Desecrating Quran A Deplorable Act that Should Be Condemned: South African Scholar
Lerato Mokoena, a professor at the faculty of theology and religion in South Africa’s University of Pretoria made the remark in an interview with IQNA on the sidelines of an Islam and Christianity interfaith dialogue between Iran and South Africa, which was held here in Tehran last week.
She said the root of such actions is probably hate and intolerance, “which is why we should come together (and try to promote understanding)”.
Mokoena added that religion can help a lot in terms of social cohesion.
Asked whether anti-Islam moves in Europe originate from Xenophobia, she said Xenophobia and Islamophobia are different but they do marry each other at some point and they should both be combated.
She added that communities should be helped to be able to build relations and love one another and see God in one another.
As for religious harmony in her country, she said, “We are quite tolerant of one another because inherently we are a pluralistic society so we do not have really much problems when it comes to religious intolerance in South Africa.”
Rantoa Letsosa from University of the Free State was another South African scholar attending the interfaith dialogue in Tehran.
He said it is important to emphasize that people should love each other.
“We should see every person as a fellow brother or fellow sister and have a very positive relationship with one another,” he said, adding that any negative thing about other persons is something that should never be tolerated.
He underlined that Xenophobia and treating other people as foreigners is unacceptable.
“In South Africa we have such problems related to Xenophobia but it is something that we fight against and we believe that all people should be treated with dignity and respect.”
As for the Quran burning incidents, he said blasphemy and desecrating the sanctities of other religions should never happen.
He said people from different religions should talk with each other to clear up any misunderstanding. “My belief is that we should live in love and in respect.”
Referring to his country, he said, “I would not say there are religious-based issues in South Africa I believe. We are a pluralistic society that respects every religion. We do not experience religious disputes in South Africa which is quite positive.”
Another South African scholar speaking to IQNA was University of Pretoria Professor Maniraj Sukdaven who said desecration of sanctities is done is some countries because of freedom of expression but in other countries it is an abomination to desecrate religious books, especially the Quran.
“If you want to respect and understand another religion, why should you burn holy books? I think it is wrong in that sense for anyone to burn any holy book. It is wrong,” he stressed.
He also said that it is the radical elements in societies that provoke violence, “which is absolutely wrong.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, Professor Sukdaven said there is good relationship among all religions in South Africa.
“We have a good understanding (among religions) and promote a lot of interfaith dialogue,” he said. “Our department itself is going to hold an interreligious dialogue forum. When I was the University of the Free State, I started an interreligious dialogue forum which still exists today and we have twelve religions coming together and talking to better understand each other, learn about each other and accept each other for what everyone believes.”
