The BVB’s indictment includes 200 verses drawn from the Koran, including this rendering of Sura 98:6:
“The unbelievers among the People of the Book (Jews and Christians): They are the vilest of all creatures.”The group cite this as being in violation of Paragraph 166 of the German Penal Code, which provides for the punishment (by fine or imprisonment for up to three years) of those who publicly insult, or who distribute material intended to insult, people’s beliefs (Weltanschauung) in a way that is likely to disturb the peace.
I imagine the German constitution guarantees freedom of belief, so I can’t believe we’re about to see the Koran banned in Germany. And I certainly don’t think its continued sale is likely to lead to a breach of the peace.
Though, obviously, if people took the Koran literally, absolutely believing it be the word of God, and used it to define their entire lives then it’s possible that, reading that particular Sura, they might come to think that all Jews and Christians were vile. But even given all that, it’s still a long way from being a disturbance of the peace.
To my mind, attacking the Koran in this way is not an attempt to defend the German constitution, it’s an attempt to limit freedom of expression - Islamic fundamentalism is not its only foe.
