The lifeless body of Dr. Ayaz Niazi, a prominent religious scholar, was laid to rest in a special ceremony at the Wazir Akbar Khan Mosque, Kabul.

Niazi died after receiving severe injuries in an IED explosion at the mosque on Tuesday evening.

The Acting Minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs says that there is no justification for the attack, and that ulema (religious scholars) should unite to stop such crimes.

It should be noted that Dr. Aaz Niazi was one of the prominent religious figures who held two master’s degrees from Al-Azhar University in Egypt.

The Acting Minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs, Abdul Hakim Munib, said, “There is no justification for this attack. With these attacks, the enemies of the country will never be able to stop the religious activities of scholars. They will try even more to raise awareness based on Islamic studies.”

At the same time, a number of religious scholars have condemned the incident, warning that if the government fails to identify the perpetrators of the attack on Dr. Ayaz, they will go on widespread protests.

“We have set a ten-day deadline for the government to identify the perpetrators of this case, otherwise we will protest,” said Abdul Qadir Qanet, a religious scholar.

“This must stop. We hope the government takes action to prevent the assassinations of religious scholars,” said Fazl Hadi Wazin, a university professor.

Although the Taliban have denied involvement in the attack and considered it a crime, the First Vice President, Amrullah Saleh, says on his Facebook account that the Taliban cannot acquit itself by writing a sentence of denial, adding that mostly those religious scholars are being targeted who are not graduated from Pakistani schools.