OIC Meets in Response to Quran Burnings in Sweden, Denmark

The foreign ministers of the members of the OIC held a virtual meeting in response to the burning and desecrating of the Holy Quran in Sweden and Denmark.

The OIC in a statement said that the meeting was held “to take appropriate actions to prevent attacks and insults against the sanctities and beliefs of others and to stop the repetition of such acts of aggression that spread hatred and contempt for religions and threaten the global peace, security, and harmony.”

The virtual extraordinary session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers was called for by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chair of the 14th Islamic Summit, the Republic of Iraq, and the Islamic Republic of Iran “on the repeated incidents of desecration of copies of the al-Mus’hafash-Sharif, the latest of which took place in the Kingdom of Sweden on Thursday 20 July 2023, and in the Kingdom of Denmark, on Saturday 22 July 2023 and Monday 24 July 2023,” the statement said.

According to the statement, in the meeting, the OIC welcomes the “continued engagement of the Secretary-General with the governments of Sweden and Denmark for dialogue and understanding of the importance of taking the necessary and concrete measures to prevent the recurrence of such acts under the pretext of freedom of expression and criminalize these hateful acts, and Recalling the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 76/254 designating15 March as the “International Day to Combat Islamophobia”.

In the meeting, they expressed grave concern over the “increasing incidences of intolerance, discrimination, and acts of violence in the world, and noted with concern that attempts to spread Islamophobia are increasing in many parts of the world, as evidenced by the increasing number of incidents of religious intolerance, negative stereotypes, hatred and violence against Muslims.”

The meeting issued a resolution and requested the Secretary-General follow up on the implementation of this resolution.

Earlier The Islamic Emirate suspended all Swedish activities in Afghanistan in reaction to a Swedish citizen burning the Quran.