clerics in India have ratified a religious ruling that condemns the Islamic State and calls the extremist group's actions "un-Islamic," a top Indian Muslim leader said Wednesday.
Religious leaders from hundreds of Islamic mosques, education institutions and civic groups across India have signed the edict, or fatwa, saying the actions of the Islamic State group went against the basic tenets of Islam.
The edict was issued by a leading Mumbai-based cleric, Mohammed Manzar Hasan Ashrafi Misbahi, and has been signed by the leaders of all the main mosques in India, which has the world's third-largest Muslim population.
Muslim clerics across India will speak to their followers after prayers on Friday, explaining the contents of the edict and why it is important to denounce the Islamic State, said Abdul Rehman Anjaria, president of the Islamic Defense Cyber Cell.