Updated | Slices of bacon found in Quran books at Mater Dei’s prayer room

Muslims who today went to pray at Mater Dei’s multi-faith room were shocked to find slices of pork (bacon) placed among the pages of several Quran books.

A printed A4 paper was also found, bearing a picture of Fr Jacques Hamel who was murdered in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen, France earlier this week.

The message on the paper read: “RIP Fr Jacques Hamel, victim of Islam and its liberal/progressive apologists. A religion with blood on its hand cannot complain that its books are soiled.”

Confirming the incident, the Islamic Community in Malta condemned the criminal act and reported the incident to the hospital’s CEO and the police.

“We as Muslims living in Malta will not play their game. We could say, like all the haters and fools, that this was an act of Christian terrorism but we don’t generalize like those perpetrators who have the same agenda as other terrorist groups, encouraging hate in this beautiful country,” the ICM said on its Facebook page.

Health Minister Chris Fearne has also been informed. On Saturday morning, the Ministry for Health issued a statement condemning "the act of degradation" and expressed its solidarity with the Muslim community.

The Islamic Community, who is set to hold meetings with the hospital’s management to minimize the risk of such an incident from repeating itself, urged everyone to act responsibly.

Sara Ezabe, who recently received the prestigious Queen’s Young Leaders Award for her commitment to create a more diverse and inclusive society, described the act as “saddening”.

“This is saddening, not because of the slices of ham but because whoever did this is responding to hatred with hatred,” the 20-year-old University student said.

“Fr Jacques Hamel, was not a victim of Islam, he was a victim of stupidity, the same stupidity portrayed today. He preached respect, unity and love and we can only honour his life by acting as such.”