Saudi Arabia on Wednesday condemns the Paris-based Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine for publishing blasphemous material about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
“The Kingdom condemns the magazine for mocking Islam and the personality of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the Prophet of guidance and compassion,” a Foreign Ministry official said, adding “there is no justification for this deliberate abuse of Islam, hurting the feelings of 1.5 billion Muslims around the world.”
Freedom of expression does not endorse insulting religious faith, pointed out the Kingdom.
The Foreign Ministry official while restating Riyadh’s condemnation of the terrorist attack on the magazine’s headquarters said, “We call upon everybody to keep away from creating hatred against Islam and Muslims.”
Yusuf Al-Qardawi, who headed the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars, urged Islamic countries to submit a draft law to the UN calling for calumny of religions to be outlawed.
The union further said that the UN should issue a “law criminalizing contempt of religions and the prophets and all the holy sites.”
The new drawing would give “credibility” to the idea that “the West is against Islam” and warned the image would egg on further hatred.