Maulana Ibrahim Bin Yaqub right and Canadian High Commissioner Gerard Latulippe on the left.

A PROMINENT Muslim cleric of Trinidad and Tobago has branded the Islamic State (ISIS), as a “terror organisation” which poses a physical threat to the survival of the human race and must be exterminated from the surface of the globe.

Addressing the third day of the Jalsa Salana, organized by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at its centre, Polo Grounds, Preysal yesterday, Maulana Ibrahim Bin Yaqub, also identified the Ebola virus as another catastrophe which is creating havoc in the world.

Bin Yaqub said, “I speak about ISIS and Ebola. As far as the ISIS is concerned, it is a terror organisation consisting of fanatically-driven Muslims. Their interpretation and understanding of Islam is quite different from what we know. This organisation is a menace to the world and the world should treat it as such. The world must do everything to exterminate it from the surface of the globe.”

And regarding the deadly Ebola virus which has claimed 4,922 lives worldwide, the majority of deaths having occurred in West African countries, Bin Yaqub said the world is frightened because the world does not have a cure for the deadly virus.

The Muslim cleric said, “We can run but we cannot hide. It is only a fool who will be day- dreaming and thinking that he is far away from the epicentre of the deadly Ebola virus. At the moment, the world has to turn to God Almighty, for without his intervention, we stand upon the precipice of total destruction.”

Canadian High Commissioner, Gerard Latulippe, who attended the event, delivered greetings and thanked the Ahmadiyya worldwide community, especially in Canada, for their condemnation of last week Wednesday’s attack on the Canadian Parliament building in which two soldiers were killed. He said the attack was a direct attack on Canada’s democratic institutions and by extension, all Canadians and democracy.

Latulippe said, “This underlines the global reach of such threats to our core values. Canada and Canadians will not be intimidated by terrorists. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Canadian Ahmadiyya community who categorically and unequivocally, publicly condemned the terror attacks on the Canadian Parliament and the national war memorial.”

The Canadian High Commissioner said the world could learn a lesson from Trinidad and Tobago, regarding its religious tolerance, saying Trinidadians and Tobagonians did not only respect each others religious observances, but also actively participated in the observances. Latullipe said, “For a foreigner, it is amazing sometimes that to see Trinbagonians not only pay respect but even celebrate the religious holidays of their fellow countrymen.”

Also addressing the convention was Minister of Planning and Sustainable Development, Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie, who observed that the term “jihad” had been used by muslim fundamentalists to justify their acts of terrorism.

Tewarie said, “But you and I know that this is wrong. It represents an intellectual failure which has led to a misguided theological interpretation of the meaning of that word.”

Islam, Tewarie said, is a religion of peace, a religion of humanitarian concerns, of good works, of tolerance and of a responsible citizenship.

Tewarie assured the audience that government was committed to strengthening and building the middle class, while battling to bring the drug trade criminal activities under control.