TEXAS, TORONTO – Muslims scholars have condemned the killing of the Russian ambassador to Turkey and the truck attack in Berlin Christmas market, saying violence would only feed hatred in the world.

“Today was a horrific day. Commit yourself to not feeding the cycle of hatred,” Skeikh Omar Suleiman, a renowned Muslim scholar, wrote on Facebook on Monday night, December 19.

“A Christmas market in Germany and a Mosque in Switzerland shouldn’t be places where people have to worry about their lives.”

Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, was shot dead as he was giving a speech on Monday in Ankara.

The gunman, Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, an Ankara policeman, was apparently protesting at Russia’s involvement in Syria’s Aleppo. He was later shot dead.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack was aimed at hurting ties with Russia.

It was not clear whether the gunman, a riot police member, had links to any group.

Meanwhile, another attack occurred in Germany when a truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and inuring 48.

The truck on Monday rammed into the market outside the popular market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.

Dr Wael Shihab, the imam of Toronto mosque, issued an immediate statement to condemn the shooting.

“Shooting the Russian ambassador to Turkey is an inhuman and terrible crime. It’s not justified under any pretext. The Holy Qur’an unequivocally forbids attacking and targeting innocent people. Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) forbade such crimes too,” he wrote on Facebook.

“What the shooter has said after committing his horrible crime doesn’t represent Islam or Muslim communities.”

Horrible War

Sheikh Yasir Qadhi, an American Muslim scholar and writer of Pakistani descent, shared a similar condemnation.

Sheikh Qadhi warned that similar acts of violence triggered horrible wars in the past.

“World War I was sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1916. But of course it wasn’t just the assassination that led to WW I, as Europe itself was undergoing massive changes, and underlying tensions were barely quelled under the surface,” he wrote on Facebook.

“Leaders were involved on all sides who weren’t qualified to be in charge. Some were trigger happy; others naive. Some basked in the glory of war; others were too pacifist (in the beginning at least). Most were racists and felt no problems in dehumanizing ‘others’. In hindsight, it was so obvious that all that was needed was one ‘spark’ to light the fuse of tension that lay beneath.

“In light of today’s assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, it all sounds too familiar, and too terrifying.

“Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Frankly even those who do learn from history end up repeating it. The one lesson we actually gain from history is that history does have cycles that are repetitive. Whether its because of ignorance or arrogance, history continues to repeat itself.

“We ask Allah to protect us from war and to save ourselves and our families from the chaos of civil strife and bloodshed.”