Below is the text of the letter of the Office of the Supreme Religious Authority; Sayed. Ali al-Sistani, to the Secretary-General of the United Nations regarding the attack on a copy of the Holy Quran with a license from the Swedish police:
In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful
His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres, distinguished Secretary-General of the United Nations
Greetings with respect and appreciation
After: the media reported that someone in the kingdom of Sweden attacked a copy of the Holy Quran and burned some of its papers, in order to offend the true Islamic religion.
This disgraceful act has happened more than once in different countries in recent years, but it is noteworthy that this time it was signed with an official license from the Swedish police, claiming that it was a requirement to respect freedom of expression!
However, it is certain that respect for freedom of expression does not justify licensing such a shameful act, which represents a flagrant attack on the sanctities of more than two billion Muslims in the world, and leads to creating an environment conducive to the spread of extremist ideas and wrong practices.
The Supreme Religious Authority, expressing its condemnation of what happened, calls on the United Nations to take effective steps to prevent the recurrence of such incidents and push states to reconsider the legislation that allows them to occur, and calls for the establishment of the values of peaceful coexistence between followers of different religions and intellectual approaches based on the care of rights and mutual respect between all.
Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf
10/12/1444 AH corresponding to 29/06/2023