Iranian President says it’s up to Muslims to correct Islam’s image

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, who is also a member of the Experts Assembly, waves to media with an ink-stained finger, after registering his candidacy for the Feb. 26 elections of the assembly at interior ministry in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that Muslims must improve the image of their religion, which has been tarnished by the violence of hardliner groups such as Daesh (or Islamic State).

“It is our greatest duty today to correct the image of Islam in world public opinion,” Rouhani told a conference on Islamic unity in Tehran in a speech broadcast by state television.

Adding that extremism of groups such as Daesh stemmed from “narrow-mindedness and a lack of moderation”, Rouhani added, “Did we ever think that, instead of enemies, an albeit small group from within the Islamic world using the language of Islam, would present it as the religion of killing, violence, whips, extortion and injustice?”.

Rouhani criticized Muslim countries for “being silent in the face of all the killing and bloodshed” in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.