Quran burning in Sweden triggers worldwide condemnation

The desecration of the Quran has been strongly condemned by several countries around the world with Morocco recalling its ambassador to Sweden.

Images of a man tearing up and burning a copy of the Quran outside a mosque in Sweden’s capital Stockholm have sparked outrage globally.

The man, identified as Salwan Momika, 37, burned a copy of the Muslim holy book under police protection in front of the Stockholm Mosque on Wednesday, the first day of Eid al Adha holiday in most of Muslim countries.

Foreign Minister of Türkiye Hakan Fidan described the burning as ‘a vile action’.

In its response, the UAE has summoned the Swedish ambassador on Thursday to protest the incident, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The US said the desecration of the Quran was “disrespectful’’. “We’ve said consistently that the burning of religious texts is disrespectful and hurtful, and what might be legal is certainly not necessarily appropriate,” State Department Deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also condemned the desecration of the Quran. “In our country, this is a crime both according to the Constitution and the penal code,” he said.

“The Quran is sacred for Muslims and should be sacred for others,” he added.

Islamophobia

Hours after the incident, Morocco recalled its ambassador to Sweden and summoned Sweden’s top diplomat in Rabat to convey the kingdom’s condemnation, the country’s state news agency reported.

Many other Arab countries condemned the burning of the Quran. The Saudi Foreign Ministry slammed the incident, saying “these hateful and repeated acts cannot be accepted with any justification, and they clearly incite hatred, exclusion and racism.”

For its part, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said “burning the Holy Quran is an act of dangerous hate, and a manifestation of Islamophobia that incites violence and insulting religions, and it cannot be considered a form of freedom of expression at all.”

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said “the attack on the Holy Quran by a hateful extremist is an expression of hatred and racism and a flagrant attack on the values of tolerance, acceptance of the other, democracy, and peaceful coexistence among followers of all religions.”

Official backing

On its part Iraq said “these acts demonstrate a hateful and aggressive spirit that goes against the principles of freedom of expression.” The Iraqi foreign ministry called the incident “racist” and “irresponsible”.

The International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) also described the act as “racism and savagery backed by (Swedish) official bodies.”

“This is racism, not freedom, and this individual savagery backed by the official bodies must not be passed over in silence,” the IUMS said in a statement.

In January, a Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist burned a copy of the Quran near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, also triggering outrage in the Muslim world.