The Office of His Eminence, Ayatullah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, communicated a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, regarding the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden. A translation of this letter can be found below.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
To His Excellency Mr. António Guterres Secretary-General of the United Nations Greetings with respect and appreciation, It has been reported in the media that someone in the Kingdom of Sweden desecrated a copy of the Holy Quran, with the aim of insulting the religion of Islam.
This disgraceful behavior has occurred more than once in different countries in recent years, but it is noticeable that this time it took place with an official permit from the Swedish police, claiming that it is a requirement of respect for freedom of expression!
However, it is certain that respect for freedom of expression does not justify permitting such a shameful act, which represents a flagrant attack on the sanctities of more than two billion Muslims in the world, and creates an environment conducive to the spread of extremist ideas and wrong practices. The Supreme Religious authority condemns what happened and calls on the United Nations to take effective steps to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents, press countries to reconsider legislations that allow such occurrences, and call for establishing the values of peaceful coexistence between followers of different religions and intellectual backgrounds based on caring for rights and mutual respect for all.
The Office of Sayyid al-Sistani, Najaf
10 Dhu al-Hijjah, 1444 A.H
6/29/2023
Original Letter in arabic: https://www.sistani.org/files-
new/Archeives//Bians/1444h/29-06-2023/29-06-2023h.pdf