Insult Islam and get killed

In a horrific and targeted killing, an Iraqi refugee who burnt the Quran in Sweden was shot dead in his apartment on Jan. 30. Salwan Momika, 38, was an Assyrian Catholic who fled to Sweden several years ago. Back in 2023, he arranged for several burnings of Islam’s scripture and videoed them in open protest of how this book caused harm and spread hate against non-Muslims around the world. He was given permission by the government to burn the Quran under free speech regulations. In some of his videos, Momika conveys a desire to establish that no ideology is above evaluation and no religious system is untouchable. For Momika, the Quran incites violence against non-Muslims and should be exposed.

When Momika arranged the Quran burning, many Muslims and non-Muslims across the globe condemned the action. Some Christians argued that the best way forward is not to burn the Quran but to critique its ideas and evaluate its claims, showing the world their inconsistencies and untruthfulness.

However, this young Iraqi man is now dead—massacred execution style—only because he dared to desecrate Islam’s scripture.

Islam has a severe problem. It appears as the only major world religion whose followers, driven by doctrine, seek to crush anyone who dares to question its religious figures, creeds, or tenets. The list of critics of Islam who were harmed by Muslims is long. It includes Dutchman Theo van Gogh (d. 2004), the journalists at Charlie Hebdo (d. 2015), French school teacher Samuel Paty (d. 2020), Salman Rushdie (stabbed in 2022), and Assyrian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel (stabbed in 2024).

Islam’s problem with freedom of expression is not new. It began with its founder himself and was strengthened through authoritative Islamic texts that Muslims deem sacred.

In Muhammad’s biography, we read of a Jewish woman who insulted him. To defend Muhammad, a Muslim man “strangled her till she died.” Instead of condemning the Muslim man, Muhammad “declared that no recompense was payable for her blood.” Islam, as written, boasts in killing critics to defend Muhammad. This tale of Muhammad appears to exhort Muslims to come to his defense at all costs, portraying their major prophet as a man who neither forgave her nor condemned her killer.

This is why Momika is killed, as he had questioned and burned Muhammad’s book, the Quran, and dared to call it a book that incites violence against non-Muslims. The murder of Momika proved his argument was correct.

Islam, as an ideology, seems to play by different rules, claiming a supreme right not to be offended. It clearly has a problem with not only freedom of expression but freedom of religion.

Every non-Muslim can convert to Islam freely, by stating just one sentence—that’s all! But once one converts to Islam, one can never deny the faith, as abandoning Islam is a crime punishable by death under Islamic law. One is free to enter, but not to exit Islam. Who established this horrifying law? We go back again to the founder of Islam, who stated: “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.” Based on Muhammad’s assertions many Muslim-majority countries today apply laws against abandoning Islam, labeling them apostasy laws.

If anyone thinks these are horrifying texts and their application is against humanity, wait until you examine Islamic jurisprudence laws which multiply these inhumane rulings hundredfold.

But if “apostasy” laws work in Muslim-majority countries to shield Islam against insult and abandonment, what is the problem with Islam in western nations?

Cowardice and political correctness.

In many Western nations, thinkers, politicians, and media pundits strive to shield Islam against criticism, lest they be labeled racists, bigots, or Islamophobes. This is evidenced by how Swedish prosecutors charged Momika with “offenses of agitation against an ethnic or national group” for burning the Quran. They claimed he “treated the Quran in a manner intended to express contempt for Muslims because of their faith.” Politicians shield Islam against criticism and creates hostility against any thinker who genuinely seeks to evaluate Islam and its claims critically.

This is wrong and should be opposed at all costs. Western societies will fall if this becomes the pattern of treating critics of any ideology, especially Islam. We should all support free speech against not only radical Muslims who are eager to retaliate in defense of Allah and Muhammad, but also the so-called liberal thinkers who act as social warriors to shield Islam, labeling any critic of Islam as a bigot, Islamophobic, or racist.

Humanity should mourn the death of a man who dared to speak openly against an ideology that seeks to silence anyone who challenges or criticizes it. Our world is not helped by shielding Islam against critical evaluation. The world should continue to expose all ideologies equally. We should all protect free speech without fear of retaliation. Momika’s death is a warning to all.