We are overwhelmed with sadness at the senseless killing of Drummer Lee Rigby.

We are acutely aware the perpetrators of this savagery expressed religious sentiments as justification for their crime. Well, let us once again set the record clear, there is no God that has sanctioned the killing of an innocent human being and no honour conferred by any religion upon such criminals, except affording them the title of a murderer.

The Qur’an declares emphatically in its fifth chapter that whosoever saves the life of one human being, it is as though he saved the entire human race and, conversely, whosoever takes one life without right, it is as though he had murdered all of humanity. A clear indication, as though one were needed, that these criminals and their acts are an anti-thesis of the Qur’anic imperative.

Extremists are not simply content with misconstruing the world in their own perception, but wish for the rest of us to partake in their sickness.

If we embrace their narrative and lose our own sensibility, that is when we have afforded them a victory.

The overwhelming majority of the Muslim community unreservedly condemn these scant few lunatics and look forward to their just incarceration, while our thoughts and prayers remain always with the victim and his family.

Amjad Mahmood Madina Mosque secretary Spencer Street Keighley