STOCKHOLM (IQNA) – A Sweden-based Muslim scholar says the repeated acts of Quran desecration in the Nordic country are putting the image of Sweden in danger.
Sheikh Yusuf Qarut, a representative of Lebanon’s Supreme Islamic Shia Council in Sweden, made the remarks in a pre-recorded video message for a webinar titled “Looking at Quran Desecration from International Human Rights Viewpoint”, organized and aired by IQNA on Sunday.
“The image of Sweden as an advanced country that was a role model for humanity and coexistence between different groups is in danger,” said the scholar.
He noted that the recent incidents are threatening “internal peace and harmony” in Sweden as well as its foreign relations.
The remarks come as a Sweden-based Iraqi refugee has desecrated the Holy Quran on multiple occasions in the past two months after Swedish authorities permitted the events to happen under the guise of freedom of speech.
The blasphemous acts have been widely condemned by Muslim and non-Muslim states from across the world and Stockholm has been urged to review its laws and prevent further provocative acts.
“Freedom of speech and freedom of thought are some of the best and most advanced human concepts, but these people take advantage of the gray area in this interpretation, this law, and this ruling, and that's why we keep telling them that we don't want to change the law, but at least to clarify it so that it doesn't become a tool for shady stuff,” Qarut said.
According to the expert, it is the Swedish people who pay the price for these extremist actions.
“Our Muslim history is full of times when tyrannical rulers tried to snuff out God's light with their words, but it is God Almighty who sent down this Holy Quran and He is the one who watches over it,” he noted, referring to verse 9 of Surah al-Hejr which reads, “We have revealed the Quran and We are its Protectors.”
“We know what these events are aiming for. We come from a land where we have experienced these events and we won't fall for what these ignorant, crazy, and spiteful extremists want. They don't care about anything but reaching their aims, even if it leads to chaos and disaster and setting the country on fire.”
The scholar noted that efforts will continue to sue the perpetrators of the desecration.
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