Insulting the Quran, insult to humanity, spirituality, rationality: Ayatollah Ramazani

News News of Secretary General

Monday, 24 July 2023

Ayatollah Ramazani stated, “Muslims must reach a level of power that no one anywhere in the world can insult their sanctities. I hope such events will not happen in the West in the future. Because all these actions will be to their own detriment.”

ABWA Official Website – On Monday, July 24, 2023, the seminar “Analysis of jurisprudential, legal and political dimensions of the message of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution in condemnation of burning Quran” was held at the Allameh Jafari Hall of Research Center for Culture and Thought, Tehran.

Speaking in this seminar, Ayatollah Reza Ramazani, a Seminary professor and Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, stated, “We must have a comprehensive, deep, and accurate look at the Quran. Quran is the book of life, the practice of which leads to felicity in this world and the hereafter.”

While emphasizing that “insulting the Holy Quran is the insult to humanity, spirituality, and rationality,” Ayatollah Ramazani added, “In recent decades, there have been some cases of insults to the Holy Quran everywhere in the world. But the recent case in Sweden has become a chain event that has hurt the hearts of Shiites, Muslims, and followers of religions. All these events are due to the manifestation of the Quran in the social sphere. These very social aspects of the Quran have annoyed the enemies. They include conflict with the Quran in their projects, while everyone knows that Islamophobia is due to the emergence of Islam and the Quran in the social sphere. Those who believed that “there will be no more religious revolution in today’s world, and this would be impossible,” saw the Iranian Islamic Revolution as a miracle of the Quran, and a manifestation of the Quran in the social sphere, which rejected all the theories of Western thinkers.”

Referring to the history of such insults, he recalled a part of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution’s message in 2010 in response to the burning of the Holy Quran in America, as he said, “The insane, hateful, and heinous insult to the Holy Quran in America, under the protection of the country’s police security, is a bitter and grave incident that cannot be considered as just a stupid move by a few worthless and mercenary people. This is a calculated action by the centers that have been putting Islamophobia and anti-Islam politics on their agenda for years and have been fighting Islam and the Quran with hundreds of methods and thousands of propaganda and operational tools. This malicious act is not the beginning of a movement, but rather a stage of the long process of anti-Islamism led by Zionism and the American regime. Now all the leaders of arrogance and disbelief are standing against Islam. Islam is the religion of human freedom and spirituality, and the Quran is the book of mercy, wisdom, and justice. It is the duty of all freedom-seekers of the world, and all Abrahamic religions, to stand with Muslims against the dirty policy of anti-Islamism and its despicable methods.”

Introducing the messages of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution at that time and for recent events as strategic for the Islamic Ummah, Ayatollah Ramazani stated, “For a peaceful life with all mankind, Muslims are ready in every way. But if they face the tyranny of those who want to attack Islam and insult it, it will not be acceptable for them.”

Describing the comprehensive presence of Islam in the spheres of life and paying attention to the ideals of the Revolution as among the most significant achievements of the Islamic Republic, the Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly stated, “Islam has emerged in the social sphere, claiming to rule in the postmodern era, and Liberalism cannot stand this power. West and East have always tried to subvert or limit religion. They could not eliminate the religion as a whole. Therefore, they try to limit it to the individual sphere of life. They are trying to institutionalize desecration. This is very important. In the West, it was said that “insulting the Prophet Jesus, Lady Mary, and other sanctities is common.” They should change their conceptual literature. It is unacceptable that they insult human sanctities under the pretext of freedom of speech.”

Referring to the clarification of the concept of freedom in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Ayatollah Ramazani said, “This declaration has given the freedom to mankind unless it causes harassment to others. Although these insults are not physical, they are mental harassment, which is much worse than physical harassment. Burning the Quran has hurt the hearts of more than two billion Muslims. However, these insults will definitely not come to fruition.”

In advising the elites and lawyers of the world, he added, “It is necessary that the lawyers of the world study the legal dimensions of such an action, which has caused mental and emotional harassment to more than two billion Muslims, even the followers of all religions and all of humanity. Intellectuals should enter and investigate the different aspects of this problem. The West should also clarify its role in this regard. The double standard of the West is not acceptable. All this while the Pope has also forbidden insulting the holy things under the pretext of freedom of speech.”

While clarifying that the criminalization of insulting the divine Prophets and Imams (a.s.) has been discussed in detail in Islamic jurisprudence books, the professor of higher levels of Qom seminary pointed out, “In the West, once, insulting sacred things was considered a crime, but today it is not. If the West does not accept the crime of insulting sacred things, including divine books, prophets, etc., it will lead to unfortunate events in the world. International organizations, the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, ulama, and religious intellectuals should enter into this matter and discuss the criminalization of insulting holy things from a legal point of view. The perpetrators of this recent and unfortunate event also, which has hurt the hearts of more than four billion followers of Abrahamic religions, should be severely punished.”

Pointing out the fate of Salman Rushdie, the author of the book Satanic Verses, he added, “In such insults, neither the Muslims will fail, nor the insulters will have a peaceful day. Perhaps the perception of insulting holy things in secular countries is different from Islamic and Muslim countries. But they should know that Islamic countries and individual Muslims do not tolerate such actions. They will realize in the future what mistake they made. It is unfortunate that the Swedish government was complicit in this criminal act.”

“Muslims must reach a level of power that no one anywhere in the world can insult their sanctities. Western countries need to know that today there is an intellectual, spiritual, and moral power in the world called Islam, which can answer many questions in the human system that the West is facing a crisis in answering. I hope such events will not happen in the West in the future. Because all these actions will be to their own detriment,” Ayatollah Ramazani expressed hope at the end of his speech.

It is worth mentioning that Ayatollah Ali Akbar Rashad, Ayatollah Ahmad Muballeghi, Ayatollah Reza Ramazani, Hojat al-Islam Dr. Mohammad Mahdi Imanipour, and Dr. Mahmoud Hekmatnia gave speeches in the scientific seminar “Analysis of jurisprudential, legal and political dimensions of the message of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution in condemnation of burning Quran.”

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AhlulBayt (a_s_) World Assembly Ayatollah Ramazani Quran rationality spirituality