Quran Desecration A Threaten to Social Cohesion: Indonesian Scholar
Mohamad Anton Athoillah said that the recent recurrence of incidents of desecration of the Holy Quran, with two incidents in the past week, has raised serious concerns among Islamic communities and Muslim scholars.
The Indonesian scholar recalled that the latest such attack occurred in the Swedish capital, where a copy of the Quran with six bullet holes on it was chained to the railing of the steps of the Stockholm Mosque.
He noted that in a similar incident in the US, a Republican candidate for the United States Senate attempted to burn a copy of the Quran during an anti-Islam rally in Dearborn, Michigan, the center of the American Muslim community.
Athoillah emphasized that these actions should not be seen as isolated or spontaneous, as they threaten social cohesion.
Earlier this month, Jake Long, a Republican candidate for the Senate from Florida, placed a copy of the Holy Quran in the mouth of a pig during an anti-Islam demonstration in Plano, Collin County, Texas.
He had earlier attempted to burn a copy of the Quran during an anti-Islam rally in Dearborn.
His provocative action angered Muslims, human rights activists and international observers and caused widespread shock at the domestic and international levels.
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The move sparked outrage from local communities and human rights organizations, who condemned it as an act of inciting religious hatred, stressing that such moves do not contribute to any cultural debate about religion or society.
Also, during a racist attack by Islamophobic extremists on a mosque in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, earlier this month, a copy of the Holy Quran was desecrated, which drew widespread condemnations.
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