Al-Azhar ash-Sharif condemns the crime of tearing up a copy of the Holy Quran, committed by an American right-wing extremist inside a church in the city of New York, United States. Al-Azhar stresses that this heinous crime is an explicit form of extremism, terrorism, and a deliberate provocation of the sentiments of Muslims in the United States and worldwide. Such dreadful act can, in no way, be accepted or justified under the guise of so-called freedom of expression, which is only invoked when it comes to the sanctities of Muslims. There is no freedom in violating the sanctities of others or insulting their religious beliefs and symbols.
Al-Azhar affirms that Allah Almighty has pledged to preserve His Noble Book from the enemies of Islam, humanity and peace, and that the Holy Quran will remain in its sublime loftiness, a book guiding humanity and illuminating its path toward the values of goodness, truth, and beauty; indeed, its sanctity can neither be diminished by the malice of spiteful ones, nor by the actions of those consumed by fanaticism, malice, and hostility, nor by the sick souls of those with dark records of spreading chaos, hatred, and undermining the security and stability of societies.
Al-Azhar further asserts that this crime demonstrates the growing tide of Islamophobia, hostility towards Muslims, white nationalist tendencies and white supremacist rhetoric adopted by far-right movements, accompanied by incitement to hatred and violence against Muslims. Al-Azhar underscores that terrorism and extremism are not associated with any religion or ethnicity, and that confronting extremism requires condemning all its forms without selectivity or double standards.
Al-Azhar denounces the exploitation of places of worship to commit such inflammatory actions, underlining that places of worship must remain spaces dedicated to peace, prayer, coexistence and acceptance of others, not arenas for insulting religious sanctities or inciting hatred. Al-Azhar calls for an urgent investigation and accountability for the extremist who committed this crime, as well as anyone who participated, incited or facilitated it, and applying the law against them without leniency.
Al-Azhar, thereby, warns that tolerance of hate crimes only encourages their recurrence, stressing that respecting religious sanctities and protecting their followers from incitement and hatred is an inherent responsibility that must be upheld by all.
