News - Yemen: Prominent Yemeni scholar Allama Fouad Naji, a member of the Yemeni Scholars Association, has said that the Yemeni position articulated by the Leader of the Revolution represents, to date, the first and only practical and explicit response at the level of the Muslim world to the US crime of insulting the Holy Qur’an.

Naji described the incident as a “provocative, criminal, and terrorist act” targeting the most sacred sanctities in Islam. He said the stance taken reflects Yemen’s identity as a land of faith and wisdom and sends a clear message that such offenses will not be allowed to pass unchallenged, regardless of attempts to normalize or desensitize societies to them.

Naji said insults to the Qur’an would only deepen public anger in Yemen and increase hostility toward the US, Israel, Britain, and all parties, he said, are aligned with a hostile course against Islamic sanctities. He stressed that Yemen’s response has been practical and immediate, demonstrating the vigilance of the Yemeni people and their readiness to confront any offense against the Qur’an or the Prophet Mohammed.

He added that the stance is consistent with Yemen’s broader approach in confronting American arrogance, citing Yemen’s position in support of Gaza as a clear example. According to Naji, the incident serves as a responsibility and a test for Muslims worldwide—governments, peoples, elites, leaders, and religious institutions alike—arguing that popular mobilization is the only effective means to deter such actions.

Naji said weak or symbolic reactions in the past had emboldened those responsible, allowing the issue to escalate to the point where insults to the Qur’an are now being exploited as election propaganda within the US political system.

He described the Yemeni stance as advanced and reflective of the country’s identity, saying it was unsurprising coming from a leader closely associated with the Qur’an. He argued that the incident fits within an ongoing American-Zionist hostility toward the Muslim world, adding that the deliberate media amplification of such acts aims to provoke the sentiments of nearly two billion Muslims.

The scholar said the incident should serve as a wake-up call, exposing both the nature of the nation’s enemies and the reality of Arab normalization policies. He criticized claims that the US respects the interests or sentiments of Muslim nations, arguing that while insults to Jews are criminalized under anti-Semitism laws, offenses against Islamic sanctities—from the Qur’an to Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Prophet Mohammed—are tolerated.

Naji called for a response commensurate with the gravity of the offense and the status of the Qur’an, saying the episode represents an opportunity for a serious return to the Qur’an and renewed commitment to its teachings. He said the targeting of the Qur’an reflects adversaries’ recognition of its role in the revival, strength, and dignity of the Muslim world.

He warned that the Muslim world is facing a “soft war” within a broader Zionist campaign aimed at detaching Muslims from the Qur’an and normalizing insults to sacred symbols until societies lose their capacity to respond. Silence and indifference, he said, are signs of weakness and a direct outcome of this soft war.

Naji also criticized official Arab silence, describing it as evidence of political subservience to US decision-making. He pointed to the war on Gaza as a clear example of this failure, which he said would stand as a moral indictment against those governments and their peoples.

He concluded by urging practical action, including economic boycotts, mass demonstrations, and the public declaration of disavowal from the United States, Britain, and Israel, warning that continued silence would encourage more serious violations.

The stance of Yemeni political forces follows recent statements by the Leader of the Revolution, Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi, who strongly condemned a new act of Qur’an desecration carried out by a US election candidate. Against this backdrop, Sayyed Abdulmalik called for wide-ranging, organized popular action—beginning in universities and schools and culminating in mass demonstrations—to reaffirm Yemen’s religious identity, reject US and Israeli enemy hostility toward the Holy Qur’an, and express continued support for the Palestinian people and resistance to any plots targeting Yemen and the Ummah.