A KEIGHLEY mosque has branded the terrorist group that beheaded British aid worker Alan Henning as a “murderous cult”.

Shohab Ali, a spokesman for the Muhammadi Mosque in Showfield, said the IS organisation in Syria are “evil criminals”, and called upon people to donate towards a fund set up in Mr Henning’s memory.

A video showing the murder of the Salford taxi driver was posted on the Internet Friday night, sparking international outrage.

The IS group, which has overrun vast swathes of Syria and Iraq and displaced hundreds of thousands of people, had ignored appeals from Muslim leaders to spare Mr Henning’s life.

Mr Ali said: “IS is an evil organisation and it doesn’t represent Islam.

“Everything they have done is barbaric to say the least. They are like a cult, which just goes around killing anyone not on its side.

“They are claiming to be part of the Muslim religion when clearly they aren’t. Killing innocent people is a serious crime and is strongly prohibited in Islam.”

Commenting on news Mr Henning had been murdered, he added: “Words can’t really describe how we felt. It was a sad, sombre moment, just before we were due to celebrate Eid. We were very shocked.

“Even though I never met Alan, I feel like we owe something to him.”

He urged people to support the Alan Henning Memorial Fund by visiting the gofundme.com/ff04a4 link.

The fund has been established for Mr Henning’s children, Adam and Lucy, and also aims to start a project to benefit people he had been trying to help in Syria.

Mr Ali said the Muhammadi Mosque had previously collected and sent off containers of food, clothing and toys to Syrian refugees.

Zulfi Karim, vice-president of Bradford Council for Mosques, said Mr Henning had been a “great human and humanitarian.”

He said: “Muslims around the world should be praying for Alan and his family.

“Parents should also get the message to their children that under no circumstances is this in the name of Islam. We must now take steps to stop young British citizens being radicalised.”