Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has likened comparisons of Isis representing Islam as no different to describing the Ku Klux Klan as “Christian knights”.

The retired NBA star, who converted from Roman Catholicism to Islam at university, appeared on US V show Morning Joe on Monday.

Asked by host Mika Brzezinski what he thought really drove the militant group, he said: “It’s a play for money and power, and these people try to impose their will on people so people will listen to them, and they can be in charge. That’s all it’s about. They’ve taken on a fascist attitude and a fascist approach to everything. You do what we say or you die.”

“You can make parallels to things that have happened here in America. Like the Ku Klux Klan saying they are the Christian knights,” he added. “And they do not practice Christianity.”

Using the First Crusade of 1095 as an example, he said that religion has always been used “as an excuse” to gain status and commit harrowing acts of violence, like beheadings and execution by burning.

“It’s not an excuse, it’s no excuse and oppressing one group means that we have to look out, all groups have to get together to fight that type of oppression, because we all should be free,” he said.

In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt Egyptian Coptics mourn for the 21 men murdered by Isis AP In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt A man is comforted by others as he mourns over Egyptian Coptic Christians who were captured in Libya and killed by militants affiliated with the Islamic State group, outside of the Virgin Mary church in the village of el-Aour, near Minya, 220 kilometers (135 miles) south of Cairo In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt Women mourn over Egyptian Coptic Christians who were captured in Libya and killed by Isis militants In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt A relative of one of the Egyptian Coptic Christians purportedly murdered by Isis reacts after hearing the news in the village of Al-Awar in Egypt's southern province of Minya In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt Relatives of Egyptian Coptic Christians purportedly murdered by Isis militants in Libya react after hearing the news in the village of al-Awar in Egypt's southern province of Minya In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi offers his condolences to some of the Coptic families AFP In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb (R) offers his condolences to Egypt's Coptic Pope Tawadros II at Saint-Mark's Coptic Cathedral in Cairo's al-Abbassiya district In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt A Coptic clergyman shows a picture of a man whom he says is one of the Egyptian Coptic Christians purportedly murdered by Isis militants in Libya, during a memorial ceremony in the village of al-Awar in Egypt's southern province of Minya In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt Relatives of Egyptian Coptic Christians murdered by Isis militants in Libya wlak through the village of Al-Awar in Egypt's southern province of Minya In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt A family relative of abducted Coptic Christian weeps AP In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt Men mourn over Egyptian Coptic Christians who were captured in Libya and killed by militants affiliated with the Islamic State group, inside of the Virgin Mary Church in the village of el-Aour, near Minya, 220 kilometers (135 miles) south of Cairo In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt Men mourn over Egyptian Coptic Christians who were captured in Libya and killed by militants affiliated with the Islamic State group, inside the Virgin Mary Church in the village of el-Aour, near Minya, 220 kilometers (135 miles) south of Cairo In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt Protesters hold placards during a demonstration against the killing of Egyptian Coptic Christians by militants of the Islamic State in Libya, in Cairo In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt Egyptians protest what they characterise as Government inaction in reaction to the kidnapping of Copts in Libya, Cairo EPA In pictures: Coptic Christians mourn victims of Isis beheadings Egypt A Coptic Christian woman prays for the release of 21 Coptic Egyptian men AP

His appearance on the show came after a piece he wrote for Time magazine following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris last month. In it, he condemned the US media’s need to wheel out “Celebrity Muslims” to disassociate the connection between Isis and Islam.