• Statements
• 10 Thul-Hijja 1444

Letter of the office of the Grand Ayatollah Al-Sayyid Al-Sistani to the UN general secretary regarding the desecration of a copy of the holy quran under the license of the Swedish police

In the name of God the. most merciful the most compassionate
To the honorable Mr António Guterres, the general secretary of the UN,
We send our kind regards with our respect and appreciation.
The international media has reported that someone in Sweden has desecrated a copy of the holy Quran and burnt some of its pages. The objective has been to insult the Islamic religion.
Variants of this dishonorable action have occurred in several countries in recent years. However, this time, it is remarkable that the Swedish police has given an official license under the pretext of freedom of expression.
It is certain that respect for the freedom of expression does not justify at all this shameful action which represents a blatant attack on the sacred items of more than two billion Muslims globally. This leads to the creation of a fertile environment for extermist ideas and wrong actions.
The Marjiyeah expresses its condemnation and denunciation of what happened. Furthermore, it asks the United Nation to take effective steps to prevent similar actions, and to push countries to rewrite the laws permitting its reoccurrence. The Marjiyeah calls for instilling the values of peaceful coexistence between different religions and thought schools based on respecting rights and mutual respect between everyone.

Office of Grand Ayatolla Al-Sayyid Al-Sistani
Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf
June 29th, 2023