Swedish parliament urged to dispel misconceptions about Islam

• Sanjrani urges Riksdag to highlight importance of interfaith harmony.
• “It is incumbent upon us to educate people", Sanjrani to Swedish speaker.
• Sanjrani offers to travel to Sweden to dispel misconceptions about Islam.

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has written a letter to Swedish Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlen regarding the recent incident of desecration of the Holy Quran in the Scandinavian nation.

In the letter, the Senate chairman urged the Riksdag — the Swedish parliament — to highlight the importance of interfaith harmony and dispel misconceptions about Islam.

“It is incumbent upon us, as representatives of our people, to guide and educate our people, fostering an environment that encourages tolerance, respect, and empathy among different faiths, religions and communities,” the Senate chairman said in the letter on Tuesday.

Highlighting the importance of interfaith harmony for regional and global stability, Sanjrani said: “If you [Swedish speaker] deem fit, I can travel to the Kingdom of Sweden to address the Riksdag and dispel any misconceptions about Islam.”

“I believe that in such a modem era where we are all interconnected in this global village, there should be no more room or excuse for abuse and desecration of holy personalities, scriptures and religious sentiments of any community,” he added.

He appreciated the Swedish government for “making it unequivocally clear that such actions are not reflective of Swedish state policies and are rightly condemned as Islamophobic”.

“However, we seem to be far from our goals of ensuring world peace, tolerance and interfaith harmony. I represent a nation deeply committed to these principles, and I strongly believe that there is much that we as parliamentarians and world leaders can do to prevent such actions which can disturb world peace,” he added.

Sanjrani said a person is not considered a Muslim until they believe in all the preceding prophets of the existing Abrahamic religions and their holy books.

“This is the respect and stature of other religions in Islam, yet frequent Islamophobic incidents prevail and are often swept under the rug in the guise of freedom of expression,” he added.

He further said that the disrespect towards Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the Holy Quran inflict immeasurable pain upon Muslims.

“It is crucial that this reality is understood and acknowledged, and steps are taken to prevent such acts from occurring through our national and global efforts.”

The recent desecration of the Holy Quran, like other similar incidents in the past, is rooted in a lack of understanding, and misconceptions about religion that must be dispelled. “It is incumbent upon all of us to educate ourselves and others, promoting understanding, tolerance, and interfaith harmony.”

The development came after the latest incident of the Holy Quran's desecration in Sweden when a man set a copy of the sacred book ablaze outside a mosque in the country's capital city on the eve of Eid ul Adha.

Salwan Momika, 37, who fled from Iraq to Sweden several years ago, stomped on the holy book and set several pages alight as Muslims around the world began marking the Eid ul Adha holiday and as the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia was drawing to a close.