Salwan Momika, a former Iraqi militia leader who became a fierce critic of Islam, was reported to have been found dead in Norway on Tuesday. Momika, who gained global prominence and notoriety for championing “free speech” and the public burning of the Quran, had recently moved to Norway from Sweden.
A Christian who turned atheist, Momika described himself as “a liberal atheist critic and thinker”.
On Eid, in June 2023, Salwan Momika stunned the world as he stomped on a copy of the Quran, the holy book of Muslims, and then burnt it in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque. A friend of his filmed this act of defiance.
Radio Genoa on Tuesday reported that the 37-year-old had been found dead, only to inform some moments later that further confirmation was awaited.
“Those who announced Momika’s death with over 1 million impressions deleted the tweet. We are waiting for further confirmation,” Radio Genoa posted on X.
Earlier it said: “The lifeless body of Iraqi refugee and Islamic critic Salwan Sabah Matti Momika has been found in Norway. Momika was known for organizing demonstrations in Sweden where he publicly burned the Koran several times.”
SALWAN MOMIKA FLED IRAQ TO REACH SWEDEN
Salwan Momika has been in the news after he shifted to Norway from Sweden. He was granted a Swedish residency permit in 2021.
Momika moved out of Iraq in 2018, seeking asylum. Though a Christian who turned atheist, Momika behaved like an extreme Ex-Muslim.
Ex-Muslims are individuals who identified as Muslims once, left the religion due to personal reasons, differing beliefs, or disillusionment with its teachings, practices, or community norms.
Facilitated by the internet, a movement of Ex-Muslims has gained ground across the world.
“Today I left Sweden and am now in Norway under the protection of the Norwegian authorities,” Salwan Momika posted on March 27.
“I applied for asylum and international protection in Norway because Sweden does not accept asylum for philosophers and thinkers, but only accepts asylum for terrorists. My love and respect for the Swedish people will remain the same, but the persecution I was subjected to by the Swedish authorities does not represent the Swedes,” he added in the post.
SALWAN MOMIKA, ISLAM’S VOCIFEROUS CRITIC
Sweden had faced the anger of Islamic countries for hosting Salwan Momika, the well known and vociferous critic of Islam.
He called the Quran, the holy book of the Muslims, the “most dangerous book of the world”.
“I will continue my struggle against Islamic ideology. Since I started the struggle against Islam, I have paid and continue to pay the price, and I am ready for that, whatever the cost,” Salwan Momika said in the March 27 update, stressing his resolve.
Sweden withdrew Momika’s residence permit but put his deportation on hold, saying his life would be in danger if he were returned to Iraq, according to an Associated Press report.
Momika had staged a series of public desecrations of the Quran in 2023.
Clashes broke out in Malmo, Sweden’s third-largest city, in September last year after an angry mob tried to prevent Momika from burning a copy of the Quran.
Sweden allowed his protests on the aegis of free speech. But questions were also asked if the Swedish authorities had gone too far by allowing Momkia to burn the Quran.
Momika’s burning of the Quran was termed “Islamophobia” by the Swedish foreign minister. Police had denied him permission for the act, but a court gave him the go ahead based on the principles of free speech.
Swedish police, however, filed preliminary hate speech charges against him.
Sweden’s Migration Agency decided to revoke Momika’s residence permit after finding out that the Iraqi asylum-seeker had provided false information in his application for asylum, according to Swedish broadcaster TV4.
Unlike other religions, apostacy (leaving the faith) is punishable by death in Islam. Those who renounce Islam mostly don’t reveal their decision, fearing attacks.
His anti-Islam stance and burning of the Quran was also perceived as a security threat to Sweden. Officials thought his actions could make the European nation a target of Islamist terrorists.
The fears weren’t unfounded.
Last October, two Swedish soccer fans were killed before a match in Brussels, Belgium. The gunman specifically targeted Swedes, said Sweden’s prime minister, according to an Associated Press report.
The gunman was shot dead by police after a manhunt. Belgian authorities said the attacker had posted a video online after the attack in which he said the Quran was “a red line for which he is ready to sacrifice himself”.
Salwan Momika also provoked Palestine supporters amid the Israel-Hamas war by posting images of burning the Palestinian flag.
Last September, Iraq demanded Momika be extradited. He challenged the request saying Iraq was seking his extradition “so that I can be judged and held accountable in Iraq according to Islamic laws”.
SALWAN MOMIKA AS MILITIA LEADER IN IRAQ
Salwan Momika was born into a Christian family in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar.
Though not much is known about his childhood, there are images and videos of him as a militia leader in Iraq.
In one video that gained online traction since his burning of the Quran on Eid, Momika introduces himself as the head of a Christian militia in Iraq.
His outfit was within the Imam Ali Brigades, an organisation created in 2014 and accused of war crimes, according to France24.
The Imam Ali Brigades is a group under the umbrella organisation of the Popular Mobilization Forces. Several outfits under Popular Mobilization Forces have been integrated into the Iraqi army to fight the Islamic State.
Salwan Momika ran his armed group in the outskirts of the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2017.
He had to flee from Iraq in 2018 after a power struggle with Rayan al-Kaldani, the head of Babylon, another Christian militia outfit.
Momika’s story is intriguing and rare. Beginning from Tal Afar to the streets of Mosul as a gun-toting militia leader to a refugee and mic-holding Quran-burner in Sweden.
