[Swedish police allowed Salwan Momika, an Iraqi residing in Sweden, to tear up and burn a copy of the Qur'an during an unprovoked demonstration outside a mosque in Stockholm on June 28, 2023, as Muslims worldwide celebrated Eid Al-Adha. (Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP)]
Jeddah: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called an urgent meeting at its headquarters in Jeddah Sunday in the wake of global outrage against frequent cases of desecration of Holy Quran reported from Sweden and other Western countries.
Holy Quran is Kalām Allāh – Word of The Almighty of Allah, revealed to the last Prophet Mohammad more than 1440 years ago.
Holy Quran remains in its original and authentic form, word by word, ever since then.
In contrast to Holy Quran, other Holy Scriptures like The Bible and Torah have been changed and modified by the priests and have lost their originality.
Quran, Allah Himself says, will remain in its true and original form till Qiyamah - the Day of Judgement.
Haters and extremists fail to digest this fact and hence they indulge in desecration of Quran to satisfy their hate against Islam and Muslims.
In the last few years, cases of desecration of Holy Quran has surged, especially in Western and European countries.
The latest being the once that occurred in Sweden on the first day of Eid al Adha. The culprit was Salwan Momika, 37, a refugee from Iraq, who desecrated Holy Qur’an and set fire to its pages in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque on Wednesday.
The outrageous act was received with widespread outrage and condemnation in the Muslim and Arab world. Muslims around the world were in anger as the desecration of Holy Quran was done with the permission of the Swedish authorities.
In the wake of the shameless act, some Arab states had called Swedish envy to express their anger. Taking note of the situation the OIC called the meeting of its executive committee in Jeddah Sunday.
According to OIC spokesman, the executive committee of the OIC will meet in the Saudi city of Jeddah to “discuss the measures to be taken against this heinous act and adopt a collective position on the necessary course of action.”
Responding to the Stockholm incident, several Muslim-majority countries have expressed their concerns and condemned the act as a deliberate provocation and an attack on their religion.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement strongly condemning the burning, emphasizing that such actions incite hatred, exclusion, and racism, contradicting efforts to promote tolerance, moderation, and the rejection of extremism.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s strong condemnation and denunciation of the burning of a copy of the Holy Qur’an by an extremist at Stockholm Central Mosque in Sweden following Eid Al-Adha prayer,” the ministry said. “These hateful and repeated acts cannot be accepted with any justification, and they clearly incite hatred, exclusion, and racism, and directly contradict international efforts seeking to spread the values of tolerance, moderation, and rejection of extremism, and undermine the necessary mutual respect for relations between peoples and states.”
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s strong condemnation and denunciation of the burning of a copy of the Holy Qur’an by an extremist at Stockholm Central Mosque in Sweden following Eid Al-Adha prayer,” the ministry said.
“These hateful and repeated acts cannot be accepted with any justification, and they clearly incite hatred, exclusion, and racism, and directly contradict international efforts seeking to spread the values of tolerance, moderation, and rejection of extremism, and undermine the necessary mutual respect for relations between peoples and states.”
Morocco, for its part, summoned Sweden’s ambassador to Rabat and recalled its own ambassador, while Jordan expressed displeasure to Sweden’s envoy, describing the burning as an act of hatred and racism.
The UAE also summoned Sweden’s ambassador and expressed strong displeasure over the country allowing Momika’s action. In a statement, Dr. Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said:
“The blatant and repeated attacks on our Islamic faith under the pretext of freedom of opinion perpetuate hatred and rivalry.”
On Thursday, a crowd of Iraqi protesters, led by the Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, broke into Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad, but vacated it after 15 minutes when security forces arrived at the scene.
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry condemned Sweden’s decision to grant an “extremist” permission to burn a copy of the Qur’an, saying such acts “inflame the feelings of Muslims around the world and represent a dangerous provocation.”
The ministry said it had summoned the Swedish ambassador to Baghdad to inform her of the country’s “strong protest” over the authorization decision.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, criticized Sweden for allowing such a protest, which may have further weakened the Nordic nation’s chances of joining NATO — a move that has long been vetoed by NATO-member Turkiye.
“We will eventually teach the arrogant Westerners that insulting Muslims is not freedom of thought,” Erdogan said in televised remarks. “We will show our reaction in the strongest possible terms, until a determined victory against terrorist organizations and Islamophobia is achieved.”
“We will eventually teach the arrogant Westerners that insulting Muslims is not freedom of thought,” Erdogan said in televised remarks.
“We will show our reaction in the strongest possible terms, until a determined victory against terrorist organizations and Islamophobia is achieved.”
Political commentators have warned that the act of burning a copy of the Qur’an not only stokes existing tensions between Muslim and non-Muslim communities within Sweden, but also plays into the hands of extremist elements who exploit such incidents to fuel hatred and further polarize societies.
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