Iran Press/ Africa: Speaking to Iran Press in Kampala, Deputy Mufti Sheikh Muhammad Ali Waiswa appealed to Stockholm to step up measures against religious hate, adding that freedom of expression is not a right without limits and cannot be enjoyed in a way that belittles the rights and dignity of others.
The desecration of the Quran took place outside the Swedish capital Stockholm’s main mosque on Eid Al Adha last week, during a protest authorized by the police.
Iran halted the process of sending an ambassador to Sweden over the government-sanction desecration of the holy Qur’an in the Nordic country. The Swedish government initiated an investigation into the Islamophobic act, after worldwide rage.
“Indeed, the whole world has been caught by shock by the action of an individual in Sweden who stamped over the Holy Quran and even burned it. This barbaric act indeed has to be condemned by the two billion Muslims in the whole world who proclaim that the Holy Quran is the word of Allah,” the cleric said.
“This is indeed not the first time such an act has been made against the Qur'an or blasphemous information against Islam and the personality of Prophet Muhammad. In Denmark, the Holy Qur'an was burned”, he added.
He narrated that “Here in Uganda, a certain pastor who said that this Quran states that if it were to be revealed upon the mountains, the mountains could tremble because of its sacredness and weight as a divine word of God. And that pastor vowed that he was going to stamp over the holy Quran to show that it has no strength at all. He did it openly, publicly. and he stamped over the Holy Qur’an with his legs, which caused anger amongst the Ugandan Muslims.
That pastor was in preparation for a ceremony for a certain cleric from America, for whom they were organizing a very big function in Jinja town, Eastern Uganda. They call it a crusade. But in preparation for the same, the pastor was rushing over to Ginger to finalize the arrangements of that crusade function, and he perished in a motor accident on the way. But surprisingly, in the accident, the pastor himself and those who were with him in the car perished beyond recognition. So he stamped on the Holy Qur’an a week ago, but the day he was traveling to Jinja to get the final preparations of the crusade, he perished in the car, beyond recognition”.
He stressed that “provocation of violence among peaceful living denominators is indeed uncalled for.” He added that “in a civilized world like in the European society and Western world, provoking two billion Muslims who confess Islam, it's really uncalled for.”
“The world today is talking of building bridges, interfaith collaborations, and if that is the case, one to come out and stamp on the Holy Quran was the barbaric act,” he said.
He explained that “The Holy Quran is a miracle to Islam. Actually, it is the greatest miracle of Islam. This is a fact because the Holy Quran is memorized by hundreds of millions of believers, ranging from seven years old to the oldest age. A young person can memorize the Quran, the whole of the Holy Quran, within a limit of one year or two years.
There is no other book in the world that has ever been memorized to that extent. Even the Holy Bible today, as we speak of it, has never been memorized by any cleric in the world. But the Holy Quran is memorized by hundreds of millions of believers.
Therefore, it doesn't make sense for one to burn the Holy Quran, just one copy. But even if one comes to burn all the copies of the Holy Quran in the whole world, let him be assured that the protection of the Holy Qur'an is within his hands by saying, that indeed it's we who have revealed the Quran and it's we to protect it.”
He added that “people who believe in the Holy Quran as a holy book really know that it's a requirement for everybody, to respect holy books. Because the essence of the mission of Islam is indeed peace, to create peace.”
“Freedom of speech indeed does not really mean to disrespect the rights of others, to disrespect the honor of others,” He said.
He said that “We have the Bible, we have the Torah, we have the Zabur(the Psalms of David), all those are holy books of God. As Muslims, we cannot be completely Muslim without confessing that those were the holy books of God. We must respect them. I appeal upon the beloved Muslim believers to shun away from such provocations and also to guard the honor and respect of Islam.”
“It may not call for a war, but it can call for condemnations and explanations because maybe such people do not understand the sacredness of the Quran if at all they do not have a political agenda,” he said.
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