Some words carry a special magic in the collective Islamic consciousness, and one of those words is "Ghazwa."
Originally, this term referred to battles led personally by the Prophet Muhammad. Today, however, Islamists use it to describe their victories even when these are not real battles, but rather terrorist attacks or political assassinations.
This is exactly what happened after the assassination of Salwan Momika, who was shot five times inside his apartment in Södertälje, a city in the Swedish capital Stockholm, on the evening of Wednesday, January 29, 2025. Extremists labeled him an apostate infidel in an attempt to justify his killing, which occurred during his live broadcast on TikTok.
But the goal of this crime was not just to eliminate him; it was a direct and terrifying message: democracy and freedom of speech in Sweden are now in our crosshairs. No one is safe, even under state protection.
In the aftermath of the incident, five suspects were arrested, but they were later released due to insufficient evidence. The investigation is still ongoing.
Sweden at a Crossroads
Salwan Momika, the Iraqi refugee who became known for repeatedly burning copies of the Quran, lived under the protection of the Swedish Security Service (Säpo). Yet, the terrorists managed to assassinate him a grave security breach that prompted authorities to launch an internal investigation into the gaps that allowed the attack to happen.
This was not just an assassination; it was a turning point in Sweden's relationship with political Islam within its borders. If extremists can carry out successful political assassinations despite state protection, what does this mean for the future of free speech in the country? And what message does it send to millions of Europeans who are starting to realize that tolerating extremism may ultimately cost them their core values?
We are now at a decisive moment. Either Europe takes a firm stand to protect its democracy, or it continues down the path of appeasement until liberalism itself becomes nothing more than a relic of the past.
A Cry of Conscience
What is happening today compels me, out of conscience, to push forward to the very limits.
And I want to say this with absolute honesty: those who killed Momika justified their actions using Quranic verses and Hadiths. Below are just a few of them not all. The only reason I dare to step into this dangerous and sensitive territory is my determination to expose and stop the Islamic killing machine, so that others do not meet the same fate.
Salwan Momika was preceded by a long list of writers and thinkers who were assassinated or targeted by extremist groups after being accused of apostasy from the dawn of Islam to this very day. In modern times, many names come to mind, including but not limited to:
1. Salman Rushdie (Assassination attempt 2022, United States).
2. Mohammed Taha Mohammed Ahmed (Assassinated 2006, Sudan): A Sudanese writer and journalist who was kidnapped and tortured to death because of his bold articles criticizing certain traditional religious interpretations, leading to accusations of blasphemy.
3. Naguib Mahfouz (Assassination attempt 1994, Egypt): The Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian novelist was stabbed in the neck by an extremist after being accused of insulting Islam in his novel Children of Gebelawi.
4. Farag Foda (Assassinated 1992, Egypt): An Egyptian thinker and writer, killed by an extremist group after his famous debate in which he exposed the rhetoric of radical religious groups and called for the separation of religion and state. The Egyptian regime paved the way for Foda's murder, with Al-Azhar the state's official religious institution declaring him an infidel and inciting against him. His security detail was withdrawn just days before his death.
5. Hussein Mroueh (Assassinated 1987, Lebanon): A Lebanese intellectual and historian, assassinated by Hezbollah militants because of his critical views on religious discourse.
6. Shapour Bakhtiar (Assassinated 1991, France): The last Prime Minister of Iran before the Islamic Revolution, killed in exile in Paris by Iranian agents, accused of treason and apostasy for rejecting clerical rule.
7. The Charlie Hebdo Journalists.
8. Theo van Gogh.
9. Samuel Paty.
10. Bishop Marie Emmanuel.
11. Kurt Westergaard.
The list will not stop with these names but will grow as long as the "justifications for killing" remain present. And I say it clearly: those who killed Salwan Momika relied on Quranic verses and prophetic hadiths. Here are some of them and I repeat, only some, not all.
First: Quranic verses addressing apostasy
1. Surah Al-Baqarah (2:217)
"Whoever among you reverts from his religion and dies as a disbeliever their deeds will become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and they will be companions of the Fire, abiding therein eternally."
2. Surah Aal-E-Imran (3:85-86)
"And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter, he will be among the losers."
3. Surah Aal-E-Imran (3:90-91)
"Indeed, those who disbelieve after having believed, then increase in disbelief their repentance will never be accepted, and they are the ones astray."
4. Surah Muhammad (47:25-26)
"Indeed, those who turned back after guidance had become clear to them Satan enticed them and prolonged hope for them."
Second: Prophetic hadiths on the punishment for apostasy
1. Hadith of Ibn Abbas (Sahih Bukhari, 3017, 6922)
"Whoever changes his religion, kill him."
2. Hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal (Sahih Bukhari, 6930)
When a man who had apostatized was brought to the Prophet, Mu'adh ibn Jabal said: "I will not sit down until he is killed, as it is the judgment of God and His Messenger."
3. Hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (Sunan Abu Dawood, 4351)
The Prophet said: "The blood of a Muslim may not be shed except in three cases: a married person who commits adultery, a life for a life, and one who leaves his religion and separates from the community."
4. Hadith of Ali ibn Abi Talib (Sunan Al-Tirmidhi, 1458)
It was narrated that Ali ibn Abi Talib burned a group of apostates, and when the Prophet heard of this, he said: "Do not punish with the punishment of Allah. If you kill, kill in the best manner."
General analysis:
In light of all the above, the killing of Momika becomes a logical outcome. Let us not forget the reward offered by religious leaders in Kufa, Iraq, on June 1, 2023 one million dollars and a golden Quran (weighing 2 kilograms of gold) for whoever kills Salwan.
Final statement:
I will keep repeating this, tirelessly, until it becomes a reality: "If you do not work to humanize Islam, terrorism will not end, and we will remain trapped in an endless cycle of bloodshed. The verses and hadiths that promote violence, hatred, and contempt for others must be removed. The future of coming generations demands that this be done now, not tomorrow."
Mohamed Saad Khiralla
The writer is a political analyst specializing in Middle East affairs and Islamic movements, an opinion writer, and a member of the Swedish PEN Association. He lives in Sweden.
