By Atila Altuntas
STOCKHOLM (AA): A Syrian Muslim who obtained permission from the Swedish police to burn the Torah and the Bible in front of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm chose not to burn the sacred books in response to the provocations of burning the copy of the Holy Quran .
Ahmet Allus on Saturday told journalists in front of the embassy that he obtained permission to perform this act in order to draw attention to the fact that no sacred book should be burned.
“I am a Muslim, and I cannot burn sacred and religious books,” he said.
Referring to the provocations of burning the copy of the Quran under police protection in Sweden, Allus said: “There is a difference between freedom of expression and insulting ethnic groups. Burning the Quran and other religious books should be considered a hate crime. I obtained permission from the police for the act of burning the Torah and the Bible to draw attention to this. I have absolutely no intention of burning any religious book.”
Last month, a person identified as Salwan Momika burned a copy of the Quran under police protection in front of the Stockholm Mosque in Sweden.
His provocative act was timed to co co with Eid al-Adha, one of the major Islamic religious festivals celebrated by Muslims worldwide.
It elicited widespread condemnations from across the Islamic world, including Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Senegal, Morocco, and Mauritania.
In January, a far-right politician also set fire to a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Sweden.
[Photo: Muslims stage a demonstration against the burning of Holy Quran by an extremist in Stockholm, in Islamabad, Pakistan on July 03, 2023. Photographer: Muhammed Semih Ugrulu/ AA]
GuestJuly 17, 2023
Well done he has risen above the nastiness but he still should not have been given permission to do this (nor of course the anti-Muslim guy) – The double standard is not that they can burn Quran and we cannot burn Bibles or Torah because the Swedes allow both and Muslims honor all prophets and all holy books as per the last two verses of Surah Baqarah anyway. Ask yourself would he have been allowed to burn lgbt flags outside a gay parade or break idols outside the Indian Embassy? – No because the are ok to play religions off against each other but to have them united against sodomites or idol worshippers -would be considered extreme. Therein lies the hypocrisy of these evildoers. There is a british dish called meat faggots -would a kid be allowed to jokingly burn some faggots in front of a LGBT teacher? Why is the mockery and humour unidirectional – It is a clear double standard.
Praise be to Allah and peace upon his servants who he has chosen. Who is better Allah or the false gods they associate with him? Quran 27 59