DUBAI-The Walk Free Foundation has in a statement publicly condemned in the strongest terms the recent kidnapping of 276 girls in Nigeria by Boko Haram – a self-claimed Islamist group which intends to sell the girls into marriage and sexual slavery.
Raza Jafar, Vice Chairman of Walk Free said : “Walk Free is part of the Global Freedom Network of organizations currently mobilizing support to condemn this unspeakable act of cruelty, repression and barbarism, which is an affront to all faiths – including Islam. Walk Free is pleased by the support it has received from the Global Freedom Network which represents all major faiths, showing the unanimity that there is no justification in any religion for these acts.
The extracts below from the fatwa issued by Al Azhar in Cairo leave no doubt that kidnapping and slavery are utterly incompatible with Islam, “Islam prohibited kidnapping of women and children”, “The worst type of human trafficking in the modern world remains the kidnapping of women and girls”.
Walk Free, whose mission is to end modern slavery by mobilizing all its resources and networks with its organizational partners, is urging the international community to increase the level and urgency of its efforts to save these girls. This is a major international issue, and must demand an international response commensurate with the disgust and outrage felt by religious and secular leaders alike, as well as people of all backgrounds globally. There is zero places for slavery in the world, and there is zero place for it in Islam.”