Sudanese religious scholars condemn Koran desecration

KHARTOUM, May 20, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) — Sudanese religious scholars have condemned the desecration of the Holy Koran which took place in the Guantanamo detention centre.

The US magazine, Newsweek, whose story of alleged desecration of a Koran holy book sparked deadly protests in Muslim countries, said that its report might have been wrong. The report in Newsweek’s May 9 issue sparked protests across the Muslim world from Afghanistan, where 16 were killed and more than 100 injured, to Pakistan, India, Indonesia and Gaza.

The scholars, who demonstrated in front of the US embassy in Khartoum, pointed to the need for respecting holy books and holding them sacred, the Sudanese TV reported.

The angry march started from the Two Niles’ Mosque at the Holy Koran University in support of God’s Holy Koran. The marchers condemned the desperate attempts to desecrate the Holy Koran and stressed that this criminal attack on the sanctity of the Holy Koran makes it the Muslims’ responsibility to combat it with all the legitimate means on all the social, cultural and ideological fronts.

The dean of the Holy Koran University Suleiman Osman addressed the crowd in front of the US embassy by indicating that the Islamic civilization has stressed the Muslims’ respect for all the godly religions.

The desecration of the Holy Koran is in contradiction with the values and conventions of civilization.

Suleiman Osman said “the immoral, disgraceful and uncivilized behaviour of some elements in the US forces is definite proof that the level of moral and human values has declined in American society”.

The Holy Koran University handed a memorandum of protest over to the US charge d’affaires in Sudan against the US humiliation of the Holy Koran.

The memo requested a public and sincere apology to the Muslims, and the handing over of the perpetrators of this crime for an open international trial which Muslims can follow as a guarantee not to see a repetition of this aggression against human rights and religious freedom.

Material provided by the BBC Monitoring Service.