Speaking to IQNA, Hojat-ol-Islam Talal al-Mismar condemned the recent acts of Quran desecration by far-right individuals in Sweden and the Netherlands, warning about the consequences of such sacrilegious moves.

He said such moves are very dangerous crimes against humanity and violation of the highest sanctity of Muslims.

Mismar said the Holy Quran teaches love and goodness for all people and orders everyone to respect others, especially their sanctities.

He criticized the governments of Sweden and the Netherlands that claim civilization and progress for allowing such incident to take place and hurt the feelings of more than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide.

This happens in the name of freedom of expression while it violates human and ethical values, he underlined.

If Western governments fail to reconsider their extremist and racist approach, which spreads hatred and animosity, it would have dangerous consequences, he stated.

Mismar urged Muslim governments, religious authorizes and religious institutions to confront such attempts at undermining religious sanctities at the international level.

On Monday, Dutch politician Edwin Wagensveld, the head of the far-right PEGIDA, tore pages out of the holy book before setting them on fire in front of the parliamentary building in the Hague.

A video posted on his social media accounts showed Wagensveld claiming he received permission from local authorities for “the destruction of the Quran.”

His provocation followed another Islamophobic protest on Saturday in Sweden, where a Danish extremist burned a copy of the holy book in a police-approved demonstration.

The Muslim community worldwide has been outraged since the weekend at anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan, who staged his provocative demonstration in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm while delivering a hate-filled speech, and the Swedish authorities who allowed him under the guise of “freedom of expression.”

4117131