It criticised the unprecedented "scale and tenor of the political response" to the Charlie Hebdo "incident", saying the outpouring was encouraged by the political class and this "reinforces Europe's desire to intensify its constant pressure on Muslims".

"People are killed every day around the world in numbers and in circumstances that should put the events in France in perspective," it said.

It served only to "devalue the countless more lives lost every other day", it said.

Asked to clarify whether it condemned the massacre or believed it was a justified response to the insulting of Allah and Muslims, Hamzah Qureshi, from the organisation's media office, said: "To reduce the issue to a simple dichotomy of either support or condemnation is superficial and unproductive. What is imperative to consider is the broader political context that has led to and follows the incident, which is the crux of the statement."

Keysar Trad, founder of the Islamic Friendship Association, rejected the statement and said the Charlie Hebdo massacre was "an attack on Islamic values".