Around 70,000 Muslim clerics came together in Bareilly on Tuesday to issue a fatwa against terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The Times of India reported that the clerics don't consider these groups to be Muslim. Around 15 lakh followers signed a document protesting against terrorist strikes, while they were at the Urs-e-Razvi of Dargah Aala Hazrat. Mufti Mohammed Saleem Noori, one of the clerics, said that the media should stop calling terrorist groups “Muslim organisations”. Clerics also opposed the move by various countries to bomb Syria, saying that innocent people have died in these strikes, and that terror must be fought, but not at the expense of civilians.

Dargah Aala Hazrat, or the tomb of Ahmed Raza Khan in Bareilly, has been campaigning against terrorism, and earlier this year announced that the important “namaz-e-janaza” prayer would not be read out during the funeral of a terrorist. The clerics also said that United States Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was among those responsible for the growing hatred, especially after he called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. Mufti Mohammed Saleem Noori said, "If one country imposes such a ban on Muslims, other countries will enforce such bans too, perhaps on other communities.”