Nigeria and 56 other countries, members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), have jointly expressed their condemnation of the recent act of burning several pages of the Quran by an Iraqi refugee living in Sweden.

The OIC, representing the collective voice of the Muslim world, aims to defend the interests of its member states.

With a membership spanning 57 states across four continents, the OIC is the second largest organization globally, after the United Nations.

Reports stated that Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi national, burnt the holy book outside a mosque in Sweden on the first day of Eid al-Adha.

The Swedish government denounced this act as an “Islamophobic” incident that targeted the Muslim community.

Last week, the government charged Mr. Momika with incitement against an ethnic or national group.

The OIC, in a statement released after a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, emphasised the importance of sending a clear message to the international community regarding the prohibition of “religious hatred” under international law.

Hissein Brahim Taha, the OIC Secretary-General, stressed that “There is a need for constant reminders about the urgent application of these laws to prevent any advocacy of religious hatred.”

In another development, the Federal Administrative Court of Germany has designated the Blue Mosque, an Islamic center in Hamburg, as an “extremist Islamic organization.”

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution had previously classified the operations of the Blue Mosque as being associated with extremist Islamist organizations in 2018 and 2019.

The OIC, through its Islamophobia Observatory, has been mandated to monitor the trend of Islamophobia and provide regular reports to member states. It is encouraged to collaborate with member states, international communities, the UN Human Rights mechanism, and other relevant international entities to address this phenomenon effectively.

The Islamophobia Observatory, which operates as a dedicated unit within the OIC General Secretariat, carries out its mandate primarily by monitoring events and incidents on a daily basis.

This enables the OIC to stay informed and take necessary measures to combat Islamophobia.