The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, spoke positively about Islam and Islamic countries and his citation of verses from the Holy Qur’an, which received wide interaction from activists on social media, between those who were appreciative and skeptical, in addition to minimizing the impact of what was said by the senior official in the international organization.
During an event organized by the General Assembly of the international organization, last Friday, on the occasion of the International Day to Combat Islamophobia (Islamophobia), which was decided to be on March 15 of each year, Guterres spoke about the efforts of Islamic countries to protect and receive refugees in the world and their priority in that.
Guterres said that the word "Islam" is derived from the same root as the word "peace," pointing out that when he held the position of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, he touched the generosity of Islamic countries that opened their doors to those who were forced to flee their homes, at a time when many other countries closed. its limits.
And he added that he saw a contemporary manifestation of what the Holy Qur’an came with, citing the verse {And if any of the polytheists seek your protection, then reward him so that he hears the words of God, then inform him of his safety. That is because they are a people who do not know} [Surat al-Tawbah: 6].
Celebration, skepticism and irony
The program "Shabakat" (3/13/2023) monitored an aspect of the tweeters' interactions with Guterres' speech, in which he praised the efforts of Islamic countries to protect and receive refugees, and his remarkable citation of a verse from the Holy Qur'an.
For his part, the activist Abdul Razzaq found the speech of the Secretary-General of the United Nations positive, so he tweeted, "It is very nice to hear from the head of the United Nations regarding the Qur'an - the word of God - and Muslims and the meaning of Islam that is derived from the word peace."
For his part, Ahmed Kamal said that Guterres' speech "was compatible with reality. Islamic countries host the largest number, because they are on the borders of conflict areas. Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan are next to Syria and Palestine. Pakistan is a neighbor to Afghanistan, and Sudan receives almost all of Africa's displaced persons and refugees."
On the other hand, tweeter Israa saw that this "laughed at the beats" and justified what she said by saying that "the United Nations - like most international institutions - trades in crises."
As for the singer Sharqawi Ahmed, he dealt with the matter sarcastically by tweeting, "We are entering Ramadan, and I want to collect donations from Muslims and so on." In the same vein, the comment of an account bearing the name "C Sloviki" stated that "the West uses the Qur'an to achieve political purposes, And not love in the Qur’an and Islam.
The description of a refugee does not apply to all those forcibly displaced from their country, but only to those who registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and obtained a temporary protection card from it, and their number exceeds 27 million refugees around the world.
And by the end of 2022, the number of people who were forced to leave their places of origin exceeded 100 million people, between displaced persons and refugees, and Turkey is the most hosting country for refugees in the world, as the number of those hosting them reached about 4 million refugees, while Pakistan, Sudan, Jordan and Lebanon are among the The ten most refugee-hosting countries.