The European Union (EU) has strongly condemned the recent incident of burning the Holy Qur’an in Sweden, which has sparked outrage in Muslim countries. In an official statement, the EU emphasized that this act does not represent its policies and regarded burning the Qur’an or any other holy book as a clear violation of religious principles and a disgraceful act. It characterized such actions as provocative and highlighted that Europe has no place for racism, xenophobia, intolerance, or violence. The timing of this criminal act, occurring during the Muslims' celebration of Eid al-Adha, was deemed highly unfortunate.
In response to the incident, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) announced its decision to convene an open meeting of the OIC Executive Committee next week in Jeddah. The objective of the meeting is to address the burning of the Holy Qur’an in Sweden, discuss appropriate measures against this appalling act, and establish a collective stance on the necessary actions to be taken.
Meanwhile, the individual responsible for the act intends to repeat it within the next 10 days, despite being aware of the significant backlash and the thousands of death threats he claims to have received. In an interview with a newspaper, he expressed his anticipation of strong reactions and confirmed his plans to carry out the act again in the coming weeks.
Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism (AOCE), for its part, is concerned over the potential repercussions of burning the Holy Qur’an once more and urges the international community and the United Nations to enact legislations that criminalize the burning and desecration of religious sanctities. The AOCE reaffirms that achieving and reinforcing global peace and security are contingent upon the willingness of all individuals to show respect to religions and refrain from offending religious sanctities and symbols.