Al-Azhar University calls for boycott of Dutch, Swedish products

ANKARA (AA) – Egypt’s Al-Azhar University has called for a boycott of Dutch and Swedish products amid anger over the desecration of the Quran in the two European countries.

On Sunday, Edwin Wagensveld, a far-right Dutch politician and leader of the Islamophobic group Pegida, carried out a despicable act of desecration and filmed it for social media. It followed a similar Islamophobic incident on Saturday in Sweden, in which a Danish extremist desecrated the Quran outside the Turkish embassy.

It is noteworthy that this event was staged after an express approval obtained from the Swedish state police. The police protected the Islamophobic criminals as they carried out their actions.

In a statement, Al-Azhar called on the Muslim world “to boycott all Dutch and Swedish products and to take a strong and unified stance in support of our Noble Quran, the sacred scripture of the Muslims, and as a proper reaction to the governments of these two countries, who have offended 1.5 billion Muslims.”

“They have gone to excess in guarding the mean and barbaric crimes perpetrated under the specious inhumane and immoral banner or their so-called freedom of expression,” it added.

The religious institution called on all Muslims “to adhere to the boycott, and to educate children, youth and women about it.”

“These deviants will never appreciate the value of the religion – about which they know nothing – or be deterred unless they face the challenging material, monetary and economic necessities. That is the only language they know,” the statement said.