TEHRAN – A total of 237
Iranian members of parliament on Wednesday issued a statement, condemning the outrageous desecration of the Holy Qur’an in Europe.
The statement, read out at an open session of parliament, said the “unforgivable act” is an organized warfare waged by the hegemonic powers against Muslims.
“Under the false pretexts of advocating freedom of expression, the Western leaders allow extremist and radical elements to move on the path of spreading hatred against religious sanctities and institutionalize Islamophobia in their societies,” the statement said.
The Iranian parliamentarians called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to take necessary measures to counter the organized sacrilege of Islamic sanctities.
Elsewhere in Muslim countries, Egypt’s top religious institution on Wednesday called on Muslims world over to boycott Swedish and Dutch products over the desecration of Islam’s holy book by far-right activists in the two European countries.
The call by Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world’s foremost religious institution, is the latest in a series of condemnations from the Muslim world over the incidents in Sweden and the Netherlands.
On Saturday, anti-Islam Danish activist Rasmus Paludan burned the Qur’an outside the Turkish Embassy in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. On Sunday, Edwin Wagensveld, Dutch leader of the far-right Pegida movement, tore pages out of the Qur’an near the Dutch parliament in The Hague and stomped on them.
Egypt’s Al-Azhar called the desecrations an “offense” to Muslims and said a boycott of both countries would be an appropriate response to governments that protect “‘barbaric crimes under the inhuman and immoral banner they call freedom of expression.”
In Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, hundreds protested on Tuesday and condemned the desecration. Protests also took place in the two main Turkish cities, Istanbul and Ankara.
After the incident in Stockholm, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Sweden not to expect Ankara’s support in its ongoing bid to join NATO’s military alliance.
European countries have long defended the blasphemous acts. Both Paludan and Wagensveld were granted permission by authorities for their egregious moves.