3 QUESTIONS - Quran burning in Sweden

By Mehmet Osman Gulyesil

- The author is a PhD candidate and scholar at Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany

ISTANBUL (AA) – The recent burning of a copy of the Quran in Sweden has sparked a wave of shock and anger in the Muslim world, but the disrespect of religions over the course of history says a lot about the current times.

Below, writing for Anadolu’s Analysis Department, Mehmet Osman Gulyesil lays out the possible steps which could be taken to protect religious beliefs, particularly Islam, in Europe, which is home to millions of Muslims today.

- What is the history of Quran burning?

Historical sources indicate that incidents of burning the Quran date back to the Middle Ages.

In Spain’s Valencia and Toledo regions, Arabic editions of the Muslim holy book were burned by order of the church between 1498 and 1500, while its distribution was restricted in the middle of the 16th century.

Historians remain divided over whether Pope Clement VII, who was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1523 to 1534, sanctioned these actions.

Much more recently, in July 2010, Terry Jones, pastor of the Christian Dove World Outreach Center in Florida, US, announced he would burn 200 copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The church also planned to host an ‘International Burn a Quran Day,’ but was forced to cancel the event due to intense protests.

Jones was arrested in Florida on Sept. 11, 2013 as he was about to set fire to 2,998 copies of the Quran – one for every victim of the 2001 attacks.

He was charged with illegally transporting fuel and openly carrying a firearm.

Inspired by Jones, many European politicians have systematically insulted the Quran.

In 2016, far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who has made a career out of Islamophobia, vowed to ban the Quran in the Netherlands.

Danish-Swedish neo-Nazi politician Rasmus Paludan attempted to burn copies of the Quran in different countries in 2020.

Deported from France, Holland, and Germany, Paludan fulfilled his provocative goal in Sweden last Saturday, surrounded and protected by police as he torched a Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in the capital Stockholm.

- Does Europe have laws against such acts?

For centuries, many Western countries have had some sort of legislation, known as blasphemy laws, to protect religious beliefs and deter public insults of religions.

Since acts such as burning the Quran do not fall under the ambit of international criminal law, we need to examine the rules in place in specific countries.

In 2017, Denmark repealed its 334-year-old blasphemy law, while Germany is still contemplating taking a similar step.

Article 166 of the German criminal law covers religious defamation, but does not extend to insults against religions.

It can be used only if the act in question is believed to be potentially harmful to public order.

The most recent court decision in Germany regarding an anti-Islam act was back in 2006.

A 61-year-old man with an existing criminal record was handed a one-year suspended jail sentence for printing the words “Koran, der heilige Qur’an,” which translates to “The Holy Quran,” on toilet paper and sending it to various mosques.

The European media, which generally viewed the recent Quran burning in Stockholm as a provocation, limited itself to conveying reactions from the Muslim world, particularly Türkiye. ​​

The press mainly focused on how the incident has put Sweden’s NATO membership bid at risk.

Muslim organizations or churches did not issue condemnations, while civil society groups in Europe remained silent.

The muted reaction can be seen as an indicator of how the importance of religious values has gradually eroded.

However, it is unacceptable that Muslim organizations in Europe did not even make the effort of drawing up a press release to condemn Paludan’s act.

- What steps can be taken to prevent such incidents?

The lack of a standardized criminal law system among states adds to the difficulty of preventing more such actions.

In some countries, including Sweden, people are free to insult and disrespect any religion.

Ultimately, these countries face the same problem: rapid secularization of Western societies that has reduced the importance of religion.

With the loss of values, religion and culture are open to all sorts of insults under the garb of freedom of expression, from individuals such as famous poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to institutions such as the Catholic Church.

Traditional values continue to be eroded as society becomes more and more accustomed to the use of vulgar language.

The formula for a common ground to unite and hold a nation together is now sought in vague theories such as Constitutional Patriotism, under which freedom is viewed as essential.

The protection of religious values, on the other hand, has been reduced to a bare minimum and to a point where it does not even garner a response in society.

A recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has limited the freedom of religion.

It related to the case of French activist Eloise Bouton, who interrupted a Catholic Church service in Paris in December 2013 to protest the church’s stance against abortion.

A French court handed her a suspended sentence, but the decision was overturned by the ECHR in December 2022, which said it violated her freedom of expression.

However, the social dynamism in the West shows us that the positivist ideal of abandonment of religion envisaged by Auguste Comte has not materialized in the West.

On the contrary, since the 2000s, the idea of the return of religion is a more significant issue than ever.

Given the migration of Muslims to Europe, religion should be included in a wider sphere of protection, including in the secular legal dimension.

Muslims are a part of public life and the normative practice of law must be applied accordingly.

Government officials must do more than just tweet out hollow condemnations, which is what Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom did after last week’s Stockholm incident.

Officials who do not protect people’s religious values should know that they are playing into the hands of the enemies of Islam.

* Opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu.​​​​​​​