CIP WahhabiWatch #26: Prof. Esad Duraković;, "The State of Soul of the Bosnian Intellectuals," Oslobođenje [Sarajevo], December 2006
The attached document, which is extremely provocative, represents the latest significant contribution to the debate over Wahhabism in the Balkans. As noted in previous CIP documentation, Prof. Duraković is a distinguished professor of Arabic at the University of Sarajevo.
Please repost.
Stephen Sulejman Schwartz
Executive Director
Center for Islamic Pluralism
Washington, DC
Prof. Esad Duraković
Oslobođenje [Sarajevo] December16, 2006
THE STATE OF SOUL OF BOSNIAN INTELLECTUALS
Today I do not write about Wahhabism, but rather about some important incidents it has exposed here, thanks to print and electronic media exhibiting great interest in this complex issue, although the response of public opinion and intellectuals is in vast disproportion to the attraction of media to this topic or its relevance. It is this public passivity that effectively helps us understand how Wahhabism found such fertile soil in our society. By the same token, considering the general state of the soul here, it is certain that Wahhabism will get stronger, with an outcome already feared by a great many people. The Wahhabis have reason to be optimistic. Their activist movement efficiently uncovers the utter decay of this community, which lacks an immune system.
Our state of the soul is very discouraging, and this is visible to the naked eye – the condition became pernicious a long time ago. I thereby want to underscore some aspects of the illness revealed by the discussion on Wahhabism.
First, under the existing circumstances, the harsh face of autocracy in the Rijaset [religious administration headed by reis-ul-ulema Mustafa ef. Cerić – CIP] of the Islamic Community of Bosnia-Hercegovina surfaced, a face never before seen in such a light. There is no doubt of the Rijaset’s affectionate embrace of Wahhabism, on one side, and the public ideological punishment of Professor Rešid Hafizović from the Faculty of Islamic Studies, a scholar who personifies a scientist destroyed by an institution. This relationship is terribly wrong, both anticipating and rapidly producing extremely adverse effects. When all of us start suffering severe consequences in the near future, the fact of the Rijaset’s historic responsibility will not be comforting. Honestly, what is being done to call to conscience those who may have to respond adequately?! We see public circulation of the thesis of a number of local intellectuals, who, acting through media, want to undermine both the reis-ul-ulema and the Rijaset. We saw on Bosnian Federal Television (FTV) a few days ago Bosnian Wahhabism being meritoriously and proudly presented as the guardian of the Rijaset, and vice versa, which profoundly reinforced the long-gestating negative development – such an important institution has succumbed to an individual, or, it has totally become the embodiment of an individual. A miracle witnessed by everyone occurred, but miracles also happen at extremely difficult times – Wahhabis, with good reason, cordially defend their Rijaset on television, the same Rijaset that attacks its own best professors. History has a lot of work to do. However, the essence is exactly the opposite – a few intellectuals try to indicate to the public how important it is to salvage the Rijaset, and not to destroy it, since it has been greatly weakened.
Complete responsibility should never be placed on individuals who act harmfully from powerful positions in an institution – that is how they are, but the lion’s share of responsibility lies with those who directly surround harmful leaders, but who do nothing to counter their bad effects. That is the root of the problem.
In addition to that, in the given context, the media-fed Wahhabi frenzy reveals a striking indifference among local intellectuals and academia, the latter which has actually lost the right to be called by that name. Following my article [“Readers May Choose a Title for This Text” at www.islamicpluralism.org/wahhabiwatch/ww2006.htm#23] on this topic, no local broadcasting station or print medium failed to ask me for an interview, debate, etc. I consistently told them that this problem has to be discussed not only by a few individuals, but that many others should be involved – tens of them, and they have also recently been called on to participate in the debate. Local Bosniak national institutions are quiet beyond reason or limit, and I already mentioned their names in the aforementioned text. Intellectuals also observe all of it passively, making it difficult for journalists, for they do not know how to overcome a huge gap between the relevance of the topic and the indifference of intellectuals. That deprives them of their intellectual function, since one of the chief characteristics of intellectuals is social participation and responsibility in actual events. This arduous search for participants adequately indicates the unfavorable state of the soul of local intellectuals and of the Islamic Community as a whole. Most of the responsible and competent people do not get involved – they either have no will or time, since many of them run around mediocre schools in Bosnia diligently producing academic filler. Naturally, as an effect of lowering academic standards, the scope of research and development is precipitously declining, academic degrees are acquired unchecked, or professors get requalified in a new teaching field, without adequate time or any academic contribution, etc. This opportunism and self-indulgence creates an ideal space for conquest by an aggressive and harmful ideology.
Finally, according to everything I have laid out, when the Rijaset published its Declaration on Prof. Hafizović [also at www.islamicpluralism.org/wahhabiwatch/ww2006.htm#23], the worst occurred. In this attack by an institution on an individual, the individual was isolated, left alone, since the academic community was bogged down in depression and a humiliated tranquility. In this case, the names of the individual or the institution, or the Wahhabis who so wrongly attack him do not matter, but the principle is important, the reality featuring two unequal actors in an arena before a callous and unethical academic audience. The institution has assaulted the professor because of a public statement. Even more shocking is the fact that the individuals from the professor’s own institution keep quiet, and even the Academic Council does not defend him. If they keep quiet at a moment when it should be critically important for them to break silence, because of their own actions, and not just for the attacked professor, they will have a hard time being taken seriously, or, even worse, they will lose their platform for self-respect. But the institution that Prof. Hafizović comes from, where he produced several brilliant books of unparalleled quality in the history of local Islamic Community, has for some decades been a member of a broader academic community, the University of Sarajevo. However, there is no sign there of any growing awareness of the importance of this development – the academic community dishonestly agrees to the ideological liquidation of Academic Freedom as personified by its member, leaving him to a media trial by Mr. Rijaset and his Wahhabis.
Consequently, with such a state of the soul, with an open mind and heart, I have nothing left but to make this last statement: “Greatly embittered, I hereby say that I hate the time in which I am destined to live. “
* * *
Translated by Faruk Bogučanin and Center for Islamic Pluralism
Note: Professor Rešid Hafizović is the outstanding living expert on Sufism in the Balkans and the Bosnian cotranslator of Stephen Schwartz’s Two Faces of Islam (Dva Lica Islama).
WahhabiWatch #25: Basic Document of Chief Muslim Cleric Mustafa Cerić on Problems in Bosnia, August 2006
The following is the original document on foreign interference in the Bosnian Muslim religious community, as finalized by the community's administration in August 2006. Subsequent comments on the Bosnian controversy, by our friend and colleague Prof. Rešid Hafizović of the Faculty of Islamic Studies, as well as by Prof. Esad Duraković, professor of Arabic at the Faculty of Liberal Arts of the University of Sarajevo, along with a response to Brother Hafizović by the community administration, may be read at CIP WahhabiWatch numbers
#22,
23,
24.
We apologize for the haphazard translation and posting of these documents. All relevant material as well as reportage and comments on events in Novipazar in Serbia (where violence between Wahhabis and their opponents broke out at a mosque) will be reviewed and expanded in a summary statement to be published by CIP Executive Director Sulejman Schwartz.
* * *
R E S O L U T I O N [AND A D D E N D U M]
OF THE RIJASET [ADMINISTRATION]
OF THE ISLAMIC COMMUNITY OF BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINA
ON THE INTERPRETATION OF ISLAM
[Final version, August 11, 2006]
All praise belongs to Allah subhana wa’tala, who provides benefits in this world. To the One who sent us right guidance, because those whom Allah leaves astray no one can guide. Peace and blessings upon the One who was sent by God swt, as a mercy to all humanity, a proof to the people, our exemplary teacher – Muhammad, the truthful and dependable one. May peace and blessings descend upon his noble family, his Companions, and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgment.
I
By Allah’s mercy, good Bosnians accepted Islam in the fifteenth century AD, while their posterity has steadfastly cherished and bravely carried on this tradition. The year 2013 will mark the five hundred fiftieth anniversary of good Bosnians’ Shahadah: I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is a messenger of God.
As much as they were linked to Ottoman Empire, Bosnian Muslims have remained loyal to the Islamic Community, having been privileged to carry on the religion and cherish the culture which evinces a universally-recognizable principle of faith in one God and consciousness of our umma.
Consequently, Muslims represent a universal umma, since Islam is a universal faith founded on two fundamental principles:
- First, Allah swt is the Alpha and the Omega for everything in existence. There is only Allah swt, who was neither begotten nor begets, and alongside which no person is equal or worthy of devotion or worship. He is the only judge. All of us shall return to Allah swt.
- Secondly, Islam is based on a universal moral imperative: enjoin good and refrain from evil. Effectively, that means: believe sincerely, speak the truth, work honestly and act ethically. Do not believe falsely, do not speak untruthfully, do not work dishonestly and do not live unethically.
In the course of a long and turbulent history, our umma has been exposed to major turmoil due to attacks from the outside, as well as weaknesses on the inside. Without marginalizing the power of outside attacks, the most perilous force destabilizing the umma presently is from the inside. That force is dangerous because it irreversibly tears up the roots that aid the growth and development of the universal umma. There is no other way to stop this force, but for the umma to remember this wisdom of Hadrat Omar: “We were nobody, and Allah advanced us with Islam. And if we were to ask for advancement outside Islam, Allah would return us to what we were – nobody.”)
Let us also add the remark by Anas ibn Malik, who said: "There shall be no betterment of the umma unless it recognizes that what used to be good in the beginning is also good in the end – the Book of Allah swt and the revelation of his Prophet aleyhisalem. That means that there is no other path, but for all of us to hold fast to the rope of Allah, without departing from each other and disuniting."
II
With Allah’s mercy, Bosnian Muslims accepted new institutions for Islam in the nineteenth century, thereby keeping the universal faith in One God and remaining loyal to the principle of a universal umma. Therefore, the [Bosnian] Islamic Community is a gift from God which is not to be denied or defamed. Those who do not understand it can not judge Bosnian Muslims. Those who have no respect for it have no right to instruct Bosnian Muslims, either on the faith they profess, or on loyalty to the umma to which they hold fast.
Considering all the above, the Rijaset of the Islamic Community in Bosnia-Hercegovina reaffirms its Resolution on the Interpretation of Islam adopted at its sixteenth assembly on the 27th of Safar 1427 (March 27, 2006), which stated:
- The Rijaset has faced for an extended period of time incidents of the inadequate interpretation of Islam by certain individuals and groups, which disturb Muslims. Consequently, the present goodness which is reflected in Kelime-i tawhid and tawhid-i Kelime [monotheism] is ruptured by controversies which lead to divisions between Muslims.
- The Rijaset is determined in its intention to protect the originality of the centuries-long tradition of the Islamic Community in Bosnia-Hercegovina, which proved to be essential in all historical moments for Bosnian Muslims, through the centuries, especially in the critical moments for survival presented by the recent assault on our country and our people [in the war of 1992-95 and its aftermath – CIP]. Therefore, Rijaset is calling upon all imams, khatibs, and muallims in the mosques, mektebs, and schools and in all other public places to consistently interpret the institutional doctrine of Islam on the basis of Qur’an, the Sunnah, and our Bosnian experience.
- The Rijaset calls upon all the associations and organizations of Islamic orientation in Bosnia-Herzegovina to present to the Rijaset their programs and curricula regarding Islam and Muslims, in order to make them compatible with the generally accepted principles of work and thereby help present an adequate picture of Islam and Muslims with clearly designated responsibilities.
- The Rijaset believes there are no extremist individuals or groups in Bosnia-Hercegovina who may undermine the unity of Muslims as displayed in the spiritual framework of Islamic community in Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, the Rijaset is aware that certain events occurring in the immediate vicinity of Muslims also reflect on the spiritual condition of the Bosnian Muslims.
- Rijaset condemns any attempt to slander or label anyone in the Islamic Community, especially on the basis of their adherence to a school of Islamic jurisprudence [madhdhab] or because of ideological prejudice. The Islamic community is united in its doctrinal and institutional teaching of Islam and refuses any madhdhab-based divisions. The Rijaset calls upon the Muslims of Bosnia-Hercegovina, Sandžak, Croatia, Slovenia, and the Bosniak diaspora to not be deceived by false and malicious information, but to trust the institutions of Islamic Community.
III
Whereas, noticing that, even after the adoption of the Resolution of the Rijaset, certain individuals and groups exhibited inappropriate attitudes in the interpretation of Islam, especially in Sandžak, where violence has broken out between Muslims;
Whereas, observing that unacceptable criticisms that have been made about the Islamic Community by people who have not properly experienced Islam in Bosnia-Herzegovina;
Whereas, sensing the peril from premeditated discord between Bosnian Muslims, the Rijaset, at its twenty-seventh session, held on the 16th of Shawwal 1427 (November 7, 2006), passes the following
ADDENDUM
To the Resolution of the Rijaset of the Islamic Community of Bosnia-Hercegovina
From the 27th of Safar 1427 (March 27, 2006)
- The Rijaset extends its full support to the Mešihat [Local Administration] of the Islamic Community in Sandžak, in the enforcement of the Resolution of the Rijaset on the interpretation of Islam, and calls upon all imams, khatibs, muallims, and muderrises in Sandžak to remain conscientious and responsible in preserving and cherishing the religious and cultural tradition of Muslims.
- The Rijaset expects the state of Bosnia-Hercegovina to respect human rights of all its citizens without regard for faith, ethnicity, or origin.
- It is not ethical to discriminate against people who helped us, but, by the same analogy, Shari’a does not justify our being constantly reminded of the aid provided, for God Almighty says in Qur’an al-qerim: “Kind words and forgiving of faults are better than Sadaqah [charity] followed by insult.” (Qur’an, 2:263).
- The Rijaset condemns statements which belittle the Islamic Community of Bosnia-Herzegovina and insult the Bosnian ulema. It is not only in contravention of the spirit of Islamic ethics, but also in violation of the peace and security of Bosnian Muslims. The Islamic Community of Bosnia-Herzcgovina has no intention of proving its righteousness to anyone except for God swt, especially to those who do not want to hear or see the Islamic Community and its ulema as a symbol of honor and the pride of the umma.
- The Rijaset calls on all imams, khatibs, muallims, muderrises, and professors of the Islamic Community to speedily obtain information on the position of the Rijaset on important issues regarding the spiritual unity of Muslims, and to consistently enforce that position in practice. The Rijaset reiterates that those who, by any means, bring disquiet into the mosques under the pretext of enforcing the right faith are not well-intentioned. All mosques are the property of the Islamic Community and no one shall do anything in the mosque without the knowledge or the authority of the mosque’s imam.
- The Rijaset has invested too much effort in preserving the honor and the reputation of Bosnian Muslims in the most difficult times to allow someone to undermine them, according to orders from those who have neither knowledge of, nor sympathy for the fate of Islam and Muslims in our country.
- The whole of Europe has been holding extensive discussions on the importance of an institutional doctrine of Islam which can be positively exemplified by Bosnia-Hercegovina. The Rijaset is prepared to offer a 100-year experience of the institutionalization of Islam, and thereby to contribute to a better understanding among religions and cultures in Europe. While respecting freedom of thought and expression, and appreciating the critique that spurs the progress of Islamic Community, the Rijaset calls on all media, intellectuals and other meritorious individuals in the society to assist the Islamic Community in that effort.
- Khatibs shall read this Resolution at jumaa prayers at all mosques, while muderrises at all medresas and universities directed by the Islamic Community shall clarify its contents to all students, and they shall strictly adhere to it in its true letter and spirit as the official position of the Islamic community in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
- God Almighty, help us on the path of calling upon the people to live virtuously and to refrain from evil! Amin!
Sarajevo,
10.17.1427/11.08/2006
Reis-ul-Ulema
Dr. Mustafa Cerić
Translation by Faruk Bogučanin and Center for Islamic Pluralism
WahhabiWatch #24: Rešid Hafizović, “We Will Return Saudi Arabia’s Aid,” Sarajevo, BH Federation TV, December 7, 2006
The following comments are excerpted from a TV discussion on Wahhabism in Bosnia with Prof. Rešid Hafizović of the Faculty of Islamic Studies. Prof. Hafizović is the leading authority on Islamic spirituality in the Balkans and was co-translator of Stephen Schwartz’s Two Faces of Islam (Dva Lica Islama, Sarajevo, 2005). CIP correspondents, please repost.
Bosnia-Hercegovina Federation TV, December 7, 2006
Excerpted from BBC Monitoring European, December 10, 2006
Prof. Hafizović [On attacks against him for warning of the Wahhabi threat in Bosnia-Hercegovina]: “Look, such campaigns are launched by people who do not read books, unfortunately. I recognize only those arguments that are based on valid scholarship and valid works…”
Host: “Mr. Hafizovic, how would you explain the fact that the Wahhabi movement has found such fertile ground in Bosnia-Hercegovina, given that the Muslims in Bosnia-Hercegovina enjoy extensive cooperation with much more progressive parts of the Islamic world than Saudi Arabia? Incidentally, Reis Mustafa Cerić [head of the Islamic Community in BH] recently said in an interview, prompted by your interview, that we should not cut the branch on which we are sitting, referring to your criticism of the Saudi regime.”
Hafizović: “I would be very pleased if a full stop were put once and for all to the talk of the great and fabulous aid that Saudi Arabia has given [us]. A figure should finally be presented openly and publicly, including the funds that ended up in private pockets. We should then draw a line and say: ‘This is the amount of aid, what is the price that we have to pay for it?’ Because we have to pay. The Saudis and their envoys keeping asking us to pay that price… the price is such that we have to sell our people, our religion, our 500 years of religious and cultural tradition and legacy. And this is precisely what they want: our minds, our hearts, our souls. Look at just one detail: what has, for example, happened with [the Gazi Husrev] Beg’s Mosque [in Sarajevo]? For a handful of oil dollars, conceding to the demands of Saudi representatives, we lost decorations that were at least three-and-a-half-centuries old in the mosque, which used to be a world heritage site.*
“The amount of that aid, which, frankly, was not the largest – Sweden, for instance, gave Bosnia more aid than Saudi Arabia – in official statistics Saudi Arabia ranks fifth or sixth.
“Let us put an end to this story once and for all and say: Dear [Saudi] gentlemen, if you keep rubbing our noses in the aid – and you are – we will give it back to you…”
“And why has Wahhabism taken root? Briefly and simply: Because it is being given a green light; because it is being spoken of childishly; because every time the Rijaset [administration of the Islamic Community in Bosnia-Hercegovina] reacts in the spirit and tone of the press release with which they let me really have it the other day.** Because they receive a clear signal from the Saudi embassy – I know this. I have this information and it is sad. Let me finish: Wahhabism is dangerous. It is a virus in the very body of Bosnia-Hercegovina, among Bosniaks.”
*Wahhabi vandalism of the Gazi Husrevbeg mosque is described in The Two Faces of Islam.
** See CIP WahhabiWatch #23.
WahhabiWatch #23: URGENT: The Rising Anti-Wahhabi Struggle in Bosnia-Hercegovina
CIP Correspondents:
Selamalejkum warahmetallahuh wabarakatuh,
Bismillah irrahman irrahim,
As the controversy over Wahhabism in the Balkans becomes more acute, we continue to translate and publish relevant texts from the scene.
Here we present the commentary of the Rijaset [Administration] of the Islamic Community of Bosnia-Hercegovina on the article by our friend and colleague Prof. Rešid Hafizović regarding the Wahhabi danger, titled "They Are Coming For Our Children" (CIP WahhabiWatch #22).
Further, we present a somewhat earlier text by Prof. Esad Duraković, professor of Arabic at the Faculty of Liberal Arts of the University of Sarajevo, which like that of Brother Rešid appeared in the distinguished Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje.
We note that the Islamic credentials and correct attitudes of Professors Hafizović and Duraković are unchallengeable. They represent the best the Islamic umma has to offer today.
We further note that principals associated with the Center for Islamic Pluralism have been publicly identified with the Bosnian struggle for freedom, as well as the newspaper Oslobodjenje, for more than a decade.
We therefore again request that these statements be reposted far and wide. We are preparing a summary analysis of the situation in the Balkans for rapid publication and wide dissemination in Anglo-American media.
With many selams
Center for Islamic Pluralism
Washington, DC, USA
* * *
STATEMENT OF RIJASET
[ADMINISTRATION] OF THE ISLAMIC COMMUNITY
(I.C.) OF BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINA
ON THE TEXT OF REŠID HAFIZOVIĆ
Sarajevo, November 26, 2006. On the publication of a text in the daily paper Oslobođenje with the title “They Are Coming For Our Children,” in a section titled “Perspective,” on November 25, 2006, issue no. 336, page 2, which was signed by Rešid Hafizović, professor of aqida [Islamic theological doctrine] at the Faculty of Studies of the Islamic Community (I.C.) of Bosnia-Hercegovina, the Rijaset (Office of Reis ul-Ulema Mustafa efendija Cerić) of the I.C. has issued the following statement:
“The Rijaset of the I.C. is surprised by the undue rhetoric used by Prof. Rešid Hafizović, in his analysis of certain concepts and phenomena in Islamic history, such as the concept of 'Wahhabis.'
“The Rijaset of the Islamic Community respects the academic freedom of the muderris (religious teacher), professors and instructions, but it condemns inappropriate characterizations of any Muslim source of guidance. It is inappropriate that an aqida professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies of the I.C. calls anyone, and not to mention the Imam Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, 'a lunatic from Najd.' Nor is it in the spirit of Islamic morals and the Bosnian Islamic tradition.
“Prof. Rešid Hafizović has the right of freedom of mind and speech, but he does not have the right to spread wrong information. It is wrong to say, and even more wrong to write: 'They (Wahhabis) are coming to take our children… to take a blood tax [devshirme in the Hafizović text, i.e. the Ottoman youth levy – CIP].' It has to be said truthfully and it needs to be written clearly: They are not 'coming to take our children…to take a blood tax.'” It is known who is coming to take our children and to take such a tax. At the same time, it has to be known that they are not in our “executive, academic, religious institutions: in our mosques, in our medresas, our academies, everywhere.” And one more thing, they did not commit the massacres in Srebrenica and throughout our country. It is well known who did.
“The Rijaset of the I.C. condemns the inappropriate characterizations by Prof. Rešid Hafizović regarding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which immensely helped our country and our people when we were most in need. It is not in the spirit of academic dignity, or in the spirit of a Bosnian upbringing to make blanket judgments about anybody, and especially about the Saudi king as the custodian of the two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina.
“The Rijaset of the I.C. distances itself from inappropriate characterizations by Prof. Rešid Hafizović and it demands that he respect the working rules of the Islamic Faculty of the I.C. in BH. The Rijaset has issued clear fatwas in 1993 about the duty to respect the Hanafi madhdhab [school of Islamic law] in mektebs (primary schools), mosques, medresas and academies of the I.C., and at its thematic and plenary conference in Lukavac it repeated it once again.
“Two extremes do not make one good. Therefore, the Rijaset of the I.C. will insist on preserving the 'Islamic tradition of the Bosniaks' as a constitutional signifier of the I.C. in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but without insulting anybody and without violence against anybody. According to reports from muftis and deans at our extended session in Lukavac, the Rijaset of the I.C. has assured that there is no mosque, mekteb, medresa, academy or faculty of the I.C. where anything is taught that is opposed to the 'Islamic tradition of Bosniaks.' But, in order to avoid any doubt, the Rijaset has formed commissions which will analyze the spiritual condition of the I.C., with a special focus on programs and textbooks in medresas and faculties.
"The Rijaset of the I.C. calls on imams, khatibs, muderrises and professors to sustain from exaggeration (tefrit) and sloppiness (ifrat) in their work and speech. Not for the first time, our destiny hangs on a wire which is thinner than a hair and sharper than a saber. Because of that, destiny should not be challenged where the wire can break and damage our faith and country. More than ever, today we need a voice of reason and word of wisdom about our inner capacity for tolerance. Any narrow, single-minded attitude is extremely dangerous for us.
"We ask the help of Allah a.s. that we speak sincerely and work correctly!"
– The Islamic Community of Bosnia-Hercegovina
Translation by Center for Islamic Pluralism
* * *
Academician Esad Duraković
Professor of Arabic
University of Sarajevo [Liberal Arts]
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Hercegovina
READERS MAY CHOOSE A TITLE FOR THIS TEXT
Oslobodjenje [Sarajevo], November 18, 2006
The snowball called Wahhabism has been rolling down the Bosnian hill, but it is still not certain which side is going to be struck by the avalanche. However, a meticulous analyst should be able to predict it quite precisely.
The Islamic Community in Bosnia has finally voiced its opinion [in another document now in process of translation – CIP], yet inadequately and euphemistically, without even naming the threat hovering over Bosnia. At the same time, Wahhabi efforts are extremely decisive and resolute, and they are likely to succeed. Nevertheless, even such an effort by the Islamic Community is to be applauded. However, we need to indicate that the Resolution of the Rijaset [Administration] of the Islamic Community on the Interpretation of Islam, and the press conference on its issuance are completely inadequate to respond to the energetic efforts of the Wahhabis. Even if it is not too late – which may not be true – the response has to be more appropriate and urgent.
Retrograde Wahhabi activism is covered both in media and the Islamic Community inadequately or with a cosmetic makeover of its essence. Its radicalism is detrimentally minimized and the essential aspects of its predictable future conduct are obscured. Naturally, that’s what Wahhabism prefers, so as to develop deep roots, with any additional action being unnecessary, except that involving powerful international institutions, as part of a planned reactionary strategy to destroy any trace of the local Bosnian Muslims. Many local institutions are responsible for such a situation – political, academic, educational, then the [official Islamic] weekly newspaper Preporod [Revival], the Council of the Congress of Bosniak Intellectuals (VKBI), etc. However, the greatest responsibility rests with the institutions of the Islamic Community, since it has both the ability and the obligation to act most efficiently, categorically and decisively, by means of its powerful infrastructure and its respectable ideological position. Many non-Wahhabi believers, as I have been able to witness, are affectionate towards Wahhabis, including many officials from the Islamic Community, not knowing or ignoring the ultimate objectives of that movement, which are for now only manifested through publicized incidents. Such a position clearly reminds us of the untimely recognition of danger at the time of [the 1992 Serbian] assault on Bosnia, which understanding only came when the border areas of the country were already being burnt -- yet the people thought that it would end quickly, and it would not extend into the interior. I am convinced that many Wahhabi-recruited Bosniaks are unaware, at this stage of the movement’s expansion, of the ultimate objective of their sheikhs; however, by the time they recognize it, the stream will be too strong for them to reach the shore. Consequently, the chief deceptions need to be brought up in public, including by those who make official statements about the problem, regardless of how tentative they are.
- Wahhabi activity here is understood as being confined to a negligible number of foreigners who came during the war against Bosnia (hence the recent statement about how they did not have to come, and how they do not have to stay here either). The deception is in the fact that there are many more domestic Bosniaks among the Wahhabis, with the likelihood of constant expansion. While such people have nowhere to go, they do certainly know how to drive someone out, or down.
- There is an attempt to define the polarization between Wahhabis and so-called traditional Muslims as involving immaterial differences in religious practices (how to pray, one’s posture during the prayer, etc.), external manifestations (long beard – short pants), and, ultimately, all incidents are confined within the walls of places of worship. All these are dangerous illusions, since the ideological and political objectives of the Wahhabis are much more serious, and they will surely move on with their implementation once they feel sufficiently strong.
- Institutions need to educate the public that the Wahhabis, in their military campaigns, in the [Arabian] cradle of Wahhabism, continuously and atrociously murdered traditional Muslims, burning all books in the conquered cities except for the Qur'an, believing as they do that books are the source of differences. They destroyed numerous monuments, more than one thousand years old. They killed tens of thousands of traditional, moderate, and observant Muslims across the world. They consider this to be their duty, with a conviction that traditional Muslims are unbelievers who either need to be converted or liquidated. There is no room for tolerance. Therefore, the same fate awaits the local traditional Muslims [in the Balkans]. It is puzzling to see that the people who are aware of this are not warning anybody about it. Their most powerful blow will hit traditional, moderate Muslims first – the Rijaset must be aware of this.
- Do we need to elaborate that such a scenario is the most dangerous internal assault on the remaining Bosnian Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina?!
- Some in the world favor a future of Wahhabism in Bosnia, and, therefore, it will be encouraged by them. Consequently, according to their intentions, Muslims in Bosnia need to be radicalized to the maximum in order to establish the most convincing argument for their absolute and lasting marginalization and devastation (they have been searching in vain for a decade, for alleged terrorist camps in Bosnia). Naturally, Wahhabis are wrong when they think that they can act as a Taliban in Europe (just as they are wrong about everything else). However, at that very historic moment (if no timely and adequate action is taken), when Islam in Bosnia, which has managed to continue to function here for centuries thanks to its prudent and truthful cosmopolitanism as an instinct of humanity and self-sustenance, is given an image of Taliban Islam, it will be time for a final showdown for both forms.
- Not out of malevolence, bur rather fearing the outcome, I have to say that the Declaration of European Muslims [by Mustafa efendija Cerić – see http://www.islamicpluralism.org/texts/2006t/bosnianclericsdeclaration.htm] is an insufficient addition to the inadequate official reaction to the efforts for a Taliban-style Islam in Bosnia.
The public in Bosnia has to most seriously comprehend the magnitude of the cataclysmic threat. Everyone has to act in a preventive fashion, through enlightenment, deliberately and decisively. As far as the Islamic Community is concerned, I would not like its leaders to express anger at me, although I do not seek tranquility at any price, because I will suggest where their main effort should be, among other things, because my intention regarding them is as honest as are those of all people who cherish the culture of dialogue and a peaceful, diversity-enriched life.
Wahhabis have deeply penetrated some institutions, both secular and Islamic. It is that much more inadequate and misleading to confine them to those who came to Bosnia during the war to aid in saving the very lives of local Muslims. Wahhabis are also acting institutionally, through Islamic academies, with instructors who completed their education in the well of uncompromising Wahhabism. True, the penultimate paragraph of the Rijaset’s Resolution states that “khatibs [Friday preachers] shall read the contents thereof at jumaa prayers at all mosques, while professors at all medresas and universities sponsored by the Islamic Community shall clarify it to all students, and they shall strictly adhere to it in its true letter and spirit as the official position of the Islamic Community in Bosnia.” However, apart from the long-awaited Resolution, which is to be applauded, we have to admit that the problem has developed in proportions that cannot be countered by the reading of a Resolution, but rather some people have to face official action by the Rijaset, which it is entitled to carry out, in line with the heavy historic responsibility before it. Let it be seen how many indoctrinated Wahhabi lecturers there are at the academies, medresas, and on mosque pulpits. It is a known fact that classes of religion in Bosnian public schools, mostly elementary and some high schools, are taught by people who received their education at retrograde Wahhabi or “Salafi” universities. Paragraph 2.4 of the Resolution, which states that “the Rijaset of the Islamic Community believes that Bosnia has no extremist individuals or groups which may undermine the unity of Muslims,” was rendered ineffective by reality even before the ink on it dried.
Those are the right courses of decisive and responsible action – it is a lot of work. We have to act immediately.
Translation by Faruk Bogučanin and Center for Islamic Pluralism
WahhabiWatch #22: Rešid Hafizović, "They Are Coming for Our Children," Sarajevo, Oslobodjenje, November 25, 2006
CIP Correspondents:
Selamalejkum warahmetallahuh wabarakatuh,
A serious controversy, including shootings and other acts of violence, has begun in the Balkan lands of Islam, between the traditional and peaceful Muslims of the region and interlopers representing the Wahhabi sect of Saudi provenance.
CIP is translating and will circulate a series of key documents on this alarming matter. We will begin with Professor Resid Hafizovic's recent and highly provocative article in Oslobodjenje (Liberation), the honored Sarajevo daily that continued publication throughout the Bosnian war of 1992-95. Professor Hafizovic is one of the outstanding interpreters of Sufi thought in the world.
Correspondents are requested to repost this statement as widely as possible, insha'allah.
With many selams
Center for Islamic Pluralism
* * *
Rešid Hafizović
Professor of the Faculty of Islamic Studies
University of Sarajevo
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Hercegovina
THEY ARE COMING FOR OUR CHILDREN
Oslobodjenje [Sarajevo], November 25, 2006
Every civilization has its tragedies, declines, and failures, including the Muslim world, but the very nadir of the tragedy that happened to the Muslim world occurred in 1746, when a lunatic from Najd in eastern Arabia, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, with his phalanx of Bedouins and people willing to pillage, spill blood, and murder, declared an official jihad on all Muslims, just because the latter persisted in following and understanding Islam in accordance with the basic tenets of Islamic faith, following the example set by the Prophet of Islam, whom God praised and held in high regard, more than fourteen centuries ago. The fact that the declaration of official jihad by Wahhabis wasn’t just a formal and insignificant act, would be reinforced by ensuing horrible slaughters perpetrated by Wahhabi raiding groups, first in Karbala in 1802, where thousands of Muslims were slain, their property plundered, without sparing mosques, tombs, and cemeteries. It was followed by a massacre of Ta’if in 1803, Mecca, and then Medina in 1805, and throughout the cradle of Islam, without sparing the children, elderly, and weak. The raging Wahhabi sword left the Muslim cities and settlements in ruins, while thousands of Muslims died lying in their own blood (see Wahhabism: A Critical Essay, Hamid Algar, Zagreb, 2004; also The Two Faces of Islam, Bosnian edition: Dva Lica Islama, Stephen Sulejman Schwartz, Tugra, Sarajevo, 2005).
These events would be nothing special if they only represented a turbulent period in a long history of Islam and Muslims. Unfortunately, they are also a terrible scourge of our time and life. Just when the European Muslims in Bosnia, Bosniaks, as a native European ethnic group, thought that the worst had passed, having withstood a horrifying and bloody assault waged against their lands, a new nightmare beset them, more wicked, noxious, detrimental, and dangerous than any other one in the bloody history suffered by these Muslims. At the point at which their numbers are reduced to the level below which an ethnic group can’t sustain itself, Bosnian Muslims were contaminated by a new, fatal virus, as a relic of the recently finished war, whereas the virus embodies itself in an arrogant, disapproving, aggressive, and, for this region, anachronistic phenomenon called Wahhabism. It is the most effective weapon of the ideology and conspiracy intending the same as the Serb criminals like Mladić and Karadžić, that is, our destruction, yet it appears as an idea that shares our home and identity, while aimed against it and committed to the project left incomplete by this evil duo and their mentors. Sure enough, it was not only their idea, but also an idea of the diabolic Wahhabi mentors from the East and the West, from Saudi Arabia, but also from some centers of political power in Europe, the same ones whose dishonest role in the assault on Bosnia is well remembered and easily recognized. It is the same political triangle spanning Moscow, London and Paris, which was tightening the plot of Judas, pressing Bosnia with it, leaving very little air for it to breathe. They first deprived us of the right to self defense, and then they tied our hands making us sacrificial lambs. Today, they are sending Wahhabis to Bosnia and otherwise encouraging them, as their last secret weapon and a deadly virus designed to dissolve the very substance of Bosnian Muslims. That is supposed to be a good prelude to a scenario devised to solve the Muslim question in Western Europe, which is more Islamophobic than before (see Unfinest Hour – Britain and the Destruction of Bosnia, Brendan Simms, Penguin Books, 2002).*
The conspiracy of Wahhabi mentors from the East and some power centers in the West is not uncommon and doesn’t demonstrate its first occurrence in the history of Muslims. As far back as 1865, we can see the first encounters and conspiratory, anti-Muslim alliances established between the British and already well structured Saudi-Wahhabi legions of Najd. Both parties to this disreputable anti-Muslim alliance had their precisely defined objectives: Saudi-Wahhabi gangs drew the borders of their state in the very heart of the Muslim world, while the British strengthened their dominance in the Persian Gulf and hammered plans out for breaking up the Ottoman Empire. As a sign of gratitude for dedication in the realization of the aforementioned British-Wahhabi anti-Muslim alliance, the British crown later decorated the Saudi ruler, Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud, with the Knight’s Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. The Saudi monarch wore the very same decoration for a joint picture with British Queen Eliabeth, during a visit to Her Majesty.
In addition to Chechen Muslims, as traditional Muslims with a proud legacy of Muslim spirituality and literature, Bosnian Muslims represent the second significant target of Wahhabism in this part of the world. Without tolerating our traditional and authentic values of Islam, which encourage coexistence, and which are intertwined with the most sophisticated spiritual aspects of Sufism, illuminated by Quranic interpretation (tafsir) and judicious, Gnostic, Irfan literature, the Wahhabis arrived in Bosnia, where they are now further aided by some followers from among the local Muslims, with an exclusive aim of rooting out all the traces of traditional Islam in Bosnia, to wipe out all visible elements of Ottoman culture that are easily recognized in abundant monuments, in our mosques, tombs, Sufi tekkes, cemeteries, fortresses, and the like. They attack everything that is fundamentally different from their primitive, monotonous, Bedouin culture and tradition. They have already done it in the cradle of Islam, having destroyed the most precious historic traces of Islam from the times of Prophet (pbuh); they also have done it in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Iraq; wherever else they arrived, they grow like an uncontrollable weed. Having come under the pretext of aiding the Muslims, they, actually, similar to unwelcome emissaries, have left a bloody trail, with violence, death, and unprecedented horror. That’s exactly what they have in plan for this country, for its Muslims, and not only for them. They have come to get our children, they came for their devshirme (CIP Note: a levy of youth imposed by the former Ottoman authorities), to steal our hearts and souls as a payment for the trifles supplied to us by dubious humanitarians with dishonest intentions.
They are among us. By marrying related folk in our villages, towns, and cities, they have already infected our traditional social system. They are already present in our media, state administration and religious institutions: in our mosques, madrasahs, and academia, everywhere.
The Secretariat of the Islamic community in Bosnia (Rijaset) appears to have just awakened, and to be slowly grasping the magnitude of the plague threatening the European Muslims in Bosnia. Finally, a Resolution with an Addendum was issued, and a Commission was established to ensure the implementation thereof. How insufficient this is, and how shockingly belated it is! Furthermore, when one considers it, the scope of the Resolution will be no better than that of the already forgotten “Declaration of European Muslims,” [www.islamicpluralism.org/texts/2006t/bosnianclericsdeclaration.htm] which was published by the Rijaset of the Islamic Community in Bosnia. However, the pinnacle of the irony is that the text of the new Resolution does not offer any mechanisms to keep the scourge in check, but it rather encourages the Wahhabis, and takes great care to protect their civil rights. Some of the closest associates of the head of the Islamic Community in Bosnia go as far as stating that those are “good people from good congregations.” If such essentially inconsequential documents as the Resolution of the Rijaset had not been published, one could easily think that Muslim religious institutions in Bosnia are friendly towards the Wahhabis. It is worse because these institutions do not object to the Wahhabi emissaries’ blatant and brazen lies about the Prophet of Islam: namely, their shallow spiritual teaching about him as a shepherd, a camel herder, and a Bedouin, although all accounts about his life, from Ibn Hisham’s Sira, to Martin Lings' Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, bear witness to him as an aristocrat par excellence, and a noble from the Meccan society of the time. Wahhabis say that the Prophet of Islam (pbuh) wore an untidy, untrimmed, and messy beard, whereas all accounts of his life state that his culture of living was on the level that a good number of Muslims haven’t reached even today. They say that the Prophet of Islam (pbuh) wore women’s dress rolled up; therefore, they also wear short pants, although everyone knows today that the galabiyya used to be and still is traditional clothing in that part of the Muslim world, so the Prophet himself (pbuh) proudly wore it, as it is most comfortable for those climatic conditions. We will leave further details for another time.
However, everybody keeps quiet in the face of the notorious lies about Islam and the Prophet of Islam (pbuh), in the face of insults to our traditional Islamic values, vociferously spread by the Wahhabi emissaries every day, and it looks as though everybody likes having a barbaric Prophet and a backwards and outmoded Islamic faith.
While the responsible people of this country keep silent and pretend nothing uncommon is happening in our society, the Wahhabi caravan is moving along, placing an uncalled-for burden on this distressed country and its people…
Recognizing it as a continuation of the inferno in Iraq, Chechnya, Afghanistan, and Palestine, the most responsible civil and religious authorities of this country should immediately take responsibility for preventing the hell Wahhabis are constructing in this country.
*CIP Note: the British Foreign Office sponsored a tour by British Muslim fundamentalists to Bosnia-Hercegovina in recent weeks.
Translation, slightly edited, by Faruk Bogučanin and Center for Islamic Pluralism
WahhabiWatch #21: Executive Director Schwartz, "How the Wahhabi Lobby Spins Islam," Family Security Matters, November 8, 2006
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/global.php?id=396868
How the Wahhabi Lobby Spins Islam
Stephen Schwartz
Author: Stephen Schwartz
Source: The Family Security Foundation, Inc.
Date: November 8, 2006
FSM is concerned about the atmosphere in our country and on our college campuses that condones the most virulent forms of anti-Americanism. This story of FSM Contributing Editor Stephen Schwartz paints a vivid picture of just how destructive and clever these freedom-hating enemies are.
How the Wahhabi Lobby Spins Islam
By Stephen Schwartz
Dateline: Sarajevo, Bosnia-Hercegovina
I recently attended an event cosponsored by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), a parasitical attachment to the White House and Congress that has produced a notably repellent record of meddling here in the Balkans. The topic of the conference was Islam. Because it was held under "Chatham House rules," under which participants can be quoted only with their permission, I will not discuss any of the proceedings.
I cannot, however, remain silent on an aspect of the meeting that I found outrageous. A female attendee, Hadia Mubarak, identified herself there as a researcher for the Gallup polling organization and affiliate of Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (CMCU), an academic entity best known for its whitewashing of Saudi-sponsored Wahhabism, the most extreme, violent, and fundamentalist sect in Sunni Islam.
Ms. Mubarak said almost nothing to me at the event. However, no more than three days had passed when I read an online statement by her, included in a Christian periodical called Church Executive (see www.churchexecutive.com/Page.cfm/PageID/6568). Because I have repeatedly criticized the Muslim Students Association of the U.S. and Canada (MSA) as an entity founded with Saudi money and supporting the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, Ms. Mubarak denounced me as, in effect, a liar, who bears, according to her specific words, "a deep hatred of Islam."
Furthermore, the article described Ms. Mubarak as a member of another pro-Wahhabi group, the notorious Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
At this point, I am uncertain which aspect of this incident is more despicable: that Ms. Mubarak might parade in a policy forum under false colors, or the public disclosure of a link between MSA, CAIR, and CMCU, or the personal insult to me.
Let us begin with MSA. There is simply no denying that MSA was founded in 1963 in cooperation with the Muslim World League (MWL), a Saudi-Wahhabi organization that has been investigated by global authorities as a terror financier. MSA enjoyed and continues to avail itself of significant funding. Opponents of Wahhabism who are themselves no friends of the U.S., and whose opinions are therefore of interest, have pointed out that MSA has banned criticism of the Saudis and Wahhabis, as well as non-Wahhabi Islamic literature, from its college branches (which exist throughout North America). MSA officially endorsed Wahhabism, and in 1980 produced an edition of the perverse ramblings of Muhammad Ibn abd al-Wahhab, the 18th century founder of the crazed sect.
Wahhabism is totalitarian and MSA's extreme proclivities continue to be displayed on numerous campuses. Only last year, a significant controversy occurred inside the MSA at Rutgers University over antidemocratic practices imposed on its members (see www.islamicpluralism.org/articles/2005a/troublerutgers1.htm). Arguments by Ms. Mubarak and others will not change this; only abandonment of the Wahhabi orientation will improve the situation.
Let us then examine Ms. Mubarak and her double, or multiple, or consecutive memberships. From MSA to CAIR to CMCU is a predictable path seen by those of us who understand how each of these efforts has benefited from Saudi-Wahhabi backing. But the spin seemingly put on her associations by Ms. Mubarak is troubling, to say the very least. Maybe she realized, or was told, that as obtuse and absurd as USIP is, it cannot benefit from consorting with CAIR. So perhaps she was guided by that consideration in putting her CMCU affiliation first.
But now I must express myself about myself. I do not bear any hatred for Islam, whether deep or shallow. I became a Muslim in 1997. I have written extensively in defense of the faith of Islam. And indeed, even before I became Muslim, I was known for my sympathy for Muslims and interest in Muslim history and culture. My encounter with Islam began when I was a mere teenager, forty years ago. During the crisis of former Yugoslavia I was the first American journalist to report on Islam in Bosnia-Hercegovina and its indigenous, European character. Since I believe that journalistic objectivity requires accuracy in reporting on evil, rather than neutrality, I publicized the suffering of Bosnian Muslims in their defense of their survival.
The real message of Ms. Mubarak is the classic Wahhabi spin on Islam. That is, only one interpretation of the religion is acceptable, that propagated by the Saudis, and anybody who disagrees with the Wahhabi doctrine is an enemy to be attacked. With dreadful results, this view of Islam, denying its vital internal diversity, has come to dominate Muslims as well as non-Muslim so-called experts on Islam in the U.S.
I will not be silenced by such tactics, and so long as there is breath in my body, I will not permit the Wahhabi spin on Islam to prevail before the Western public. Of that Ms. Mubarak and others like her may be very, very sure.
WahhabiWatch #20: Defeated in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Wahhabis Turn to Montenegro, Vijesti, Podgorica, Montenegro, 14 October 2006
From BBC Media Monitoring -- slightly edited for style
"Uneducated youth embrace Wahhabism"
Vijesti, Podgorica, Montenegro, 14 October 2006
Podgorica: Dzemo Redzematovic, the main Podgorica imam, refused to either confirm or deny reports that there are supporters of Wahhabism among the Islamic community officials. When asked whether an imam in northern Montenegro who was educated in Saudi Arabia was a Wahhabi, Redzematovic replied that all those working for the Islamic community of Montenegro had to sign an agreement stating that they will work in line with traditional Islam and the Hanafi madhdhab.
"Any violation of this paragraph represents a violation and termination of the contract. If the Islamic community of Montenegro is facing some problems it will solve them within its own institutions and not through daily newspapers. I think that there is no reason to treat Wahhabism as an issue of great importance. By ignoring this topic we will help solve the problem sooner," Redzematovic says.
He points out that the Wahhabism in Montenegro started attracting attention after it collapsed in Bosnia-Hercegovina, where it was defeated by prominent and influential Bosnian imams and by its own incompatibility with traditional Bosnian Islam.
"The number of Wahhabis is growing among religiously uneducated youth and in those religious collectives in which the role of their imam is significantly reduced or neglected. In communities that have serious and industrious imams, Wahhabism has not managed to make progress," Redzematovic says.
He confirms that the initial goal of the Wahhabism was a return to original Islam, but adds that a movement which is 300 years old cannot be integrated in our century, because it lost the framework in which it operated and it lost its reason to exist.
"This is a completely unnecessary phenomenon within Islam. If here, ever since Islam arrived, Hanafi Islam and [the Hanafi] legal school (madhdhab) has been recognized, if the Muslims observe it both while they are in mosques and after they leave, then introducing a new approach to Islamic rules is unnecessary and negative because it creates a rift among the believers. If you see some faults, some problems in religious life you have to try to fix them, to criticize them, but within the existing madhdhab, not by introducing a new trend that claims some exclusive right to interpret Islamic rules. I want to say that people should try to Islamize the Muslims, not turn them into atheists," Redzematovic believes.
He points out that the problems that plague relations between the Wahhabis and other Muslim believers are a natural process. "Once you have no more scientific and intellectual proofs you turn to physical ones, to measuring arguments through physical strength. The supporters of Wahhabism do not have a single book that would help them defend themselves and reject the accusations voiced against them. For instance, Stephen Schwartz's "Two Faces of Islam", Hamid Algar's "Wahhabism", Jasmin Merdan's "Wahhabism, Salafism, Ideology, Support and Historical Roots" and other books never received any kind of reply, adequate or not, from the Wahhabis. If silence equals consent then they agree with what the books are saying. Otherwise they should draft a scientific paper or examine the issue in a way that will allow them to defend their ideology and end this controversy," Redzematovic says, adding that he does not see the Wahhabis as a danger and that he does not believe that somebody from outside the picture is financing them.
Redzematovic does not support the way the Wahhabis dress.
"The Islamic law school says that men and women must cover shameful areas - between the navel and knee for men and the entire body, barring the face, hands and feet, for women. That is what Hanafi says. However, Islam tolerates more than one approach and opinion... I must say that the Koran does not consider the choice of clothing and folklore to be overly important. It says that the cloth made of piety is best of all. Believing that wearing the djellabah, long shirts and short trousers is a part of Islamic law is wrong because due to climate conditions you cannot wear them, for instance, in Russia and Sweden - yet Islam fits every time and place. All God's messengers really had beards but I must say that religion does not lie in a beard - a beard lies in the religion," Redzematovic says, advising everybody to read about "Wahhabi use of Salafism" on the monteislam.com website.
Voting only in Islamic state
The fact that Wahhabis are not interested in what happens in the state they live in, its future and political events is reflected in their refusal to vote. Not one of the people who were at polling station during the most recent elections noticed even a single Wahhabi supporter who voted. According to a rumour in Rozaje [town in northern Montenegro], when a Wahhabi was asked who he will vote for he replied "I vote only for an Islamic state".
WahhabiWatch #19: When Wahhabis Attack: The Case of The Harabati Tekke in Macedonia, 14 October 2006
When Wahhabis Attack: The Case of The Harabati Tekke in Macedonia
The Center for Islamic Pluralism has fully confirmed the deplorable details noted in the below statement, which is circulating among friends of Bektashi Sufis in the U.S.
It is important to ask for everyone's help or advice in dealing with the following situation:
On August 15th 2002, and group of Wahhabi thugs armed with Kalashnikovs and pistols busted into the expansive Harabati Baba Tekke in Tetovo, Macedonia and seized control of a large part of it, professing to be "recovering" it in order to perform the five daily prayers there. These ruffians remain there to this day, impressing their religious fanaticism on this picturesque and idyllic Bektashi compound and harassing its many visitors (as I was during my last visit this July). With the unspoken consent of the Sunni religious hierarchy of Macedonia these Wahhabis now utilize a structure call the "Kubeli Meydan" as an ad hoc mosque, deafeningly blaring the ezan from the loud-speakers they have attached to that structure's chimney, two of which opportunely face towards the area the Bektashis still maintain control of! They have additionally disfigured the historical integrity of the building by tearing out part of the wall facing southeast and installing a concrete mihrab (the niche indicating the direction of Mecca). Wahhabi "security" has taken up residence in the old "Mihman Evi" (guest house) and from there they regularly accost visitors telling them that this is the property of the "Islamic Community" and to keep away from the Bektashi "heretics".
The Harabati Baba Tekke was built in the late 18th century around the tomb of the great 16th century Bektashi saint, Sersem Ali Baba. Copies of vakf (trust) documents exist attesting to the fact that the compound was indeed meant to be a Bektashi tekke from the beginning, not a mosque. In fact one of these documents affirms that the compound is to be used as a Bektashi monastery ad infinitum and in the event that this ceases to be the case ownership of all of the properties of the tekke are to revert back to the family of the donor, Rexhep Pasha. The Harabati Baba Tekke was used as a Bektashi lodge until 1945 when the communists confiscated it and removed its last shaykh, Baba Qazim Bakalli. In the 60s it was turned into a tourist attraction and three of the seven buildings that make up the tekke were utilized as a hotel, a restaurant and a disco. The Kubeli Meydan was put to use as a small art museum (I have yet to find anywhere were Yugoslav authorities appropriated Orthodox monasteries for secular use). The drunken depravity of many of the "hotel's" guests led to repeated incidents of desecration (tombstones smashed and urinated on, fornication carried out in the türbe etc.) and in 1992 a fire started in the main türbe structure by inebriated partygoers caused significant damage to the graves of the many saints buried within. In 1994 the Bektashi community, led by Baba Tayyar Gashi and Baba Tahir Emini, had enough of this befouling of their sacred site and it staged a sit-in, an act which eventually gained them partial control of the complex. A positive resolution to the issue of ownership of the property was well on its way until August of 2002 when religious fanatics claimed the tekke as a mosque.
It must be emphatically stated that the Harabati Baba Tekke was NEVER used as a mosque. In addition to the testimony offered by the original vakf documents, the fact that the Kubeli Meydan (where the Wahhabis now hold prayers) was devoid of a mihrab should be a rather significant indication that the five canonical daily prayers were never offered here. Bektashis have no need for mihrabs in their meydans seeing that their ceremonial prayer does not require one. Another discernible sign that the structure was never a mosque is that the Kubeli Meydan does not have a minaret from where the call to prayer is made (ezan). Nevertheless to alleviate this oversight the Wahhabi intruders have hoisted loudspeakers up the building's chimney.
Why would the Sunnis need to appropriate this tekke to use as a mosque? There are over twenty-five mosques on the city of Tetovo, twelve of which are in the locality of the tekke. Why is it that these Wahhabis couldn't see fit to pray in these places? Could there be other reasons for this belligerent invasion? Could it be that the main intention of these fanatics boils down to the control of property. The Harabati Baba Tekke has the potential for tremendous wealth due to the fact that its vakf property holdings are quite vast. If the tekke, inshallah, is restored in its totality to the Bektashi community, the funds that could be generated through these properties will be significant and they will provide ample income for the maintenance of the community's needs.
To date the Macedonian government has taken little interest in resolving this case. In fact the Bektashi community has not been recognized by the government as a separate religious community vis-ŕ-vis the Sunnis despite its regular appeals since 1993 to be so. The lack of response form the Macedonian government is rather suspicious given that other Macedonian Sufi orders (Halvetis, Rifais, Sadis, Kadiris and Naqshbandis) have an organization call the Islamic Dervish Religious Community which is recognized by the state as an entity separate from the Sunni community.
The legal action taken by the Bektashis to remove these fanatics has, to date, come to nothing. I am not sure at what level the United States is involved in this situation, but I am sure there must be something we can do to get our government to pressure Macedonian authorities to resolve this case fairly. Below is the latest report made by the US Department of State on the condition of religious freedom in Macedonia where mention of problem of the Harabati Baba tekke is made:
The Bektashi, a Sufi Islamic group, sued the Government for failing to reverse the former Yugoslavia's nationalization of the Bektashis' Tetovo compound, known as the Arabati Baba Tekke. The Bektashi also filed suit against the Islamic Community of Macedonia (ICM), armed members of which seized part of the complex in 2002; the ICM continued to occupy the mosque [it is not a mosque!!]. The Islamic Community claimed that the property belongs to them, as the Bektashi are a sect of Islam; however, the Bektashi in Macedonia have registered as a separate religious group and claim that the property belongs strictly to the Bektashi Community and not the Islamic community as a whole. These disputes were ongoing at the end of the period covered by this report.
The Bektashi reported two acts of vandalism at the compound in Tetovo. In April 2006, a large photograph of Reshat Bardhi, head of the World Bektashi Community, which hung at the entrance to the compound, was reported stolen. The photograph was replaced and, in May 2006, it was vandalized when the middle of the photograph was cut out. The police investigations into both of these incidents were ongoing at the end of the period covered by this report.
