The burning of a Quran outside a mosque in Sweden on one of Islam’s holiest days, Eid al-Adha, triggered outrage across many Muslim countries last week and attracted widespread criticism of the Swedish authorities.
Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern countries denounced Thursday’s Quran burning by an Iraqi living in Sweden, warning that such acts “inflame” the feelings of Muslims worldwide.
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt were among many Muslim-majority countries to condemn the burning of the Quran by a man in Sweden during the festival of Eid-al-Adha on Wednesday.
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) June 30, 2023
Morocco recalled its ambassador to Sweden following the incidenthttps://t.co/1QuncV16WW
The Quran Burning
Salman Momika, an Iraqi immigrant, intentionally burnt pages from the holy Islamic text, the Quran, in a protest outside a mosque in Stockholm.
The police in Sweden had granted permission for the protest after a Swedish court determined that prohibiting it would violate the right to freedom of speech. The Swedish police asserted that they issued a permit for the protest stating that Momika intended to convey his feelings about the Quran.
However, the permit mentioned that protestors were not permitted to burn objects in Stockholm. The police then confirmed that they initiated an investigation on the basis of an “agitation against an ethnic group,” as Momika burned the Quran close to a mosque.
The incident occurred as Muslims worldwide celebrated Eid al-Adha, and the annual hajj visit to Mecca in Saudi Arabia was drawing to a close.
While acknowledging that the police had the authority to examine whether the burning was a hate crime, Momika denied any desire to stir hatred or to target a specific group. He emphasised that he belonged to the same group and believed the court would finally decide the case’s fate.
Momika even openly declared his intention to burn another Quran within ten days, further intensifying the situation.
Iraqi protesters march towards the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad and Iranian protestors gather outside the Swedish Embassy in Tehran to protest against the burning of Quran by a resident in Sweden on Eid. pic.twitter.com/92O8kC9wNv
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) June 30, 2023
Protests in Iran, Iraq
On Thursday, protesters with placards gathered to condemn the incident in countries including Iraq and Iran. Protesters in Iraq carried photos of populist Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. They also chanted slogans such as “yes, yes to the Quran” outside the Swedish embassies in Tehran and Baghdad.
Protesters in Iraq stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad. A crowd of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr supporters stayed inside the complex for around 15 minutes and left as the security personnel arrived.
In addition, protesters demanded the expulsion of Sweden’s ambassador to Iraq. They also called for Iraq to cut off relations with Sweden, stating they will continue to burn the LGBT flag until the eighth day of the lunar month of Muharram as an outrage over this issue.
During a conversation with the reporters present, one of the protestors stated, “The ambassador should go, and... the embassy should not stay in Iraq at all.”
Muslim Nations Express Displeasure
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry slammed Sweden’s decision to allow an “extremist” to burn the Quran, saying such acts “inflame the feelings of Muslims around the world and represent a dangerous provocation.”
Iran also condemned the Quran burning, calling it “provocative, ill-considered, and unacceptable.” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian called the burning of the Quran an “insult” against “religious sanctities.” “Calling these behaviours freedom and democracy only encourage terrorism and extremism,” he tweeted.
Saudi Arabia, which welcomed over 1.8 million Muslim pilgrims for the Hajj that concluded last week, also condemned the burning of the Quran. “These hateful and repeated acts cannot be accepted with any justification,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry remarked.
Egypt denounced the burning of the Quran as a “disgraceful act provoking the feelings of Muslims.” The Arab League, based in Cairo, called it as an “assault on the core of our Islamic faith.”
The foreign ministry of the UAE claimed it summoned Sweden’s ambassador and “stressed that Sweden disregarded its international responsibilities and demonstrated a lack of respect for social values.”
Kuwait stated that perpetrators of “hostile acts” must be punished and “prevented from using the principle of freedoms as a ploy to justify hostility against Islam or any holy faith.”
The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council and Morocco, which recalled its ambassador to Stockholm, decried the Quran burning.
Syria’s government criticised the “disgraceful act” committed on one of Islam’s holiest days “by an extremist with the permission and consent of the Swedish government.” The Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in neighbouring Lebanon claimed that Swedish authorities were “complicit in the crime.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also slammed Sweden for permitting protests, casting more doubt on the Nordic country’s chances of joining NATO soon.
Secretary-General calls on extraordinary meeting of the #OIC Executive Committee to take collective measures to prevent the recurrence of incidents of desecration of copies of the Holy Qur’an and insult against Prophet Muhammad. Read More: https://t.co/sVYBtjFzwH pic.twitter.com/KAnZgThwNs
— OIC (@OIC_OCI) July 2, 2023
OIC Convenes Emergency Meeting
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) requested member states to “take unified and collective measures to prevent the recurrence of incidents of desecration of copies of the Quran.” The statement was released on Sunday during an emergency meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, following the incident in Sweden.
OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha stated, “We must send constant reminders to the international community regarding the urgent application of international law, which clearly prohibits any advocacy of religious hatred.”
US Condemns Quran Burning
The US State Department condemned the incident but said granting permission for the protest promotes freedom of expression.
At a press briefing, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that while the US is “deeply concerned by the act,” it supports freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly as essential elements of democracy.
Sweden’s Response
Sweden’s government has denounced the burning of a Quran outside Stockholm’s main mosque, calling it an “Islamophobic” act.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry stated, “The burning of the Quran, or any other holy text, is an offensive and disrespectful act and a clear provocation. Expressions of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance have no place in Sweden or in Europe.”
Nonetheless, the ministry pointed out that Sweden had a “constitutionally protected right to freedom of assembly, expression, and demonstration.”
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said it had received an apology letter from the Swedish government expressing “deep regret” for burning a Quran in Stockholm, which provoked outrage across the Muslim world.
According to the ministry, the letter, which was sent from the Swedish Foreign Ministry to member states of the OIC, stated that the Swedish government strongly condemns such anti-Islamic acts and does not support or condone the anti-Islamic views expressed by the man who burned the holy book.
"We strongly condemn these acts, which in no way reflect the views of the Swedish government."
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 2, 2023
Sweden’s gov't has condemned the burning of a Quran outside Stockholm’s main mosque, calling it an "Islamophobic" act https://t.co/lZ2aXbZxAQ pic.twitter.com/mpN2I0jICp
Similar Instances in Past
Rasmus Paludan, a Danish far-right activist, triggered outrage in January by burning a Quran in front of the Turkish embassy with permission from Swedish authorities. The protest resulted in a diplomatic dispute between Turkey and Sweden, with the former hindering the Nordic country’s NATO accession.
Paludan, who holds both Danish and Swedish citizenship, had already enraged the Turkish authorities by conducting a Quran-burning protest in Sweden. In the same month, a week later, Pauldan pulled a similar stunt by burning copies of the Quran at a Copenhagen mosque and outside the Turkish embassy in Denmark.
However, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Danish media that the event would not affect Denmark’s “good relationship” with Turkey and that Copenhagen planned to talk to Ankara about Denmark’s laws safeguarding freedoms.