Europe's Fire Consumes 'Logic, Freedom,' Not Quran: Academic
Professor Mahmud Vaezi, Head of the School of Theology and Islamic Studies of the University of Tehran, made the remarks while addressing an IQNA-organized online seminar dubbed “Unassailable Quran” with the participation of academic figures from different countries on Tuesday.
The seminar came as a new wave of Quran desecration has started in some Scandinavian countries under the guise of freedom of expression and amid wide condemnation by Muslims worldwide who see the events as a manifestation of hatred and Islamophobia.
Vaezei started his speech with verse 82 of Surah Al-Isra which reads: “We send down in the Quran that which is a cure and mercy for the faithful; and it increases the wrongdoers only in loss.”
Europe is about to encounter a confrontation with the Quran, however, it does not involve any dialogue, debate, logic, or arguments; Instead, it will entail the burning of the physical manifestation of the Holy Quran, a religious text revered by over 2 billion Muslims worldwide, he added.
“This means nothing except ignorance in every sense. Ignorance while claiming civilization, ignorance while claiming knowledge, ignorance while claiming democracy,” he stressed.
“The lasting and human-building teachings of the Quran were not in that paper and cover. The truths of the spirituality and rationality of the Qur'an are in the souls and hearts and tongues of the believers,” added the academic figure.
“In this insult, the covers and papers of the Quran were not burned, but the honor and the pride of the European Union were burned,” Vaezi said, adding that democracy, freedom of expression, logic and truth, and the honor and dignity of governments claiming freedom were burnt.
The Holy Quran, he continued, “is the only comprehensive program by which all humans with any idea or color, race, ethnic group can have a peaceful coexistence with each other with a mutual respect in a peaceful and sincere manner.”
What follows is the full video of the scholar’s speech:
