On Sunday, July 2, 2023, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, the works of the open-ended extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organization were held, to discuss the measures to be taken in the face of the repercussions of the fire of a copy of the Noble Quran which occurred in front of the central mosque of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, in the first days of Eid al-Adha.

The Executive Committee meeting was held at the invitation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chairman of the current Islamic Summit and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Dr. Saleh Al-Suhaibani, confirmed during his speech in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that the attempted desecration of the Holy Quran under the false pretext of freedom of opinion and expression contradicts the spirit of articles 19 and 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as The plan of action agreed by international consensus contradicts the resolutions of the Human Rights Council men who fight incitement to hatred and discrimination on the basis of religion or belief.

Al-Suhaibani stressed that this incident represents an attack on Islam and a provocation to the feelings of millions of Muslims around the world, pointing out that it happened at a time when Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid. al-Adha in a beautiful way and happy times that embody the most wonderful images of cohesion and cooperation for the benefit of humanity, and seek peace, security and harmony, and at the same time as the guests of Rahman perform pilgrimage, the fifth pillar of the true Islamic religion.

Al-Suhaibani reiterated the Kingdom’s strong condemnation and denunciation of these repeated despicable acts, stressing that these heinous acts cannot be accepted under any justification and that they clearly incite hatred, exclusion and racism, and violate divine laws and all decisions of international references and pacts calling for harmony, peace and rapprochement, and at the same time they contradict each other, and directly with international efforts aimed at spreading the values of tolerance, moderation and rejecting extremism, and undermining the principles of mutual respect necessary for relations between peoples and states.

He added: “In this regard, the Kingdom stresses the need for decisive action by the international community and our former organization to prevent the repetition of these practices which are outside of human values and moral principles, for such blatant actions will only lead to more fanaticism and extremism and the spread of hatred and violence. And to sow discord and evil at a time when people urgently need knowledge, rapprochement and harmony.

In this regard, the Kingdom affirms the responsibility of these countries to prevent the recurrence of calls for incitement and hate crimes, and to firmly oppose these provocative practices.

He reaffirmed the emphasis placed by the Kingdom on respect for the common denominators of the values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence among peoples, and the promotion of means of dialogue among civilizations in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions, in particular the resolution 167/66 of the General Assembly of the United Nations, because disseminating these noble human values and principles is the best way to combat hate speech, intolerance and extremism.

Al-Suhaibani called on member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to help activate the role of the Islamophobia Observatory and support it in every way. To play its role as planned, stressing that the Kingdom urges the organization’s offices abroad to take the initiative and in coordination with the permanent missions of the member states of the organization to work together in the same direction.

He also called on the organization’s General Secretariat to accelerate constructive engagement with all international actors and influential public opinion makers around the world to combat the phenomenon of Islamophobia, and to address these flagrant actions by formulating an effective strategy aimed at creating an international environment conducive to civilizational harmony and emanating from the ten-year plan of the organization.

He recalled the operational decisions of previous Islamic summits and ministerial councils and the valuable charter of the organization, investing in close work with relevant regional and international actors and organizations to raise global awareness of the phenomenon of Islamophobia.

Al-Suhaibani said that the Kingdom requests that the desecration of the Holy Quran and Islamic symbols and sanctities be among the priorities on the agenda of the coordination meetings of foreign ministers to be held on the sidelines of the next session of the the United Nations General Assembly in New York, as well as the upcoming Islamic summit and ministerial councils, with the aim of taking more effective measures to resolve these problems.

For his part, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Hussain Ibrahim Taha, called on the member states of the organization to adopt a unified position and collective measures to prevent the repetition of incidents of desecration of copies. of the Holy Quran and insulting our Holy Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace.

“Unfortunately, on the first day of this auspicious occasion, when all Muslims around the world were celebrating, a despicable act of desecration of the Holy Quran was committed outside the central mosque in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden,” noting that the meeting comes to discuss the appropriate response to this procedure.

Hussein Taha stressed the need to send a clear message that acts of desecration of the Holy Quran and insulting the Holy Prophet Muhammad, prayers and peace of God be upon him, and Islamic symbols are not just ordinary incidents of Islamophobia, highlighting the need to send a continuous reminder to the international community of the urgent application of international law, which clearly prohibits any advocacy of religious hatred.

Source: Burkina Information Agency