Martyrs al-Bouti and Grandson Laid to Rest
Amid official and popular participation, bodies of scholar Mohammad Said Ramadan al-Bouti and his grandson Ahmad on Saturday were escorted from the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus to their final resting place near the tomb of Salah Eddine al-Ayoubi.
Awqaf Minister: Targeting al-Bouti Is Targeting Real Islam
Minister of Awqaf (Religious Endowments), Mohammad Abdul-Sattar al-Sayyed, attended the funeral ceremonies as representative of president Bashar al-Assad.
Speaking to the reporters after the funeral prayer, Minister al-Sayyed considered that the assassination of al-Bouti aims at targeting the real Islam and the entity of Syria as a whole.
Syria's Mufti: If Syria Falls All Will Fall
Syria's Grand Mufti, Ahmad Badr Eddin Hassoun, delivered a speech during the funeral in which he addressed people of the Islamic and Arab worlds and the upcoming Arab Summit, saying "Come and save Syria from a universal war, because of Syria falls you will all fall."
Information Minister: Real Response to Crime Is Commitment to Dialogue
Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi told the reporters during the ceremonies that the late scholar al-Bouti was an incomparable man with all standards and meanings.
"Crime of assassinating al-Bouti and a number of prayers in al-Iman mosque adds to the criminal record of the terrorists," the Minister said in a statement to journalists during the funeral.
He added "the real response to this crime is the Syrians' commitment to the national dialogue and amity among themselves."
Bishop al-Kouri: We Will Never Fall before Israel Because of Our Faith
For his part, Patriarchal Vicar of the Roman Orthodox Church, Bishop Luqa al- Khoury, said "They killed scholar al-Bouti because he taught the world of right, he who had always known the right, and because he wanted to unite Christianity and Islam."
"Scholar al-Bouti was not only for Islam, but he was also a word of amity and peace," Bishop al-Khoury added.
He addressed US President Barack Obama saying "Israel is not strong. We are the strong due to our faith and love for our land, and if you give Israel all the tools of war you possess, we will never fall due to our faith and love for our land," reiterating that Syria will always be proud any where any time because it is strong."
Son of Late Scholar: We Promise to Follow Father's Path
Son of late scholar al-Bouti and father of martyr Ahmad, sheikh Mohammad Tawfiq, addressed his father saying "Our solace is that you died a martyr advocating the principles you had dedicated your whole life for, and we promise to follow your path."
Advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader: Assassination Will Not Kill Resistance inside Us
Attending the funeral ceremony, Advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader, Mohammad Ali al-Taskhiri, said in his speech that the martyrdom of scholar al-Bouti is a great loss for the entire Islamic nation as he realized the true moderate character of Islam, stressing that the assassination of al-Bouti "will not kill the spirit of resistance inside us."
The funeral ceremonies were attended by a number of ministers and representative of parties and unions, in addition to delegations from Lebanon, Jordan and Iran.