Three years after Samuel Paty's murder, we are once again faced with a terrorist murder that affects the heart of France's civilian life – the school. Dominique Bernard was a teacher, who voluntarily put himself in the way to save lives. He loved his job passionately. He paid for it with his life.

We want to say to the murderer, to this terrorist who claims to be Muslim – to all terrorists who claim to be Muslim – that murder, whatever the circumstances, is inexcusable. Life, all life, is sacred. No one has the right to take life and to break up families. Dominique Bernard was married with three daughters. Who can replace a husband and father?

Every joy has been taken away forever, leaving nothing but suffering forever. To the barbaric murderer who claims to speak in the name of our religion, we say what the Quran says about the value of life: "Do not attempt to take another human being's life, which God made sacred."(Quran, 17:33). And again: "Whoever slays a human being not convicted of murder (...) is considered the slayer of all mankind. Whoever saves the life of a single human being is considered to have saved the life of all mankind!" (Quran, 5:32).

And again, in the words of Abel to Cain: "And if you lay your hand on me to kill me, I will not do the same, for I fear my Lord, the master of the universe, too much to commit such a crime!" (Quran, 5:28). It's obvious that killing is a crime, and these verses make that quite clear: to fear God requires us to respect the life of others, to respect others.

To Dominique Bernard's murderer, who claims to be a Muslim, we also want to quote a famous Hadith [words attributed to the Prophet]: "The ink of scholars is more sacred than the blood of martyrs," and therefore, every teacher represents knowledge. We would like to emphasize that the Islamic civilization was built on philosophy and science; on the thirst for knowledge and on the thirst for learning. And that this thirst is not limited by cultural boundaries: All knowledge and all learning whatever the field, whatever the cultural origin is light, enrichment and fulfillment.

The Quran calls on us to make use of our understanding and reason, both in observing nature and in reflecting on life. Reason is not an obstacle to faith in Islam, but a necessary condition of it (Quran, 2:44; 3:190; 10:5; 16:12-13; 16:67; 20:54 and 45:5). And terrorists and would-be terrorists must also be reminded that the Quran recognizes the divergence of viewpoints and identities throughout the world (Quran, 22:67; 30:22; 10:19; 11:118). In Islam, God intended a diversity of viewpoints and cultures (Quran, 7:168).

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