Kuwait Responds to Quran Desecration: Distributes 100,000 Copies in Sweden
Kuwait has recently announced its decision to print and distribute thousands of translated copies of the Quran in Swedish to educate the people of Sweden on Islamic “values of coexistence.” This initiative comes in response to the desecration of a Quran during a one-man anti-Islam protest that was authorized by Swedish police in Stockholm last month.
Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah of Kuwait stated that the Public Authority for Public Care would be responsible for printing and distributing 100,000 translated copies of the Muslim holy book in Sweden. The aim is to “reinforce the tolerance of the Islamic religion and promote values of coexistence among all human beings,” according to Kuwait’s state news agency Kuna.
On June 28, Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi Christian seeking asylum in Sweden on religious grounds, publicly threw a Quran into the air and burned some of its pages outside the Stockholm Central Mosque. This act took place on the first day of Eid-al-Adha, a significant festival in the Islamic calendar, causing outrage among Muslims worldwide. Numerous protests were held in Muslim nations, including Iraq, where angry demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy compound.
While the U.S. State Department condemned the Quran desecration in Stockholm, it acknowledged that Swedish authorities were within their rights to authorize the small-scale protest. “We believe that demonstrations create an environment of fear that hinders Muslims and members of other religious minority groups from freely exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief in Sweden,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. “We also believe that issuing the permit for this demonstration supports freedom of expression and does not endorse the actions of the demonstration.”
The United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution on Wednesday condemning the burning of the Quran as an act of religious hatred. However, the U.S. and a few European nations opposed the resolution, introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), arguing that it contradicts their perspectives on human rights and freedom of expression. Of the participating countries, 28 voted in favour of the resolution, 12 voted against it, and seven abstained.
