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Thousands of Muslims took to the streets to express outrage over Quran desecration in Sweden

Hezbollah raise the Quran during a rally after Friday prayers in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, Friday, July 21, 2023. Muslim-majority nations expressed outrage Friday at the desecration of the Islamic holy book in Sweden. Following midday prayers, thousands took to the streets to show their anger, in some cases answering the call of religious and political leaders. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hezbollah raise the Quran during a rally after Friday prayers in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, Friday, July 21, 2023. Muslim-majority nations expressed outrage Friday at the desecration of the Islamic holy book in Sweden. Following midday prayers, thousands took to the streets to show their anger, in some cases answering the call of religious and political leaders. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) Hezbollah raise the Quran during a rally after Friday prayers in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, Friday, July 21, 2023. Muslim-majority nations expressed outrage Friday at the desecration of the Islamic holy book in Sweden. Following midday prayers, thousands took to the streets to show their anger, in some cases answering the call of religious and political leaders. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

By ABBY SEWELL / Associated Press 6 min read

BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of people took to the streets in a handful of Muslim-majority countries Friday to express their outrage at the desecration of a copy of the Quran in Sweden, a day after protesters stormed the country’s embassy in Iraq.

The protests in Iraq, Lebanon and Iran that followed weekly prayers were controlled and peaceful, in contrast to scenes in Baghdad on Thursday, when demonstrators occupied the Swedish Embassy compound for several hours and set a small fire.

The embassy staff had been evacuated before the storming, and Swedish news agency TT reported that they were relocated to Stockholm for security reasons.

For Muslims, any desecration of the Quran, their holy text, is abhorrent.

Under scorching heat Friday, thousands gathered in Baghdad’s Sadr City, a stronghold of influential Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr, some of whose followers took part in the attack on the Swedish Embassy. They brandished Qurans, burned the Swedish flag and the LGBTQ rainbow flag and chanted, “Yes, yes to the Quran, no, no to Israel.”