MECCA: The head of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s most prestigious seat of learning, called Sunday for education reform in Muslim countries in an effort to contain the spread of religious extremism.

Speaking at counterterrorism forum in the Saudi holy city of Mecca, Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmad al-Tayib linked extremism to “bad interpretations of the Quran and the Sunna,” the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad.

“There has been a historical accumulation of excessive trends” that have led some people to embrace a misguided form of Islam, he told the gathering. “The only hope for the Muslim nation to recover unity is to tackle in our schools and universities this tendency to accuse Muslims of being unbelievers.” 

Tayib’s comments come days after he expressed outrage at ISIS for burning to death a captured Jordanian pilot who took part in U.S.-led airstrikes against the jihadis in Syria.

On Feb, 4, after ISIS released a video showing Lt. Moaz al-Kassasbeh dying in a cage engulfed in flames, Tayib said the jihadis deserved to be killed or crucified.

In Mecca, home to one of Islam’s holiest sites, he made no mention of ISIS but denounced “terrorist groups ... who have opted for savage and barbaric practices.”

The top Sunni preacher blamed unrest in the region on a conspiracy by what he called “new global colonialism allied to world Zionism.”

Tayib said this plot has exploited “confessional tension” in conflict-hit Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya.

The opening day of the conference also heard a speech from Saudi King Salman, who called for “an efficient strategy to combat terrorism.”

“Terrorism is a scourge which is the product of extremist ideology,” said the monarch’s speech, read by the governor of Mecca.

“It is a threat to our Muslim nation and to the entire world.”

The three-day conference, organized by the Muslim World League group of non-government organizations, is being attended by senior religious figures from across the Muslim world to discuss how Islam can combat extremism.