London Attacks: British Imams Refuse To Bury Attackers Or Perform Islamic Funeral Prayer

UPDATE: 6:30 a.m. EDT- The third terrorist behind the London Bridge attack has been named and identified as Moroccan-Italian Youssef Zaghba, BBC said.

The other two attackers were earlier identified as Khuram Shazad Butt and Rachid Redouane.

The attackers, wearing fake suicide vests, were shot dead by eight officers after police unleashed a hail of 50 bullets upon them, Saturday.

Thirty-six people remain in London hospitals, with 18 in a critical care.

Original Story:

After the horrific terror attacks in London on Saturday, more than 130 British imams and Muslim religious leaders have said they will refuse to say funeral prayers for the perpetrators of Saturday’s attack in London, said the Muslim Council of Britain in a statement, Monday.

“Consequently, and in light of other such ethical principles which are quintessential to Islam, we will not perform the traditional Islamic funeral prayer over the perpetrators and we also urge fellow imams and religious authorities to withdraw such a privilege. This is because such indefensible actions are completely at odds with the lofty teachings of Islam,” the statement said.

Read: Prime Minister Theresa May Says 'Enough is Enough' After Terrorist Attack In London

The leaders called the acts "cold-blooded murders", and said they were "deeply hurt" that terror attacks have been committed in Britain by "murderers who seek to gain religious legitimacy for their actions."

In their statement, the imams said the terrorists do not represent Islam.

"We seek to clarify that their reprehensible actions have neither legitimacy nor our sympathy," they said, adding they refuse to "perform the traditional Islamic funeral prayer over the perpetrators."

The letter comes a day after the Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella body with over 500 institutions, held a press conference in which it’s Secretary General, Harun Khan hinted at the decision. "The level of our anger is such that some imams from a cross section of Islamic traditions say that these people should be denied an Islamic burial," he said at the time.

According to several media reports, the Metropolitan police commander for engagement, Mak Chishty, the highest-ranking officer of Muslim faith read out the statement on behalf of Muslim communities.

He called for “a step-change – a different direction and a different movement to counter the scourge of terrorism, extremism, and hatred that we have in our communities at present”.

“It is the Islamic duty of every Muslim to be loyal to the country in which they live. We are now asking questions to understand how extremism and hatred have taken hold within some elements of our own communities,” Chishty said.

Thousands of Muslims worldwide have condemned terrorism in recent years, as noted in a 712-page Google document maintained by an American Muslim student, a CNN report said.

Seven people died and 48 were injured when three men drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge, then leaped out and stabbed several others in nearby bars and restaurants.

Police killed the three attackers and have identified two of them — Khuram Shazad Butt and Rachid Redouane — involved in Saturday’s attack. According to several media reports, the third attacker has been identified too but his name has not been made public.

The ISIS-linked Amaq News Agency claimed a "detachment of Islamic State fighters" carried out the attack but provided no evidence to back its claim.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said there was "too much tolerance" of Islamist extremism in the U.K. Promising “enough is enough,” May called for a thorough review of Britain’s counterterrorism approach Sunday following Saturday night's knife rampage, the country’s third major terrorist attack in the past three months.