Stockholm statement
“The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) condemns in the strongest terms the barbaric conduct of burning a copy of the Holy Quran in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, in a heinous act that offends the religious feeling of Muslims around the world, an attack made concurrently with the celebration of the Feast of Sacrifice, at the end of the pilgrimage. ICESCO reaffirms that the repetition of this outrageous act by hard-line extremists stresses that underestimating the values and principles governing the lives of nations and peoples is the most dangerous weapon of destruction, likely to jeopardize the international community’s security and development.”
“The Muslim World League has denounced the absurdity of this crime, carried out under the protection of the Swedish police and under the claim of practicing freedom of expression, while in reality it abuses, among many things, the true concept of freedom, which call for respecting and not provoking others under any pretext.”
“The World Muslim Communities Council (WMCC) rejects the wave of hatred and bigotry against Islam and Muslim communities in some countries. The Council believes that this wave conflicts with the values of coexistence and tolerance among all members of society of different religions.”
The Muslim Council of Elders affirmed its unequivocal rejection of such criminal acts, which express abhorrent hatred and unacceptable racism. It noted that such repeated and heinous crimes against Islamic religious sanctities represent a blatant provocation to the feelings of Muslims around the world and promotes extremist, bigoted, and hateful rhetoric. The Council, in its statement, called for the urgent need to take decisive measures to halt these offensive practices, emphasizing that these repeated insults cannot be justified or declared under the pretext of freedom of opinion and expression.
EULEMA the European Council of Muslim Leaders thanks the main International Islamic Institutions for these testimonies of solidarity. The feast of the Abraham’s sacrifice is a religious holiday that Muslims celebrate with a community prayer with their families honouring the prophet Abraham for his loyalty to God. Muslims, Christians and Jewish have relied on this spiritual reconnection for centuries both in the East and in the West.
The encouragement under the protection of the State Police, of the burning of a book of prayers in Stockholm, while a ritual meeting of religious celebration takes place cannot express an honest, intelligent, and useful interpretation of the fundamental right to religious freedom and freedom of expression. This event is only a dramatic recall of a severe complicity of politics against the identity and practice of a specific religious minority. Burning the Bible, the Quran or any other religious text is an attack and an offense to the believer’s connections to his heritage of readings and meditations and invocations. It is also a sacrilege to the cultural openness of every citizen.
EULEMA makes an appeal to the institutions of religious communities in Europe and to the political institutions of the European Union so that the sacred texts, religious symbols, and dignity of the worship practice of every religious community are respected and every believer and citizen in Europe is safeguarded in his freedom and does not became an object of provocations and acts of hatred and violence.
Imam Yahya Pallavicini
President
