The Allamah, most eminent scholar, knower and defender of Ahlu s-Sunnah wa l-Jama’ah, Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Sai’d Ramadan al-Bouti was killed by a malicious suicide bomber during his bi-weekly Maghrib-to-Isha lesson (Mondays and Thursdays) at Jami’ al-Iman in the Mazra`a neighborhood of Damascus where he has been teaching for decades. The attacker killed over 40 other worshippers as well including Dr. Buti’s grandson.

Suicide bombings blamed on Islamic extremists fighting with the rebels have become common in Syria’s 2-year-old civil war. But Thursday’s explosion marked the first time a suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside a mosque.

Syrian TV footage showed wounded people and bodies with severed limbs on the blood-stained floor and later, bodies covered in white body bags lined up in rows. Sirens wailed through the capital as ambulances rushed to the scene of the explosion, which was sealed off by the military.

The Free Syrian Army, the umbrella group for the rebel forces, said it was not responsible for the attack.

May Allah Most High grant him and them Paradise and nearness to Him with Anbiya, Siddiqin, Shuhada’ and Salihin.

News reports:

1) BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21887877

2) Deseret News: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765625141/Syria-bombing-kills-top-pro-Assad-Sunni-preacher.html

3) Aljazeera News: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/03/2013321174113479353.html