BRITISH Muslims have expressed fury and anguish in the wake of the brutal killing of Alan Henning by Islamic State (IS) militants, as the family of the Salford, north-west England, taxi driver said they were “numb with grief” at news of his murder.

Many in the UK Muslim community had been hoping the aid convoy volunteer might be freed on the eve of Eidul Azha. Vigils had been held in his hometown and more than 100 high-profile Muslim leaders had appealed for him to be released. But the posting of a gruesome video, appearing to show his beheading, ended hopes and unleashed a torrent of condemnation.

Know more: Video shows IS beheading British hostage Alan Henning

Harun Khan, deputy secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain — the largest Islamic organisation in the UK, representing more than 500 organisations — said: “Yesterday was a huge day of significance because it was the day when people were seeking forgiveness and salvation. If IS really wanted to win the propaganda war, they would have released Alan. They are not really Islamic: nobody recognises them, and they are hijacking the religion.”

Kasim Jameel, from Bolton, who was with Mr Henning on the convoys and first interested him in helping the people of Syria, said:

Terrorist group ‘is hijacking Islam’

“I’m totally heartbroken. What can you say? When you lose someone so important to you, you can’t put it into words. Everyone who knew him from the convoys just can’t stop crying — grown men with beards. We keep expecting him to come round the corner, and say, ‘I was only joking’.”

Mr Henning’s widow Barbara said she and their two children were numb with grief and that his murder had been the “news we hoped we would never hear”. In her statement she thanked everyone who had supported the family.

“I want to thank everyone who campaigned for Alan’s release, who held vigils to pray for his return and condemned those who took him. Your efforts were a great support to us, and we take comfort in knowing how many people stood beside us in hoping for the best. We as a family are extremely proud of him and what he achieved.”

David Cameron pledged that the UK would use “all the assets we have” to eradicate the fighters responsible for the “senseless” murder.

Speaking after a hastily convened meeting with senior defence, Foreign Office and intelligence chiefs, including the head of MI5, at his official country residence Chequers, Mr Cameron described Mr Henning as a man of “great peace, kindness and gentleness”.

But Mr Henning’s brother-in-law, Colin Livesey, said the government could have done more “when they knew about [his captivity] months and months ago”.

Mr Henning was kidnapped on Boxing Day last year, just half an hour after entering Syria, driving a vehicle full of clothing and food aid for Muslim refugees.

Filmmaker Bilal Abdul Kareem, who helped in the negotiations when he was first captured, also accused Mr Cameron of not doing enough to help. He added that IS knew the strength of opposition to the murder, but chose to “spit in the Muslims’ eye to show them who is boss”.

He revealed that a representative of Al Qaeda had appealed to the fighters holding Mr Henning to let him go just four days after they picked him up. “Nobody outside of IS thought this was a good idea. Nobody thought that it was OK to do this,” he said.

“The Al Qaeda representative went to go down and try to talk to them, and [when] he returned his face was different. He said something to the effect that these guys are really being difficult, really tough, but they did say they were going to release him. Everybody was anticipating that.”

Suleman Nagdi, of the Federation of Muslim Organisations, heard the news after returning from a vigil for Mr Henning in Leicester. “We have to disassociate from Islamic State,” he said. “There is nothing Islamic about these individuals, nor is it a state. My question to young people [who might be sympathetic to IS] is simple: who is living closer to the message of the Qur’an? Is it IS, or is it somebody like Alan Henning?”

By arrangement with The Guardian

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2014