Quran Burning Incident In Denmark Outrages Iraq & Other Muslim Nations

The burning of a Quran on Monday outside the Iraqi consulate in Copenhagen by a group named “Danish Patriots” has been vehemently criticized by Iraq and a few other nations with a majority of Muslims.

On Friday, the far-right group broadcast a same act live on Facebook.

Following the incident, around 1,000 protesters in Baghdad attempted to visit the Danish embassy. Before this, Quran was burned outisde of Iraqi embassy in Sweden’s Stockholm. In retaliation protestors set fire to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.

In the incident that occurred in Denmark on Monday, two anti-Islamic demonstrators stamped on the Qur’an and lit it ablaze in a tin foil tray next to an Iraqi flag that was lying on the ground.

As a result, “the virus of extremism and hate” was able to pose “a real threat to the peaceful coexistence of people,” according to the foreign ministry of Iraq.

Muslims perceive any intentional harm or display of contempt towards the Quran as profoundly offensive since they believe it to be the word of God.

In response to the most recent vandalism of the book in the Danish capital, thousands of protesters gathered in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, to express their outrage at both Denmark and Sweden for tolerating such actions.

Although the Algerian foreign ministry called the Danish ambassador and Swedish charge d’affaires to denounce the activities, Turkey described the occurrence as a “despicable attack” on the Quran.

On Saturday, Iran also voiced its outrage at the past desecrations. The largest market in the nation, Souq Al Baladi, reportedly removed Swedish goods in protest, according to local media in Qatar.

The foreign ministry of Denmark said: “Denmark condemns today’s burning of the Quran carried out by very few individuals. These provocative and shameful acts do not represent the views of the Danish government. Appeal to all to deescalate – violence must never be the response.”

Security personnel in Baghdad on Saturday fired tear gas to keep massive protesters from approaching the Danish embassy. Bridges leading to the city’s Green Zone, a protected area that houses numerous foreign embassies, were shut off.

After protestors, primarily adherents of Shia preacher Moqtada al-Sadr, seized the building last Friday, Sweden ordered the evacuation of its embassy workers from Baghdad. Also ousted from Iraq was the Swedish ambassador.

This occurred following Swedish police’s approval for an Iraqi Christian refugee to burn a Quran in Stockholm for a second time. He did not burn the book on fire, but he did stamp on it.

Invoking the constitutional right to freedom of assembly, courts overruled a police prohibition and permitted the Stockholm protests to proceed.

The burning of the holy book has been denounced by Swedish authorities as being anti-Islamic.