The OIC and the Muslim League are Asked to Take a Strong Stand to Stop Blasphemy in Sweden

BONSERNEWS.com – Deputy Speaker of the MPR Hidayat Nur Wahid strongly condemns the repetition in Sweden of the blasphemy against the holy book of the Koran, and supports the stance of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the World Muslim League which also condemns the repeated burning and defamation of the Koran in Sweden, and urges that the two international institutions that accommodate the Muslim Ummah take a more decisive breakthrough by taking more concrete steps that can stop blasphemy and increase respect and tolerance, and that the Swedish Government seriously carry out its plan to revise its national legal rules that allow the burning of the Koran, so that such incidents intolerance and radicalism can be punished and not repeated.

The incident of intolerance with blasphemy against the Koran occurred again on Thursday 20 July 2023 yesterday, where the man who carried out the burning of the Koran last June again committed blasphemy against the Koran. This time, the non-Muslim man from Iraq trampled and kicked the Al-Quran mushaf which is sacred to Muslims all over the world.

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“All components of the world’s Muslim community, including the OIC and the World Muslim League as well as Muslim-majority countries, need to unite, in addition to strongly condemning the repetition of this blasphemy, also making a breakthrough to stop blasphemy, and urging Sweden to seriously respect the Resolutions of the UN Human Rights Council and the European Court of Human Rights which ruled that blasphemy against religion is not freedom of expression, to immediately correct its national regulations so that this kind of blasphemy against the Holy Quran does not happen again, and the perpetrators can be given legal sanctions. This is all necessary not only for Islam and its holy book, but also for other religions in the world and their respective holy books, so that intolerance can be corrected and not repeated, and harmony between religious communities in the world can be strengthened,” he said, Saturday 22 July 2023.

HNW, as he is familiarly known, said that the OIC, which has 57 Islamic countries as members and has a majority Muslim population in the world, and the World Muslim League, whose members are influential Muslim leaders in the world, have a very strategic and influential role in efforts to stop blasphemy against Islam, and urge Sweden to manifest tolerance by correcting its legal regulations to prevent similar incidents from happening again, and even the perpetrators are given legal sanctions. So the OIC should be even more assertive, especially since several OIC member countries have also strongly criticized and recalled their ambassadors from Sweden.

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“Indonesia also needs to do more decisive things and maximize coordination with the OIC and the World Muslim League to jointly urge the world community to reject and correct acts of religious intolerance and blasphemy as has been repeated in Sweden, and for the Swedish government to immediately act more decisively to correct its regulations so that radical and intolerance acts are not repeated which are detrimental to Sweden’s national interests. And if Sweden does not immediately respond positively to the objections and anger of the world Muslim community because its holy book has been insulted again, then serious consideration should be given to the OIC countries to jointly review the continuation of diplomatic, economic and social relations with Sweden, or summon their ambassador to Sweden or summon the Swedish ambassador who is in his country. Or we also need to consider a wider boycott of Swedish products, because Sweden continues to disrespect the attitudes and hopes of the Islamic world,” he said.

Furthermore, HNW heard that there is a plan from the Swedish Ministry of Justice which is currently studying to revise its national laws so that it can prosecute perpetrators of religious blasphemy, such as the burning and blasphemy of the Koran. If it is serious, then this step needs to be supported, and it must be really concretely carried out by the Swedish government, to stop intolerance, strengthen moderation and tolerance among religious communities around the world, and also maintain harmony between countries.

HNW said that while this was related to Swedish national law, it was no longer just within Sweden’s domestic territory. “This is no longer a domestic issue, because the effect is targeting Muslims around the world as well as harmonious relations between countries in the world. And serious and immediate correction of this intolerance is also important to be realized immediately, if Sweden really wants a good and productive relationship between Sweden and the Islamic world,” he said.

Moreover, continued HNW, the plan to improve the rule of law in Sweden is also in line with international and European legal instruments, such as the UN Human Rights Council Resolution number A/HRC/53/L/23 which was decided on July 12 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland, and also the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in 2018 which stated that insulting religious symbols such as the holy Koran and the Prophet Muhammad is blasphemy, and all this does not include freedom of expression, “he concluded. ()