The al-Azhar University in Cairo, the highest institution of learning for Sunni Muslims, is calling for a global boycott against Sweden and the Netherlands after last week’s Koran burning, AP reports.
The incident has sparked outrage in large parts of the world, and triggered demonstrations in, for example, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Even a protest in The Hague last week, when an extreme right-wing leader tore up the Muslim holy book, has caused great anger.
– This is a powerful marking that can have effects, al-Azhar University is the most famous of the Sunni universities and has a very strong position in the Islamic world, says Jan Hjärpe, professor of Islamology at Lund University.
He believes that threats of boycotts can affect Sweden in the form of a stop to the import of Swedish goods and a stop to the sale of oil to Sweden.
al-Azhar is one of the world’s oldest universities, founded over 1,000 years ago. This is not the first time Scandinavia has suffered its wrath. For example, al-Azhar called for a boycott of the dairy company Arla about 15 years ago because of the Muhammad caricatures published in Denmark.
In the clip above: Middle East correspondent Terese Cristiansson tells more.