Egypt's Al-Azhar observatory on Monday (February 20th) warned Egyptians not to fall for the sectarian message propagated in a video released Sunday by the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL), Egypt's Ahram Online reported.
Responding to the ISIL video in a statement on its website, Al-Azhar said the video promotes sectarian strife between Muslims and Christians in an attempt to recreate in Egypt what has happened in Iraq and Syria.
The observatory called on all Egyptians to maintain national unity and not fall for such "evil" propaganda, saying it showed footage and statements taken out of context to fuel sectarian strife between Muslims and Christians.
"The video used statements taken out of context as alleged proof of Christians' hatred towards Muslims, and employed misinterpreted Islamic scripts to promote their evil agenda," it said.
The 20-minute video, titled "Fight all Idolaters'', purported to show the last statements of the suicide bomber who blew himself up in Cairo's St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church on December 11th , killing 29 Coptic worshipers.
ISIL claimed responsibility for the bombing.
In 2015, Al-Azhar created the observatory to respond to erroneous interpretations of Islam, especially those which promote violence.
