The news in Iraq is grim. Muslims killing and attacking other Muslims.

The terrorist group ISIS have are making their way across Iraq slaughtering Shia’s for no apparent reason, other than to cause carnage and ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani said “It will rage in Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf. So be ready for it.”

Karbala and Najaf are two places in Iraq which are of great significance and importance to not only Shia Muslims but Sunni Muslims too and it has been heartening to see the response of the ordinary Iraqi civilian who would gladly defend their country at any cost.

And what is ISIS exactly and who funds them? They are extremists, who claim to be Sunni but their ideology is more Wahhabi than Sunni. And as for who funds them, it has been suggested that Saudi Arabia may be involves, but this is something that they vehemently deny..

And what is the motive? Surely they realise that Shia’s and Sunni’s will never allow them to attack our holy sites?

Well, maybe the threats to Karbala and Najaf are a distraction, something to divert the attention from their real goals. Earlier today ISIS have attacked Iraq's largest oil refinery in the city of Baiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad.

The refinery accounts for more than a quarter of the country's entire refining capacity. Any damage to this will result in Iraq’s economy being damaged and putting pressure on the Shia government of Nouri al-Maliki.

The worst thing that can happen is for ISIS to gain control of Iraq, and their terrorist ideology must be defeated at all costs.

But some may say, how does what is happening in Iraq affect us here in the UK? Well it affects us a great deal.

In Parliament Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs that it was wrong to think the crisis in Iraq was "nothing to do" with the UK. "The people in that regime, as well as trying to take territory, are also planning to attack us here at home in the United Kingdom."

"So the right answer is to be long-term, hard-headed, patient and intelligent with the interventions that we make and the most important intervention of all is to make sure that these governments are fully representative of the people who live in their countries, that they close down the ungoverned space and they remove the support for the extremists."

This means we all, as Muslims have a responsibility to make sure we are looking after our youth, so that they are not influenced or brain washed by those who want them to go abroad and spread terrorism, in the name of Islam (some of the things written on social media trying to recruit impressionable young people is shocking).

Both Shia and Sunni must be united on this issue; we will not tolerate any hatred or violence. We know the levels of Islamphobia are high, let us not give any ammunition to those who want to demonise us.