Jeddah: Sweden, a country renowned for its progressive ideals and dedication to human rights, is in the midst of a fierce diplomatic controversy after a member of a far-right Swedish party set fire to a copy of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam.
Muslims around the world are furious and outraged over this burning, which Swedish authorities allowed to occur on June 28 in Stockholm.
The 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation announced that it would hold a "emergency meeting" to talk about the situation; the meeting is scheduled to take place on Sunday.
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The OIC executive committee will convene in the Saudi city of Jeddah, according to a spokesman, to "discuss the measures to be taken against this heinous act and adopt a collective position on the necessary course of action."
The incident happened in front of Stockholm's main mosque on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, a significant Islamic holiday that marks the conclusion of the yearly Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia.
Salwan Momika, an immigrant from Iraq who now resides in Sweden and is 37 years old, committed the act. He claimed to be expressing his opinion about the Holy Qur'an.
After a Swedish court ruled that prohibiting the protest would violate the right to free speech and that the force lacked sufficient justification to do so, the police in Stockholm issued a permit for it.
In an interview published on Thursday, Momika refuted claims that his actions amounted to a "hate crime" or "agitation towards any group." In addition, he declared that within 10 days of his initial protest, he would burn a second copy of the holy book.
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The Swedish government "strongly rejects the Islamophobic act committed by individuals in Sweden," according to a statement on the ministry's website. In no way does this action represent the views of the Swedish government.
A spokesperson for the European Union's Diplomatic Service said in a statement: "The EU joins the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its strong rejection of the burning of a Qur'an by a person in Sweden. Any Holy Book being burned, including the Qur'an, is offensive, disrespectful, and obviously provocative. Racist, xenophobic, and related intolerance behaviours have no place in Europe.
Arab News emailed the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a list of inquiries, but as of the time of publication, no reply had been received.
Several nations with a majority of Muslims have expressed their concerns and condemned the Stockholm incident as a deliberate provocation and assault on their religion in response to the incident.
In a statement strongly condemning the burning, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised that such actions undermine efforts to advance tolerance, moderation, and the rejection of extremism by inciting hatred, exclusion, and racism.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's strong condemnation and denunciation of the burning of a copy of the Holy Qur'an by an extremist at Stockholm Central Mosque in Sweden following Eid Al-Adha prayer," the ministry stated.
"These hateful and persistent acts cannot be justified in any way, and they clearly incite hatred, exclusion, and racism. They also directly oppose international efforts to promote the values of tolerance, moderation, and rejecting extremism, and they undermine the essential mutual respect for relations between peoples and states."
Jordan expressed its displeasure to Sweden's envoy, calling the burning an act of hatred and racism, and Morocco summoned Sweden's ambassador to Rabat and recalled its own ambassador.
The UAE summoned Sweden's ambassador and strongly condemned it for allowing Momika to act in such a way. Dr. Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic advisor to the president of the UAE, issued a statement in which he stated: "The blatant and repeated attacks on our Islamic faith under the pretext of freedom of opinion perpetuate hatred and rivalry."
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A group of Iraqi protesters broke into Sweden's embassy in Baghdad on Thursday, led by the Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, but they quickly left when security forces arrived.
The Swedish government's decision to allow a "extremist" to burn a copy of the Qur'an was denounced by the foreign ministry of Iraq, who claimed that such actions "inflame the feelings of Muslims around the world and represent a dangerous provocation."
The ministry claimed that it had called the ambassador of Sweden to Baghdad to express the nation's "strong protest" against the authorization decision.