麻豆影视

Skip to main content

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader urges Muslims to 'punish' Quran desecrators if governments fail to do so

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah speaks via a video link during activities marking the Shiite Muslim holy day of Ashoura, the Shiite Muslim commemoration marking the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, July 29, 2023. Nasrallah said Saturday that if the governments of Muslim-majority nations do not take action against countries that allow the desecration of the Quran, it is the responsibility of Muslims to "punish" those who facilitate attacks on the Islamic holy book. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah speaks via a video link during activities marking the Shiite Muslim holy day of Ashoura, the Shiite Muslim commemoration marking the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, July 29, 2023. Nasrallah said Saturday that if the governments of Muslim-majority nations do not take action against countries that allow the desecration of the Quran, it is the responsibility of Muslims to "punish" those who facilitate attacks on the Islamic holy book. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Share
BAGHDAD -

The leader of Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah said Saturday that if 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.

The comments by Hassan Nasrallah came in a video address to tens of thousands gathered in Beirut's southern suburbs to mark Ashoura, a Shiite holy day commemorating the 7th century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein.

Nasrallah often uses religious occasions to send political messages to followers, and on Saturday slammed recent incidents in which the Quran was burned or otherwise desecrated at authorized demonstrations in Sweden and Denmark.

He said Muslims should watch for the outcome of an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, scheduled to take place in Baghdad on Monday to discuss the organization's response to the Quran burnings.

The organization 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. If they do not, he said, Muslim youth should "punish the desecrators."

He did not elaborate what such a boycott and punishment should entail.

Members of the crowd, who carried 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."

Shiites represent over 10% of the world's 1.8 billion Muslims and view Hussein as the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Hussein's death in battle at the hands of Sunnis at Karbala, south of Baghdad, ingrained a deep rift in Islam and continues to this day to play a key role in shaping Shiite identity.

Millions of Shiite Muslims in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and around the world on Friday commemorated Ashoura, while Saturday marked the culmination of the observances in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gathered in the Iraqi city of Karbala, where Hussein is entombed in a gold-domed shrine. In the streets of the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City, mourners gathered to watch reenactments of the Battle of Karbala and Hussein's death.

In the streets, young men clad in black and white slashed their heads with swords and knives to demonstrate their grief. Friends swabbed each other's heads with tissues and handed each other water.

In Syria's capital, Damascus, the crowds were mourning not only the death of Hussein but a deadly attack in the suburb of Sayida Zeinab, home to a shrine to Zeinab, the daughter of the first Shiite imam, Ali, and granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad.

A bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded there on Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens more. On Tuesday, another bomb in a motorcycle had wounded two people.

On Friday, the Islamic State group -- a Sunni militant group that often targets Shiites -- claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying Thursday's bombing came "during their annual polytheistic rituals." The group's extreme interpretation of Islam holds Shiite Muslims to be apostates.

------

Associated Press writers Anmar Khalil in Karbala, Iraq, and Hassan Ammar in Beirut contributed to this report.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Why brain aging can vary dramatically between people

Researchers are uncovering deeper insights into how the human brain ages and what factors may be tied to healthier cognitive aging, including exercising, avoiding tobacco, speaking a second language or even playing a musical instrument.

The union representing some 1,200 dockworkers at the Port of Montreal has overwhelmingly rejected a deal with their employers association.

A man who was critically injured in a police-involved shooting in Hamilton late Sunday afternoon has died in hospital, says the province鈥檚 police watchdog.

Local Spotlight

For the second year in a row, the 鈥楪ift-a-Family鈥 campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.

Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.

A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.

As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.

A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts 鈥 not for themselves, but for those in need.

A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.

Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.

A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.