Dr. Saeed Ahmad Ali
LAHORE, Jul 06 (APP): Looking into the ancient history of religions, one comes to know that the prophets and messengers of Allah were blessed with miracles to prove the truth of their respective claims.
Notably, all prophets were not given identical miracles. Like, Prophet ‘Musa’ (A.S) was given the staff (a rod), which could turn into a serpent; Prophet ‘Isa’ (A.S) was given the ability to cure the leper and blind, and bring the dead back to life.
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was bestowed with the holy Qur’an from Almighty as a miracle. The difference between all other miracles and the miracle of the Qur’an is that the other miracles were for those who witnessed them physically or those which ended with the death of the prophets. And, for the people of these ages, those miracles are only tales, which may be believed or suspected by people, according to their mindset. But the Qur’an, the living miracle, is always available with everyone, who wanted to benefit from it. It is a book from Almighty, which is complete in itself; it claims and brings the proof within itself. Its miracles, even in this world of capsules and molecules, are being unfolded every day. As long as the Sun rises in the East, and sets in the West, the Qur’an will stay as the final miracle of God.
Allah Almighty claims the responsibility to safeguard the holy Quran by describing it in the following wording:
“Surely, We (Allah Almighty) have revealed this reminder (The Qur’an); and We will surely preserve it Ourself.”
Holy Quran is the written and revealed philosophy of religion of Islam and its practical model is the life of Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW). It adopts a system based upon truth and justice in every sphere of life and human liberty, a requirement of every society, and Islam, in particular, has placed emphasis on establishment of these values.
It builds human society on the foundations of affirm brotherhood, releases humanity from any kind of tyranny or oppression, and gives equality, freedom, justice and dignity.
This system of justice and equity was put forth and submitted as an ideal model by Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in such a way that no scope was left for injustice and exploitation.
After the Holy Prophet, the true companions and the Ahl-ul-Bayt made great efforts to sustain the prophetic code of justice and to preserve it from deterioration.
Instead of paying respects, on last Wednesday, when Muslim community around the globe was celebrating Eidul Azha, an execrable man in Stockholm desecrated and burned the holy Quran outside a mosque, drawing widespread condemnation, including from the governments of Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
On Sunday, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a group of 57 Muslim states, summoned an urgent meeting and stressed collective measures and enactment of an international law to stop religious hatred. The Muslim states must send constant reminders to the international community for urgent enactment of an international law, which clearly prohibits any advocacy of religious hatred, the OIC said in a statement, displayed at its official website.
Likewise, Pope Francis condemned the desecration of Quran incident in Sweden, saying he felt “angry and disgusted” to see the Muslim holy book desecrated.
In an interview, published on Monday in the United Arab Emirates newspaper Al Ittihad, the pope said: “Any book considered holy should be respected to respect those who believe in it.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will hold an urgent meeting on the burning of a copy of Quran outside a mosque in Sweden, following a request from Pakistan. The debate on the rise of religious hatred will likely take place later this week, a spokesperson for the Geneva-based UN Council said in a press briefing on last Tuesday.
Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi told APP that the abhorrent act of the holy Quran’s desecration in Sweden badly hurt the religious sentiments of 1.5 billion Muslims across the world. While condemning the incident in the strongest terms, he said that it could be a plot to fuel the anti-Muslim violence under the pretext of advocating freedom of speech in the world. He said that the forces believing in peace and interfaith harmony should play their role at the international level to get rid of such negative trends.
Condemning the incident, Majlis Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen (MWM) leader and scholar Allama Hasan Hamdani urged the Swedish government to adopt strict measures to prevent recurrence of such shameful and disgraceful incidents in future, adding that the government of Sweden should not allow radical and extremist elements to spread hatred against Islamic sanctities and values.
He also urged the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and United States Commission on International Religious Freedom to take punitive action against an execrable person in Sweden for desecrating the divine command.
The government of Pakistan would observe Youm-e-Taqaddus-e-Quran (Quran’s Sanctity Day) on July 7 and hold countrywide protest demonstrations against desecration of Holy Quran in Sweden. Besides, the government convened a joint session of the parliament on July 6 to discuss and formulate a national strategy on the issue and represent the nation’s sentiments and feelings through the parliamentary forum.
