UN General Assembly: Muslim Leaders Slam Quran Desecration
Addressing the event in New York on Tuesday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi named the Quran as “a book that invites man to rationality, spirituality, justice, morality and truth,” which is based on three pillars of “monotheism, justice and human dignity.”
“What has the Quran said that has aroused the hatred of the arrogant and the lords of power and wealth?” he asked.
The remarks come as the Muslim holy book has been a targeted of repeated attacks by extremists in a few European countries, especially Sweden, in the past few weeks.
“The Quran says, O mankind; Do not accept oppression and division. With this guidance, we can build a world of dignity and greatness. The Quran talks about the unity of mankind and that all the inhabitants of the earth are like brothers and sisters and from the same parents. The Quran regards man as God's representative, and men and women, despite their natural differences, complement each other and are equal in God's presence; The Quran defends the privacy of the family and considers the child as God's trust,” he added.
“The Quran forbids insulting ideas and beliefs, and respects Abraham, Moses, and Jesus as respect for Muhammad (PBUH),” Raeisi said, adding, “These unifying concepts and sublime, inspiring, humanising, community-building and civilisation-building prophets for human societies are eternal and will never burn. The fire of insult and distortion will never be an opponent of truth.”
“Anti-Islamism and cultural apartheid, in their various forms, including burning the Holy Quran to banning the hijab in schools and dozens of other shameful discriminations, do not fit the progress of modern man,” he stressed.
“Behind the curtain of these hate speech, there is a bigger plot and reducing it to the category of freedom of speech is misleading,” he said.
‘Intorelable’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – who has put pressure for months on Sweden over its welcome to Kurdish activists Ankara regards as terrorists – said that western countries were facing “a plague” of discrimination, including Islamophobia.
“It has reached intolerable levels,” he told the UN General Assembly.
“Unfortunately, populist politicians in many countries continue to play with fire by encouraging such dangerous trends.”
“The mentality that encourages the hideous attacks against the holy Quran in Europe, by allowing them under the guise of freedom of expression, is essentially darkening [Europe's] own future through its own hands."
Not freedom of expression
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim, in his speech to the UN General Assembly said that “compromising the sanctity of others deliberately” should not be seen as freedom of expression.
“I would say to my Muslim brethren that it is implausible for us to get distracted by an idiot or a biased person whenever it occurs to him to provoke us by burning the holy Quran or by other forms of triviality,” Sheikh Tamim said.
“The Quran is too holy to be desecrated by a witless person.”
Source: Agencies
