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Ed, right, and Paula Kassig, center, parents of Peter Kassig, talk with Lina Midani, of Indianapolis, before funeral prayers were held in the mosque at Al-Huda Foundation in Fishers, Ind., Friday, Nov. 21, 2014.
The Associated PressHundreds gathered at an Indianapolis-area Islamic center this afternoon to celebrate the life of slain Indiana native and humanitarian aid worker Abdul-Rahman Peter Kassig—the third American beheaded by the so-called Islamic State.
The funeral service followed regular Friday prayers at the Al Huda Foundation in Fishers, Indiana. Kassig’s parents Ed and Paula attended as well as Sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaquobi, an exiled Syrian Islamic scholar and strident critic of both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic State.
Yaqoubi called Kassig, 26, a "great hero" during prayers at the Al Huda Foundation mosque in the Indianapolis suburb of Fishers, lauding his humanitarian work, while condemning his killers as "non-Islamic".
"Islam forbids killing," Yaqoubi said. "Murder is a captial crime. In the Quran, anyone who kills one soul is as he killed humanity altogether."
A former Army Ranger and trained EMT, Kassig visited Lebanon in spring of 2012 and remained in the region to assist humanitarian efforts stemming from the Syrian conflict. He had been held by militants since October 2013, converting to Islam while in captivity and changing his name to Abdul-Rahman.
The White House Sunday confirmed the authenticity of a video released by the Islamic State claiming he had been beheaded.
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