The "Burning of Scriptures" Incident: Sweden and Muslim Countries Add New Grudges Religion | Speech | Iraq | Immigration | Quran | Burning | Muslims | Sweden
Since last year, incidents of discrimination against Muslims have occurred in Nordic countries such as Sweden, which has aroused strong dissatisfaction among Muslim countries. With the recent resurgence of the burning of the Quran in Sweden and other countries, Muslim countries have launched boycotts on the diplomacy and commerce of Nordic countries, and the conflict between the two sides seems to be escalating.
Frequent incidents of burning scriptures in Sweden
Last year, Danish politician Rasmus Parudan toured multiple cities in Sweden to burn the Quran, causing large-scale riots and condemnation from multiple Muslim countries. President Erdogan of Türkiye even said that if Sweden continued to allow the burning of the Koran, it would not expect to join NATO.
However, on July 20th this year, a 36 year old man named Sarwan Momika from Iraq who obtained refugee status in Sweden stomped on the Quran outside the Iraqi Embassy in Sweden. On June 28th, Sarwan Momika smeared the Quran with bacon and stomped on it with his feet before setting it on fire in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Sweden. He claimed that this book is "even more dangerous than nuclear weapons".
This has sparked strong protests from many Muslim countries. The Swedish Embassy in Iraq was immediately surrounded by Iraqi citizens, and the embassy building was set on fire by angry civilians. According to officials from the Finnish Embassy, which is adjacent to Sweden and shares an embassy area, most of the buildings in the embassy area were burned down. Iraq has recalled the Iraqi Ambassador to Sweden, issued an expulsion order against the Swedish Ambassador to Iraq, and announced the termination of all commercial cooperation with Sweden, including the revocation of the operating license of Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson in Iraq and the cancellation of work visas for over 30 Ericsson employees in Iraq.
Several Muslim foreign ministries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iran, have also summoned Swedish ambassadors to their respective countries to strongly protest and condemn the burning of the Quran. The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a statement that the Saudi government has issued a protest note to the Swedish Charg é d'affaires in the country, demanding that Sweden immediately take all necessary measures to put an end to these shameful acts. The Lebanese authorities have called on all Arab and Islamic countries to recall their ambassadors to Sweden. Lebanese Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah called on Arab and Islamic countries to follow Iraq's example in expelling the Swedish ambassador. Türkiye condemned Sweden's "despicable attack" on the Koran. Türkiye's Foreign Ministry said that Sweden must take measures to prevent hate crimes against Islam. Iranian religious leader Khamenei said, "The Swedish government is making the country launch a war against the Muslim world."
In the Egyptian capital Cairo, the influential Al Azhar University has called for a boycott of all Swedish products, expressing extreme dissatisfaction with the Swedish authorities once again allowing the burning of the Quran. Al Azhar University is a higher education institution for Sunni Muslims and one of the oldest higher education institutions in the world.
Where is the boundary of "freedom of speech"
The Quran is the foundation of Islamic doctrine and law, and holds a very important position. For Islamic believers, the Quran is their faith, soul, and spiritual pillar. Burning the Quran is clearly a public challenge to the authority and dignity of Islam, as well as a lack of respect for Islamic culture and faith.
In fact, about half a year after Türkiye issued a warning to Sweden that it could not join NATO, the Swedish police did not approve any application to burn the Koran, on the grounds that it "endangers national security". However, the Swedish police were subsequently charged to the Swedish Administrative Court, which ruled that the reasons given by the police for "endangering national security" were insufficient and violated the constitutional provision of "freedom of speech". Although the Swedish police have filed for reconsideration again, the appellate court still maintains the original verdict.
Like many Western countries, Sweden does not have any blasphemy laws, nor does it have laws specifically prohibiting the burning or blasphemy of the Quran and other religious texts. In fact, until the 19th century, blasphemy was still considered a serious crime in Sweden, with the highest penalty being the death penalty. But with the continuous changes in Swedish social concepts, the "blasphemy law" was gradually adjusted and relaxed, and the last such law was abolished in 1970.
Although the Swedish government has issued a statement stating "strong opposition to Islamic hatred committed by individuals in Sweden" and adding that allowing the burning of the Quran "does not reflect the views of the Swedish government". But such an attitude has also attracted criticism from many critics and social activists in Sweden, who argue that the government needs to uphold "freedom of speech" and should not make judgments on individual protest activities. "The government's criticism of a personal demonstration conducted by a person is extremely inappropriate," said Niels Funk, a well-known advocate of "freedom of speech" in Sweden, in an interview with the Swedish public broadcasting company SVT
Ruzbe Pals, a researcher for the Middle East and North Africa project at the Swedish Institute of Foreign Policy, believes that the burning of the Quran is related to Sweden's understanding of the boundaries of freedom of speech and the role of religion in society. Pars said that the people who burned the Quran wanted to demonstrate that Muslims are "intolerant" and highlight the anti immigrant stance of the Swedish people. Pars believes that it is currently difficult for the Swedish government to ban the burning of the Quran.
Nevertheless, Sweden's extreme behavior has sparked criticism and reflection in the European Union. The EU's High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Borrell, strongly condemned the burning of the Quran and religious hatred, stating that it is "offensive, disrespectful, and a clear provocation" and that not everything legal is moral.
Immigration issues exacerbate conflicts
In addition to Sweden, there have also been a series of disputes over Muslim issues in Denmark and Finland recently. On July 21st, a video of burning religious scriptures in the Danish capital Copenhagen spread on social media. In the video, a man burns religious scriptures in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Denmark and makes insulting and provocative gestures towards the Iraqi flag. This immediately sparked protests among Iraqi citizens in front of the Danish Embassy in Iraq. The Danish Public Broadcasting Corporation reported that a Danish charity organization in the Iraqi city of Basra was subsequently attacked.
In Finland, Finance Minister Lika Prain has been criticized by many Muslim religious groups for her past racist remarks. A total of 26 Muslim groups and organizations in Finland issued a joint statement condemning the blog comment written by Lika Pula in 2019. Pula used insulting words to refer to the clothing of Muslim women, and made derogatory remarks to some Muslim countries, including Türkiye. Earlier, when Finland's new foreign minister visited Türkiye, he had to apologize to Erdogan for Pula's offensive remarks.
Where does the hatred and disgust towards Muslims come from in the Nordic society that advocates freedom and tolerance? This analysis points out that in addition to deep-rooted religious discrimination among some Nordic people, it also reflects that the growth of Muslim immigrant groups has brought considerable pressure to Nordic countries.
In recent years, Nordic countries have faced more or less problems such as population decline, aging population, declining birth rates, and decreasing number of eligible workers. Therefore, there is an urgent need for foreign labor or taxpayers to support national fiscal revenue, promote economic development, and maintain social welfare systems. Therefore, a large influx of Muslim communities. According to official statistics from Finland, over 30000 Iraqi immigrants lived in Finland in 2021, while at the end of the last century, only about 8000 foreigners migrated to Finland each year. At present, the number of foreigners residing in Finland is about four times that of the beginning of this century, nearly 510000, accounting for about 9.1% of the total population, with approximately 130000 Muslim immigrants. The proportion of foreign immigrants in Sweden reaches 26.9%, and more than half of its immigrant population is Muslim.
During this period, many left-wing governments in European countries, in order to protect and absorb immigrants, insisted on ensuring the "employment" conditions in Europe, emphasizing the access, welfare, security, and living conditions of immigrant labor. However, they lacked reasonable and efficient immigration management policies, leading to the continuous intensification of social problems caused by cultural differences and ideological collisions, and even the argument of "Muslim invasion of Europe". For example, on religious issues, the differences between Muslim communities and Europeans have been attacked by many conservatives. This has also led to the rise of conservative political forces in Nordic countries, and the support rate of right-wing parties calling for tightening immigration policies continues to rise, further intensifying the intense discussion of immigration issues in Nordic society.
