Hezbollah Ups The Ante On Quran Desecration, Says Muslims Should 'Punish' Perpetrators If Govt Doesn't

Hezbollah chief's remarks came in the wake of recent incidents where the Holy Quran was burned or otherwise desecrated at authorized demonstrations in Sweden and Denmark.

Supporters of Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah.

Source : Getty Images

New Delhi: The leader of Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah said that if the governments of Muslim-majority nations do not act against countries that "allow" the desecration of the Quran, Muslims should “punish” those who facilitate attacks on Islam’s holy book, news agency AP reported.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s comments came in a video address to the Shia Muslims in Beirut’s southern suburbs to mark Ashura on Saturday.

According to the AP report, Nasrallah’s remarks came in the wake of recent incidents where the Holy Quran was burned or otherwise desecrated at authorized demonstrations in Sweden and Denmark.

He further said that the Muslims should watch for the outcome of an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to be held in Baghdad on Monday to discuss the organization’s response to the Quran desecration.

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The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and its member states should “send a firm, decisive and unequivocal message to these governments that any repeat of the attacks will be met with a boycott,” Nasrallah said, adding “If they do not, Muslim youth should punish the desecrators.”

Nasrallah, however, did not elaborate what such a boycott and punishment should entail, according to AP.

During his video address, members of the crowd carrying banners with religious slogans alongside the flags of Hezbollah, Lebanon and Palestine, chanted, “Oh, Quran, we are at your service; Oh, Hussein, we are at your service.”

It is to be noted that millions of Shiite Muslims in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and around the world marked Ashura on Friday, while on Saturday they marked the culmination of the observances in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.

Shiites constitute over 10% of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslim population and view Hussein as the rightful successor to Prophet Muhammad.