Respecting People’s Religious Opinions and Beliefs is ‘a Duty, Not an Option’ Clarion Calls Continue to Mount for Boycott of Dutch and Swedish Products
Condemnations continued to pour in from across the world over the burning of a copy of the Qur’ān by Rasmus Paludan, a Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist and leader of Danish political party StramKurs (Hard Line), outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, on January 21,and desecration of the Holy Bookby Edwin Wagensveld, a far-right Dutch politician, and leader of the Islamophobic group Pegida in The Hague, the capital of the Netherlands on January 22. Both Paludan and Wagensveld were granted permission by authorities and police protection for their protests.
After the incident, protests raged across Stockholm and Istanbul, and spread across the world. Earlier, in 2022,Paludanhad held a ‘Qur’ān-burning’ tour during the holy month of Ramadan.
Two days after the Qur’ān burning incident in Sweden, Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the Swedes that they should not expect his country to support their bid for NATO membership as long as they do not respect Islamic beliefs. Erdogan made his comment after a cabinet meeting in Ankara on January 23.
“Those who caused such a disgrace in front of our embassy should not expect any benevolence from us on their NATO membership applications,” insisted Erdogan. “The heinous action in Sweden is an insult to everyone who respects the fundamental rights and freedoms of people, especially Muslims.”
“The Holy Qur’ān, which our Lord preserves, will never be harmed if a copy of it is burned by one of the remnants of the Crusaders.”
In response to Sweden’s permission of the incident, Ankara cancelled Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson’s upcoming visit to Türkiye.
A group representing a prominent Christian denomination in Türkiye on January 25 also condemned the burning of a copy of the Qur’ān. “I consider the burning of the Qur’ān in Sweden an act to provoke and humiliate the Muslim world. We do not approve of this act, we condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” Pastor ErtanCevik, head of the Protestant Baptist Churches Association of Türkiye, told reporters in the western Izmir province.
As many as 41 Kuwaiti lawmakers, in a joint statement on January 24, condemned this burning incident. They said these practices provoke the feelings of Muslims around the world. They also condemned the Swedish government for granting permission to carry out the act and appealed to all parliamentarians in the world to boycott the Swedish government and all governments that do not respect Muslims’ sacred values, stressing that these practices “do not undermine the sanctity of the Qur’ān in the heart of every civilised person”.
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister, Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, warned that such acts “would inflame the feelings of Muslims around the world, and constitute a dangerous provocation for them.”
Saudi Arabia condemned the Swedish authorities for allowing the far-right politician to burn the Qur’ān. In a statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry affirmed “the kingdom’s firm position calling for the importance of spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance and coexistence, and rejecting hatred and extremism.”
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry decried the Qur’ān burning as a “disgraceful act.” A ministry statement warned that this “disgraceful act provokes the feelings of hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world.”
Qatar also denounced in the strongest terms Sweden’s permission to burn the Qur’ān. “This heinous incident is an act of incitement and a serious provocation to the feelings of more than two billion Muslims in the world,” the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The UAE also condemned the incident and reiterated “its rejection of all practices aimed at destabilising security and stability in contravention of human and moral values and principles.”
Oman termed the Qur’ān burning as an “act of provocation to the feelings of Muslims and incitement to violence and hatred, by extremists in Sweden.”
Iran termed the Qur’ān burning as an attempt to stoke hatred and violence against Muslims. Tehran said some European countries under the false pretext of advocating freedom of speech “allow extremist and radical elements to spread hatred against Islamic sanctities and values.”
Jordan joined the chorus of condemnations, stressing “the kingdom’s rejection of this act that fuels hatred.” Amman underlined the necessity to spread the culture of peace and acceptance of the other, adding that “condemning extremism is a collective responsibility.”
In a protest organised by Jordon’s Islamic Action Front, the protesters set fire to the Swedish flag and images of the extremist, Rasmus Paludan, and insisted that attacking items held sacred by others is not “freedom of expression” as has been claimed.
The Speaker of the Jordanian parliament, Ahmed Safadi, called the Qur’ān burning an “extremist act”.
Morocco said it was “shocked” by the Swedish permission of the burning of Islam’s holy book. “This hateful act, which offends the sensibilities of more than a billion Muslims, can fuel anger and hatred between religions and peoples,” the Moroccan Foreign Ministry warned in a statement.
Malaysia has strongly condemned Danish leader’s provocative act in Sweden. Opposition MPs are also in solidarity with the government to strongly condemn the burning of the Qur’ān. The Opposition chief Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said in a statement on January 23, “It is important for Putrajaya to call the Swedish Ambassador to Malaysia to voice Malaysia’s objection, disappointment and regret officially in addition to demand immediate action against the perpetrators to ensure that similar incidents will not be allowed to happen in the future.”
Iraq was also among the other countries which strongly condemned the incident in Sweden, and Indonesia summoned Sweden’s envoy on January 24 over the incident.
Pakistan termed the incident as a “senseless and provocative Islamophobic act that hurts the religious sensitivities of over 1.5 billion Muslims around the world.”
Such actions are “not covered under any legitimate expression of the right to freedom of expression or opinion, which carries responsibilities under international human rights law, such as the obligation not to carry out hate speech and incite people to violence,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In a statement, Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry condemned the “act of insulting the sacred values of the Muslims all over the world in the guise of ‘freedom of expression’.”
The Foreign Ministry of the interim Taliban government in Afghanistan also “strongly” condemned the burning and desecration of the Qur’ān and urged the Swedish government to punish the perpetrators of this act.In a statement, the ministry also urged Stockholm not to allow such people to take provocative actions against the Islamic religion and Muslims in the future.Hundreds of Afghan men staged a protest in the eastern city of Khost on January 24 to express anger at the desecration of the Qur’ān in the Swedish capital.Video footage showed protesters, many holding copies of the Qur’ān, burning the Swedish flag and chanting against Paludan.
Somalia’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the Swedish authorities for allowing an extremist to burn a copy of the Qur’ān. “Allowing this hateful act that insults Islamic sanctities and values is completely unacceptable,” the Ministry said in a statement issued on January 23.
The African Union chair on January 22 added his voice in condemnation of the burning of a copy of the Qur’ān. “I strongly condemn the heinous act of the Swedish right-wing extremist Rasmus Paludan who burned a copy of the Holy Qur’ān,” MackySall, who is also the Senegalese president, said on Twitter.
“Islamophobia and hatred of Muslims are abominable and must be fought without concession,” Sall added.
The head of the Association of Algerian Muslim Ulama, Abdul-Razzaq Qassoum, has criticised those who only condemn manifestations of Islamophobia and attacks on religious sanctities, such as the burning of copies of the Holy Qur’ān in Sweden and the Netherlands under the pretext of “freedom of expression”.
Qassoum said that being content with condemnations is the “weapon of the weak”. He stressed that a political, economic and cultural boycott of the states which allow attacks on Islamic sanctities must be implemented.
“What is required of Muslims now, both the rulers and the people, is to sever relations, cancel agreements, boycott goods, and so on,” he added.
A Lebanese scholar has called on Arab and Islamic countries to withdraw their ambassadors from Sweden amid anger over the desecration of the Qur’ān. Sheikh Hassan Merheb, Assistant Inspector General of Dar Al-Fatwa in Lebanon, termed reactions to the desecration of the Qur’ān as “non-serious”. “The Arab and Islamic countries were supposed to take measures to preserve our dignity and sanctities, criminalise assault on them, and withdraw their ambassadors from Sweden and the Netherlands,” he said.
Merheb pointed out that complacency in dealing with such insulting behaviour “has caused it to be repeated.”
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also condemned the Qur’ān burning as a provocative action that “targets Muslims, insults their sacred values, and serves as a further example of the alarming level reached by Islamophobia” and asked Sweden to punish those behind a “hate crime.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on January 24 called on the Swedish government to condemn the recent burning of the Muslim holy book, the Qur’ān, outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.
“Prime Minister (Ulf) Kristersson’s statement does not clearly convey that the government of Sweden unequivocally rejects Islamophobia as a form of hate and bigotry,” CAIR said in a letter sent to the Swedish Ambassador to the US, Karin Olofsdotter.
“While the High Representative stresses the importance of upholding the freedom of expression as a fundamental human right, he also emphasises that the act of Qur’ān-burning amounts to an expression of hatred towards Muslims,” high representative for the UNAOC Miguel Angel Moratinos’ spokesperson said in a statement.
“It is disrespectful and insulting to the adherents of Islam and should not be conflated with freedom of expression”, the statement added.
Moratinos stressed mutual respect among the nations and promoting “inclusive and peaceful societies rooted in human rights and dignity for all”.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, criticised, on January 24, the NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg’s comments on burning a copy of the Qur’ān by Paludan. Zakharova said in a post on Telegram that respecting people’s religious opinions and beliefs is “a duty, not an option”, pointing out that her statements are critical of Stoltenberg who considered the act merely “indecent and illegal”.
The Russian spokeswoman cited several international treaties that oblige the signatory countries to address acts of intolerance and discrimination.
“These treaties expressly state that the right to freedom of expression does not mean the right to make critical statements, or even to disparage any religion or religious practice,” she said, stressing that the West is “simply obligated to respect the right of hundreds of millions of people to their sacred beliefs”.
Boycott Dutch,Swedish Products
Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning, on January 25 called for a boycott of Dutch and Swedish products amid anger over the desecration of the Qur’ān. In a statement, Al-Azhar called on the Arab and Muslim peoples “to boycott all Dutch and Swedish products and to take a strong and unified stance in support of our Noble Qur’ān, the sacred scripture of the Muslims, and as a proper reaction to the governments of these two countries, who have offended 1.5 billion Muslims.”
“They have gone to excess in guarding the mean and barbaric crimes perpetrated under the specious inhumane and immoral banner or their so-called ‘freedom of expression’,” it added.
The Sunni religious institution called on all Arabs and Muslims “to adhere to the boycott, and to educate children, youth and women about it.”
“These deviants will never appreciate the value of the religion – about which they know nothing – or be deterred unless they face the challenging material, monetary and economic necessities. That is the only language they know,” the statement said.
On January 23, cooperative societies in Kuwait also announced a boycott of Swedish products in protest of the provocative act.
Mauritanian scholar Mohamed El-Hassan Ould-Dedew too said that Sweden and Swedish goods must be boycotted. Al-Dedew said that all Islamic countries should cut off relations with the government of Sweden until it apologises officially for allowing the protest by Danish far-right extremist Rasmus Paludan to go ahead.
“The Swedish government’s expression of sympathy with Muslims is not enough because the reality belies it,” said the scholar. “Muslims must boycott all Swedish products until they apologise.”
Sheikh Al-Dedew called on the media to raise awareness of the harm caused by this violation. Imams in the mosques and the Islamic media must do their share in this respect.