Epithets ranging right from outrage, abhorrent, terrible and repulsive, anti-Muslim frenzy, planned hate crime, to a vile and bigoted act, totally insensitive and disrespectful act toward the holy Qur’ān, deep seated bigotry and extreme ignorance, and unconscionable act of religious intimidation, etc. greeted the now cancelled plan of Terry Jones, the pastor of a small, 50-member church in Gainesville, Florida to burn copies of the Holy Qur’ān as well as the equally coward bid of some hate-mongers to burn, shoot and desecrate the Holy Book at many mosques in the United States and to do Islamophobic acts at other mosques and Islamic centres.
Needless to say, a good book is a source of knowledge. And the more it is written in right earnest, the more it is sanctified. As for the Holy Qur’ān, it has stood such hate juggernauts for over fourteen hundred years only because it is a Divine book that promises change for the better. It lays down guidance for every walk of life, for entire mankind, for all times and climes. A book with such majestic sublimity naturally deserves reverence and sanctity, utmost devotion and unquestioned following. But it is an irony that some small heads like Terry Jones chose to stir the social cauldron with their hate crimes that have earned global condemnation. But we the Muslims know in the heart of hearts that Allah the Exalted is khair al-makireen (the best of planners): He, Who has created man and each and every other being and thing from nothingness, can pave way for the emergence of His Word from such and even worse hate crimes. This is what we have come to know from GainPeace. GainPeace.com, an outreach project of Islamic Circle of North America, ICNA, whose goal is to share the authentic message of Islam with humanity, has claimed that they had “two individuals from the same family taking shahada on September 8. This was the third shahada of the day. They both reside close to the city of Gainsville, Florida, whose pastor is willing to burn the Qur’ān.” They added that Allah works in mysterious ways. “All the publicity around the name ‘Quran’ is actually making more non-Muslims curious about Allah’s book, the Qur’ān.”
On May 10, 1933 the Nazis burned 25,000 books – including those written by Jewish poet Heinrich Heine, who had predicted in 1820 that “where books are burned in the end people will burn,” – and eight years later the Holocaust began. Thus history bears witness to the fact that burning books as a celebratory act entices chaos and anarchy. It is heartening to note that, save and except few stray incidents, Muslims world over exerted restraint at this provocation. However, stringent action against the perpetrators of such hate crimes by the powers-that-be is still awaited.