The Quran is a religious text for the Muslims. It is considered holy and a book that was sent by God to his people through the Prophet Muhammad. The book consists of religious teachings for Muslims and explains in depth the expectations of God for his people. Through the Quran, Allah sends his message to Muslims. The Islamic religions such as the Sheikhs and the Imams use the book in the mosque while teaching Muslims. The book forms a fundamental pillar of the practices that Muslims undergo.

Why would one think of burning the Quran or any other religious text that is considered holy? Surely, even if Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism or Islam are not a part of your belief system, it would be more than uncivilized to just sit and plot the burning of such a book. Even if you feel that what others worship is not right, the worst thing you can do is to take what they consider holy and burn it. Did Jesus burn the bible or the Quran? What of the prophet Muhammad, did he hate the Christians? Surely, Jesus did not burn the Quran, and neither did the Prophet Muhammad harbor hatred for other people and religious leaders.

As a Christian, Buddhist, Hindi or a Jew, why would you burn a religious book? Remember, it is only those who are insane – the crazy people – who would take such a barbaric action as burning the Quran. The best thing you can do, if you do not think Islam is up to your taste, is to refrain. Being loving, and showing concern for other religions or appreciating those with whom you do not share the same background, religious ideology, or political views is the best thing to do. It is high time people should learn to appreciate the diversity of the people of the world. Tolerate other religions, praise their cultural practices and do not be a bigot.

Governments that do not support religious interference have found a number of people who are guilty of the mere planning of burning the Quran. Those who have taken part in such activities have earned a good ticket to jail. Some have been sentenced for life. You do not want to fall victim to this fate. A lady in America, and in another instance in Pakistan, just but to mention a few, will serve a term in jail, just because they wanted to burn the Quran. How can you burn a book that advocates for holiness, service, and worship to God in truth and honesty?

Why would you burn the Quran when it gives guidance to humanity on how we can live in harmony with others? The same Quran that you plan to burn is the book that teaches people to act in compassionate ways. The Islamic religion is one of the foremost religions that teaches people how they can take care of the needy in society. The widows, the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the children, the sick, and every other person who falls into this category: The Quran insists that they should be assisted.

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A Muslim family who had just moved into a new home are "disgusted" after a cross wrapped in ham was set alight and left on their doorstep.

Police are investigating the incident which happened in Bingham on Tuesday evening.

The family do not want to be identified but the dad, a 39-year-old who was recently made redundant from his job as a collection agent for Royal Bank of Scotland, said:

"There was a knock on the door and I went to open it. Nobody was there, but the cross was propped up against the door. It was alight, and it fell into the house when I opened the door. I noticed sliced ham was tied to it."

Consumption of pork and ham or any "flesh of swine" is forbidden in Islam.

The family had lived in West Bridgford but the 31-year-old mum and two boys, aged eight and 10, moved to Bingham about three weeks ago after the parents separated. The dad still lives in West Bridgford, but was in the house in Edinburgh Drive, Bingham, on Tuesday helping the family settle in.

He added: "I'm disgusted and shocked. My wife is in bits – she's very angry and in fear of her life. I don't want to leave my wife and kids here."

Neighbours were shocked by the incident.

Sarah Winter, 32, of nearby Hill Drive said: "It's awful. I see the lady walking her kids to school and, as a mum myself, I really feel for her. What a terrible thing to have happened. I've lived here all my life and I've never heard of anything like this before."

Flora Smith, 71, also of Hill Drive said: "I'm shocked to hear that has happened. I wouldn't say people in this area are racist at all. Putting something like that outside someone's house is very upsetting and I'm very shocked about it."

A resident of Edinburgh Drive, who did not want to be named, added: "Straightaway you think 'that must mean something' for someone to have gone to the lengths of putting a cross with ham on it together."

Police said they were investigating the incident, which happened in at 6.40pm, and appealed for anyone who may have seen someone running away from the scene to call 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A spokeswoman said police were also still investigating two incidents in recent months where graffiti had been daubed on an Asian takeaway in Bingham.

Nottingham Post, 22 November 2012

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The Pentagon is appealing to Florida pastor Terry Jones against repeating last year's burning of the Qur'ran and images of Muhammad that led to widespread rioting and deaths round the world.

US officials are monitoring the situation and the military is fearful for the lives of American soldiers in Afghanistan and elsewhere if Jones goes ahead with his plan, announced on his website, to set fire to the Qur'an next week.

Jones, pastor of the Dove World Outreach Centre in Gainesville, Florida and self-appointed scourge of Islam, has set a deadline of 5pm on Saturday April 28 for his demands to be met for the release of a Christian religious leader in Iran. If the Iranian cleric Youcef Nadarkhani is still imprisoned, Jones says he will set fire to a Qur'an and multiple images of Muhammad.

The threat from Jones comes on top of a row over the publication this week by the Los Angeles Times of pictures showing US troops with dismembered bodies in Afghanistan in 2010 and the apparently accidental burning of Qur'ans and Islamic religious documents by US troops at Bagram airport in Afghanistan in February that left 41 dead and more than 200 injured.

The last time Jones organised such a spectacle was on March 20 last year when he burned a Qur'an dressed in a judicial robe in the grounds of his church. The act prompted attacks on a UN compound in Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan in which seven UN employees died, and there were other fatal protests around the region.

Asked by the Guardian whether the cost in terms of lives lost of his previous escapade did not make him pause, Jones said that the impact of his Qur'an burning was not his responsibility. "What happened last time and what could happen this time is not our responsibility. All we did was burn a book. It posed no threat to anyone else, yet riots broke out several thousand miles away – which just proves how extreme Islam is."

Guardian, 20 April 2012

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