Demonstrations have been held in several Muslim countries in recent weeks in response to the repeated desecration and burning of the Quran in Sweden and Denmark.
Muslim nations have been swift to respond with Saudi Arabia summoning the Danish charge d’affaires over the issue.
Iran also summoned the Swedish ambassador to Tehran while Iraq expelled Sweden’s top diplomat.
In Baghdad, hundreds of people tried to storm the Green Zone, a heavily fortified area with a number of foreign embassies and the seat of Iraq’s government.
Why are Muslims against the burning of the Quran?
The Quran is the holy book of Islam and its most sacred text. It is not merely a book but is considered the literal word of God, and Muslims treat it with utmost respect and reverence.
Muslims believe the Quran’s text has been preserved in its original form since the time of its revelation about 1,400 years ago. As such, Muslims see the burning of the Quran as a desecration of sacred scripture and an unacceptable act.
“This [burning of the Quran] is a humiliation of the faith and beliefs of Muslims, but what is more unfortunate is that this insult to the sanctities of a great population is happening under the guise of protecting freedoms,” Abbas Salimi Namin, a Tehran-based scholar, told Al Jazeera.
Islamic reverence
Muslims revere the Prophet Muhammad as the last and final messenger of God. Insulting or depicting him in disrespectful ways is considered a grave offence by Muslims.
Mosques are places of worship, and as such, they are regarded as sacred spaces. Any form of vandalism, desecration or disrespect towards mosques is deeply offensive to Muslims, much as it is for most other faiths and their holy figures or places of worship.
Hate crime?
Muslims make up a small minority of the populations in West European countries, and the majority are from non-white backgrounds. Some Muslims believe that the targeting of Islamic holy symbols for desecration is evidence of a wider climate of hatred towards Muslims and is encouraged by the European far-right.
This is coupled with far-right calls for an end to immigration from Muslim countries and even the expulsion of Muslim citizens as part of a conspiracy theory that Muslims will “replace” the “native” population of Europe.
While one of the main figures behind the recent spate of Quran burnings is an Iraqi Christian living in Sweden, many believe there is an effort from the far right to create communal tensions in Europe between non-Muslims and Muslims.
How did Muslim nations react to the burning of the Quran?
Muslim nations, including Iran and Pakistan, said the desecration of the Quran amounts to an incitement of violence and have called for accountability. Thousands took to the streets in several countries to condemn the burnings.
“It seems to me that by protesting against the Quran burning, Muslims are actually redefining what is love as well as reason,” Irfan Ahmad, a professor of anthropology at Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul, told Al Jazeera, “because as we know, the Quran burning is – unlike its depiction by the Western press – it is not a freedom of expression question, but it is an act of utter hatred and unreason.”
In July, a motion was filed at the United Nations human rights body in response to a Quran burning in Sweden. The motion called on countries to review their laws and plug gaps that may “impede the prevention and prosecution of acts and advocacy of religious hatred”.
Some self-serving nonsense from religious leaders about how everyone else should honor and respect their beliefs.
Bunch of snowflakes who would happily burn non-believers at the stake, but are horrified if you burn a book.
What surprises me most of all about the whole thing is peoples inability to respect the fact that other countries are not subject to their laws.
I mean, our politicians and ngo’s do put political pressure on other countries politicians to e.g. respect human rights, not execute gay people, etc. but we don’t go storming embassies or expelling diplomats over it, because they are operating within their own countries laws, not ours.
But this goes even further: This is like if some guy in Iraq, or Iran or Pakistan were to break some law that only exists in our country (say a guy marries a 13 year old), and the government in his country condemns the action, but explains that it is legal in their country to do that, and we STILL storm their embassy and expel their diplomats.
Can’t they see that the majority of the population here, and the government, agree with them that burning Qurans is a mean thing to do, and that we don’t agree with the message being sent? They should be angry at the people burning Qurans, not the entire country…
Can’t they see that the majority of the population here, and the government, agree with them that burning Qurans is a mean thing to do, and that we don’t agree with the message being sent? They should be angry at the people burning Qurans, not the entire country…
No, I think the people who protest individuals burning the Quran are religious fundamentalists who may in fact live in countries where religion is built into the law. They are mad at the people burning the Quran. They are also mad at the governments of Sweden and Denmark for not publicly executing the people burning the Quran. They are also mad at the people who live in Sweden and Denmark for not overthrowing their democratic governments and forming islamist theocracies that will then execute people who burn the Quran.
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What surprises me most of all about the whole thing is peoples inability to respect the fact that other countries are not subject to their laws.
Islamists don’t respect international laws, national borders, or personal freedoms. They thankfully do not represent most muslims.
I think this is a case of some christian extremists angering some muslim extremists and the rest of us being stuck in the middle. We are trying to argue in good faith for our freedoms, while right wing extremists of varying religions try to pit us against each other in order to take those freedoms away and establish their respective theocracies.
I’m against the banning and burning of books and I’m against the banning of burning books. We need to instill the value of our freedoms in each generation, even when we disagree with what an individual expresses with those freedoms. Because religious fundamentalists have nothing better to do than teach future generations that their religion and only their religion, be it Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, or some other religion, is the only good thing worth living for. Once a person thinks their religion is the source of all that is good it becomes trivial for them to decry exercising a freedom as ‘an act of utter hatred and unreason’.
It’s exactly the same with China. One NBA player tweets ‘Free Hong Kong’ and NBA gets banned in China.
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I would gladly light the fire. I have no problem with burning any of the so called “Sacred” text. It is no different than burning a Dr Suess book.
I would be more offended at someone burning a Dr Suess book.
I might get downvoted for saying this but the whole demonstration forburning of Quran is wrong( and I say this as a Muslim)
See the only way to, respectfully, get rid of Quran is to either burn it or put it in a large body of moving water ie river or sea
So the guy doing the burning was actually being a bit respectful in the whole
everybody who likes the quoran give me an upvote /s
“On 12 March 2022, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia carried out the mass execution of 81 men, including 7 Yemenis, 1 Syrian and 37 Saudi nationals on terrorism related charges and for holding deviant beliefs. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights understood that 41 were minority Shia Muslims who had participated in anti-government demonstrations calling for greater political participation in 2011–2012”. -
But sure, let’s all get offended about a fucking book.
I would like to list some important points here:
The murderer(s) in this case was the government, not Islam in general. But in majority muslim countries, it’s impossible to separate government and Islam.
In a majority Shia country, the same thing happens. Or worse… 250 last year in Iran
I’m trying hard to argue for the neutral position but it’s kinda difficult with Islam.
Institutionalised religion just needs to be eradicated. No religious/idealistic people in power please.
Why even try to argue it’s not religion when in your first 2 examples you admit the government is a theocracy anyway?
This whole Quran burning thing is getting a bit silly.
It was funny the first time but it’s actually just lame now.
Making a big international incident about it is just feeding the people doing it. Making international headlines is about the best outcome for a cause like that to achieve.
The book is a mere symbol to represent the protest against Islamic dogma
