Annisa Essack | kzn@radioislam.org.za
25 August 2023 | 15:00 CAT
1 min read

Photo Credit: Justitia-int.org

On Friday, Denmark’s justice minister announced that the country will prohibit the burning of the Quran, which is considered Islam’s sacred text.

Certain opposition parties have raised objections to a ban proposed by the Danish government, citing concerns over the potential violation of freedom of speech. The government, however, maintains its stance and dismisses these objections.

A new bill has been announced by Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard to prevent the mistreatment of religious objects that hold significant importance to a community. The legislation targets public burnings and other forms of desecration to ensure that such acts are not committed in the future.

“The proposal will thus make it punishable to, for example, in public burn a Quran, bible or Torah,” he said, adding: “I fundamentally believe there are more civilised ways to express one’s views than burning things.”

There have been several incidents in Denmark and Sweden recently involving the burning or damaging of copies of the Quran, which seem to be motivated by hostility towards the Islamic faith. This has understandably caused an uproar in many Muslim countries, leading to calls for the Nordic nations to ban this behaviour.

In response, Sweden has raised its terror alert level to the second-highest level due to concerns about potential attacks from individuals outraged by these actions.