Leader Slams Quran Desecration, Says Attacks Targeting Islam
Ayatollah Khamenei issued a message on Wednesday in response to the desecration of the Quran in European countries.
“The insane desecration of the Quran, which is committed under the slogan of freedom of speech, shows the Arrogant Powers’ attacks are aimed at Islam itself and the Quran,” he wrote.
“The Quran is shining more brightly every day and the future belongs to Islam despite the Arrogant Powers’ plots,” he noted, adding, “All freedom-seekers of the world should stand by Muslims in confronting the wicked plot of insulting sanctities and spreading hate.”
Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right political party Hard Line, burned a copy of the Holy Book in the Swedish capital of Stockholm on Saturday.
Surrounded by police, Paludan set fire to the copy of the Quran with a lighter following a long diatribe of almost an hour, in which he attacked Islam and immigration in Sweden. About 100 people gathered nearby for a peaceful counter-demonstration.
On Monday, Dutch politician Edwin Wagensveld, the head of the far-right PEGIDA, tore pages out of the holy book before setting them on fire in front of the parliamentary building in the Hague.
A video posted on his social media accounts showed Wagensveld claiming he received permission from local authorities for “the destruction of the Quran.”
The sacrilegious moves have drawn widespread condemnation in the Muslim world.
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