Yumna Moosa – yumna@radioislam.co.za

 9 March 2023 | 2 minute read | 16:30 CAT

On Tuesday, 7 March 2023, a delegation from the United Ulama Council of South Africa met with Ambassador Hakan Juholt and the deputy head of mission Mr Christian Fogelstrom at the Embassy of Sweden in Pretoria. This had followed after a request for the meeting, due to the atrocious burning of the Holy Quran by a Danish-Swedish politician, Rasmus Paludan, in Stockholm earlier this year.  The UUCSA gave an overview of the profile of Muslims in South Africa and had raised awareness to the concern over the rise of extremism which had taken place under police guard.

Amassador Juholt expressed his appreciation for the initiating dialogue and stated that it was critical in responding to the rise of extremism across the globe. He further explained that the majority of the Swedish population was inclined to a peaceful coexistence across the religious divide. However, when asked about the muted response from the Swedish government, the ambassador said that the current debate is on whether Paludan should be jailed for a hate crime.

UUCSA had submitted a memorandum to the ambassador which states that the burning of the Holy Quran has offended the 1.9 billion Muslims in the world, and that this acts has become a symbolic call for the marginalization of Muslims. The memorandum further explained that this created an environment in which Islamophobia was normalized, which resulted in a hostile and dangerous environment for Muslims.

The Swedish ambassadors had ended the meeting by asking the delegation to consider further dialogue and engagement so that ways of dealing with xenophobia and extremism could be tackled.