Repetition of Insulting Religious Sanctities Sign of Systemic Hate-Mongering: ICRO Chief
Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Mehdi Imanipour made the remark while addressing the second interfaith dialogue of Islam and Christianity between Iran and South Africa, which began in Tehran on Saturday.
He noted that those who make sacrilegious moves against sacred values of faiths are rejected even in their own societies.
Nonetheless, the cleric said, it is expected that well-wishers would show proper response against such acts to prevent hurting of the sentiments of religious people and harm to ethical values.
His remarks came after several cases of desecration of the Holy Quran in a number of European countries.
On Friday, Rasmus Paludan, a far-right anti-Islam politician who holds both Danish and Swedish citizenship, burned copies of the Holy Quran again, this time near a Copenhagen mosque and outside the Turkish embassy in Denmark, a few days after doing the same in Sweden.
Also, 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 on Monday.
A video posted on his social media accounts showed Wagensveld claiming he received permission from local authorities for “the destruction of the Quran.”
The sacrilegious acts have drawn widespread condemnation in the Islamic world, with Muslims in different countries such as Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Bangladesh holding rallies to condemn the moves.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Hojat-ol-Islam Imanipour said morality has been harmed in societies in the contemporary world, adding that there is a need for more interfaith dialogues on the theme of ethics in religions.
He said in Islam’s ethical system, the main objective of moral behaviors is reaching perfection and getting closer to God, who is the Creator of everything and the origin of all values.
The second interfaith dialogue of Islam and Christianity between Iran and South Africa is being held on the theme of “Ethics in Religion” with the participation of scholars and thinkers from the two countries.
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