Freedom of Speech Cannot Justify Insult to Islam: Experts
Late last month, an extremist burned a Quran outside the Stockholm Mosque with police protection.
He timed his offensive act to match Eid al Adha, a major Muslim festival that is celebrated by followers of Islam around the world.
The police had granted him a permit based on free-speech rights, but they later announced that they had started an inquiry into “agitation.”
The act of disrespect provoked anger and condemnation from many Islamic countries, such as Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine, Morocco, Iraq, Pakistan, Senegal, Morocco, and Mauritania.
IQNA has reached out to several scholars to further discuss the act and its repercussions.
Huseyin Ali-Diakides, Campaigns officer for Islamic Human Rights Commission, noted that freedom of speech cannot be used to support “hatred and spreading hatred.”
This spread of hatred, he maintained, is part of an “ongoing campaign against Muslims” that is sometimes carried out by far-right groups and governments and is related to “their foreign policy.”
Asked about the reactions to the recent desecration, he said that some governments, and even Muslim-majority governments, do not take such incidents “seriously” and prefer not to “get involved” in such issues because of their international relations.
The activist reminded the Muslim states of the difficulties that Muslims face in Europe. “I think a lot of Muslim governments need to also remember that in Europe, we are a community under siege,” he said, adding that when such incidents happen in the lands where they live, it is “more intimidating” towards them.
He pointed to the need for Muslim governments to acknowledge that “this is not just about a religious issue, [rather] this is about the Muslim community.”
Ali-Diakides said that imposing economic sanctions on those countries that violate Islamic sanctities can create a possible deterrence. However, he stressed that “There are so many reasons why we could call for economic sanctions on Western countries,” including for their involvement in “proxy wars,” “helping Zionism,” and “attacking al-Aqsa [Mosque].”
The West, he maintained, “rely on racism to be able to do what they are doing in Palestine…in Iraq…in Afghanistan.”
Referring to double standards, the activist said Western states do not talk about sanctions or “bombing or intervening” in France amid ongoing protests because France is a “European white country.”
He highlighted that such attacks on Islam cannot stop its growth. “The more they attack Islam, the more it grows, and this is something that's really being seen.”
“Every time they attack, it makes people want to dig more into it and find out more about it,” said the activist, as reports also indicate growing conversions to Islam in Western states.
‘Disrespect for humanity, freedom, all religions’
Sheikh Mirza Abbas, Internal Manager of the Seminary of England, said the “horrendous” act of Quran burning was an insult to humanity.
Speaking to IQNA, the seminary scholar said the desecration has “shaken all Muslims around the world and all those who have respect for religions and humanity.”
This act did not just disrespect Islam or Muslims, but it “disrespected freedom, humanity, and all other religions as well,” he said.
This is not an act of freedom, but it “destroys” and “hampers” freedom itself, stressed the lecturer.
He compared the act to mocking persons with disabilities or supporting racism under the name of the freedom of speech.
“This act and all those who support or given a safe refuge for the perpetrator are hampering freedom and political system and further promoting disrespect,” he added.
‘Systematic campaign’ to detach Muslims from Quran, Prophet
Zafar Bangash, a prominent Muslim commentator, said there is a “systematic campaign” to “detach” Muslims from the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet (PBUH) because this is how the West thinks it can defeat Muslims.
He said such acts of sacrilege “are not only allowed but promoted under the rubric of freedom of speech” and part of the Islamophobia that has been “deliberately” promoted since 9/11.
“Regimes and authorities in the West know that Muslims are very sensitive about the sacredness of the noble Quran and the honor of the Prophet of Islam; peace and blessings be upon him. Thus, they allow such insults in order to provoke Muslims,” the director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT) told IQNA.
“This is what happened in the most recent burning of the Qur’an in Stockholm,” he added.
“Contrast this with the situation last January when a Muslim sought the police permission to burn a copy of the Torah in front of a synagogue in Stockholm. He was denied permission because the police said it would be insulting and provocative,” Bangash said, adding, “The Muslim had sought permission after the right-wing Swedish politician, Rasmus Paludan had set fire to the Qur’an a few days earlier.”
“So, the Quran can be burnt under the label of ‘free speech’, but the Torah cannot because it would be a provocative and insulting act.”
The scholar went on to name several reasons for the rise of Islamophobia. “One is the Western politicians’ need to create divisions in society by pandering to the prejudices of the majority against a weak, visible minority which happens to be Muslim.”
The next reason, according to Bangash, is because of “the larger Western agenda of attacking Muslim countries to prevent the rise of any Muslim power to challenge the Zionist occupiers of Palestine.”
“Since 9/11, several Muslim countries have been destroyed and millions of people murdered, all in the name of the war on terror. It is, in reality, a war of terror. The collective West wants to terrorize Muslims into submission,” he said.
“They know that as long as Muslims are attached to the noble Quran and the Prophet, they cannot be defeated. So, there is a systematic campaign to detach Muslims from both,” he stressed.
“In their mistaken belief, they assume that by burning the Quran or insulting the Prophet, they will be able to achieve their nefarious agenda. They have not succeeded and will not succeed. Instead, Muslims are becoming aware of the West’s animosity and taking steps to address this threat accordingly,” he concluded.
