Lebanese Scholar Stresses Criminalizing Desecration of Sanctities in West
In an interview with IQNA, Sheikh Ahmed al-Qattan, head of the "Qawluna wal Amal" (Our Word and Deed) Association in Lebanon, condemned recent cases of desecration of the Quran in Europe as crimes committed by atheists with the support of governments that are in the axis of global arrogance.
He said such moves as insulting the Quran, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and Muslims’ sanctities and religious authority signifies their enmity with Islam and the Muslim Ummah.
The cleric said that following the Seerah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is the way to counter such attempts by the enemies Islam.
He added that it is incumbent upon the Muslim Ummah to make efforts to prevent sacrilegious acts targeting their sanctities.
All Muslims should rise up against the front of global arrogance, Sheikh al-Qattan reiterated.
He hailed the statements released by Muslim countries’ governments in condemnation of the acts of desecration but said a more serious approach should be adopted in countering the global arrogance so that they would not get bolder in their attacks on Islamic sanctities.
The scholar also said European parliaments, including that of Sweden, should criminalize desecration of sanctities of all religions just as they consider denial of the Holocaust to be a crime.
All divine religions order their followers to respect others and their values and that is why Muslims and followers of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) should do, he further stressed.
On Monday, Dutch politician Edwin Wagensveld, the head of the far-right PEGIDA, tore pages out of the holy book before setting them on fire in front of the parliamentary building in the Hague.
A video posted on his social media accounts showed Wagensveld claiming he received permission from local authorities for “the destruction of the Quran.”
His provocation followed another Islamophobic protest on Saturday in Sweden, where a Danish extremist burned a copy of the holy book in a police-approved demonstration.
The Muslim community worldwide has been outraged since the weekend at anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan, who staged his provocative demonstration in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm while delivering a hate-filled speech, and the Swedish authorities who allowed him under the guise of “freedom of expression.”
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