WAHHABISM IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA Part 2

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGcuMO_bh1xxkh_XrIltXJOy-zu6RCeyCaQ8rmXyZ8CmWoKyL6h8Y9-wwyEBs1HlxBAQMXSsNev2GN9YfRkAzsMAIiQ2SUfdmpskGMszBP6Zn4iSxtMJ8xRTVZ_0B9C-xzSCNnplmH_az/s1600/220px-BosniaIslam.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGcuMO_bh1xxkh_XrIltXJOy-zu6RCeyCaQ8rmXyZ8CmWoKyL6h8Y9-wwyEBs1HlxBAQMXSsNev2GN9YfRkAzsMAIiQ2SUfdmpskGMszBP6Zn4iSxtMJ8xRTVZ_0B9C-xzSCNnplmH_az/s1600/220px-BosniaIslam.png" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 309.75pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">WAHHABISM AT THE DOORSTEPS OF EUROPE</span><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">     </span><span style="color: red;">     </span> </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE ISLAMIC REVIVAL</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">During the 1970s and 1980s, Bosnia and other parts of Yugoslavia witnessed Islamic revival.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Islamic revival in BIH started in the 1970s due to several factors:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- a certain aperture of the then Yugoslav regime.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- an improved economic situation.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- the graduation of a new generation of young Muslims intellectuals from Yugoslav and Middle Eastern universities.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- global trends in the Muslim world that began in the Petroleum Crisis in 1973 and culminated in the Iranian Revolution in 1979.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- the main manifestations of revival until 1992 were:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- rebuilding or construction of mosques financed by local money except in a few cases.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- opening or reopening of education institutions.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- publishing of Islamic texts and periodicals.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- intensified personal religiosity and use of Islamic social symbols.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- establishment of Muslim political organizations.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- emergence of Muslim solidarity institutions.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SUPREME ISLAMIC ASSEMBLY IN SARAJEVO PASSED A NEW CONSTITUTION OF THE ISLAMIC COMMUNITY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">During this period, the Islamic revival in BIH merged with the institutional framework of the Islamic Community. Alternative organizations were practically ignored. This would be dramatically changed after April 1992.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For all these activities the existing Constitution of the Islamic Community was too narrow. Also in 1974 Yugoslavia adopted a new constitution, which moved the state organization toward confederacy. As in the past, changes in the political system found reflection in the organization of the Islamic Community.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">On 12 April 1990 the Supreme Islamic Assembly in Sarajevo passed a new Constitution of the Islamic Community. This constitution divided the institutional structure of the Islamic Community into organs, institutions, and officials. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The organs of the Community were local yamaas boards, formed mostly formed in the level of boroughs, Mufti offices which were almost at the level of district, the Islamic Communities assemblies and their executive organs, mashiats, the jurisdiction of which coincided with the borders of the Yugoslav states, and finally, the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Community as the highest representative body of the Muslims in Yugoslavia. The executive body of this assembly was the Riaset, at the head of which stands Rais Ul Ulema as a religious leader of the Muslims in Yugoslavia. The seat of Riaset is in Sarajevo. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Members of all these bodies were to be elected and their term of office was limited. There was also the Islamic Council, a body of scholars in charge of keeping constitution within the Islamic Community and providing interpretation of Islamic teachings.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE COLLAPSE OF THE YUGOSLAV FEDERATION CAUSED A ‘DOMINO EFFECT’ ENDING ALL ORGANIZATIONS, ASSOCIATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYl8zf-xPEFnb8A7Ho-02OYzGqZJJULFgzXFqRFr6Zvt1QumUYAt9xt8PHQ0i7Ivo7vUUBgdoa7brSMofvIpaqahxiiFult6QdQv49HTOH6XoeOe5-WD9yzc0LuJn3k4nghyflAOxA_Rfx/s1600/bosnia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYl8zf-xPEFnb8A7Ho-02OYzGqZJJULFgzXFqRFr6Zvt1QumUYAt9xt8PHQ0i7Ivo7vUUBgdoa7brSMofvIpaqahxiiFult6QdQv49HTOH6XoeOe5-WD9yzc0LuJn3k4nghyflAOxA_Rfx/s1600/bosnia.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The institutions of the Islamic Community were madrasas, faculties, institutes, libraries and a museum. The Constitution also provided for the establishment of charitable, humanitarian and other institution, something that was unimaginable in BOSNIA during previous decades.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In 1992 the Yugoslav Federation broke down and its ‘domino effect’ brought an end to all organizations, associations and institutions built on the same principle.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In 1993 the representatives of different bodies of the Islamic Community, Muslim organizations and institutions, met in Sarajevo and proclaimed themselves as the Constituent Assembly of the Islamic Community. This Assembly called for the reconstruction of the autonomous Islamic Community in BOSNIA and proclaimed itself as the highest authority in the Community and passed on the same day an interim Basic Regulation that will serve as a legal basis for the organization and function of the Islamic Community until the end of the war.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">However, the interim Basic Regulation for all practical purposes relied mainly on the Constitution of the Islamic Community of 1990, which had been adjusted in certain aspects to meet demands of the new situation. The new organization structure again was composed of organs, institutions and officials. Basic organs were the same: yamaa, boards, Mufti offices. Others were adjusted: Naibu Ar Rais, Deputy Rais, replaced the President of the Mashiat, the Riaset replaced Mashiat and Constituent Assembly replaced the Assembly of the Islamic Community. Institutions and officials remained the same.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The organization of the Islamic Community from the time of the Yugoslav Federation was slightly modified to fit the circumstances of independent Republic of BIH. The basic regulation of 1993 provides that the Constituent Assembly will call for elections after the war and thus replace the emergency administration with a permanent one. The elections were conducted in the spring of 1995 and permanent Assembly of the Islamic Community was constituted on 28 April 1995. On 26 November 1997 this Assembly adopted a new Constitution, which is a legal basis for the present administration of Islamic Affairs in BOSNIA.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TRADITIONAL ISLAM IN BIH VERSUS WAHABISM / SALAFISM</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For more than 500 years BOSNIAN Muslims have maintained the Hanafi tradition, following a moderate and open-minded version of Islam: rich on tradition, tolerant of other communities and compatible with western values. The Islamic revival in BIH, which began after the secularist Tito period, underwent radical changes from the beginning of the war in April 1992. In those parts of BIH under SERBIAN and CROATIAN forces, 75 per cent of BOSNIAN territory was ‘cleansed’ of Muslims, while mosques and other Islamic buildings were in almost all cases destroyed.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">FOREIGN AGENCIES BECAME THE PRIME FOUNDERS OF THE ISLAMIC REVIVAL</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">However, freedom for Islamic activities became almost unlimited in some territories under the control of the Army of the Republic of BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. It is reported that several hundred <b>Afghan-Arab Mujahidin</b>, or Holy Warriors, joined with, fought alongside BOSNIAKS during the 1992-5 war in BIH. Highly religious and motivated, they brought a specific understanding of Islam with them and they tried to indoctrinate those ideas into BOSNIAK minds, having the opportunity to preach and spread propaganda freely. Thus the Wahhabi ideas surfaced for the first time on a wider scale. This foreign creed was different from the moderate and traditional version of Islam in BIH. During this time the relations between BIH and the Muslim world were elevated to an unprecedented level. The number of graduates of Islamic Studies outside the country increased and Islamic literature arrived in significant quantities. Additionally, the economic power of local populations was practically reduced to nothing and the foreign agencies became the prime founders of the Islamic revival. This financial support, coming from foreign Muslim countries, undermined the power of the well-organized and structured Bosnian Islamic community. SAUDI ARABIAN funding of mosques and economic help aimed to confirm SAUDI global Muslim leadership (vs. IRAN) and to bring BOSNIAN Muslims closer to beliefs and practices acceptable to <b>Wahhabism</b>.</span></span><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZZkjE5PXr_xJbDRTD4pIV__-pj69emDi__LDUBv084MF4hH734rD2cLmsrEWWo3M29qDLuYaMfBCSc7s1AyU-nspZ56glOPLPPS4haNfhwl0TBOxKRTv1t5G9NtTURTJIJpxqXcfrOLP/s1600/bugojno.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZZkjE5PXr_xJbDRTD4pIV__-pj69emDi__LDUBv084MF4hH734rD2cLmsrEWWo3M29qDLuYaMfBCSc7s1AyU-nspZ56glOPLPPS4haNfhwl0TBOxKRTv1t5G9NtTURTJIJpxqXcfrOLP/s320/bugojno.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bugojno Police Station bombing June 2010</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The activities of the Islamic Community in BIH have always included charity, income-generating projects and Waqf (religious endowment). The Islamic Community of BIH has been the exclusive administrator of these endowments for decades. However, several multimillion dollar foreign Waqfs were established after 1995, which, according to the contract with the Islamic Community, were granted full autonomy for various periods of time, usually two decades. The <b>Cultural Centre King Fahd</b> (CCKF) in Sarajevo is an example of this process, together with the SAUDI cultural centre in <b>Bugojno</b>and the Cultural Centre in <b>Hadžići.</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b>  </b></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The June 2010 <b>Bugojno</b> police station bomb attack was carried out by Wahhabis. For further background information see:  <a href="http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Security-Watch/Articles/Detail//?lng=en&id=118664">http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Security-Watch/Articles/Detail//?lng=en&id=118664</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE FINANCING OF THE RECONSTRUCTION OF A MOSQUE BY A SAUDI BASED ORGANIZATION WAS A PART OF A STRATEGY AIMED AT ACQUIRING THE SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP OF THE COMMUNITY</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The result of this process is the replacement of the Hanafi, the moderate traditional local version of Islam, with Wahhabism, a more radical and intolerant SAUDI version that in some cases might be a shift toward more radical and, possibly, terrorist activities. The elder and established Imams in some areas, who stand for a more moderate Islam, were more controlled and restricted in their activities.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In the past, the <b>High SAUDI Commission for the Relief of Bosnian Muslims</b> (HSC) has administered the Cultural Centre King Fahd without consulting the Islamic Community of BIH. The HSC gave full support to different Wahhabi organizations, including Active Islamic Youth (AIO) and different Islamic NGO’s. After the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 Sep 01, the situation changed because the media identified the HSC and related organizations as potential sources of extremism. Some of their members were arrested or questioned by local police or international forces about their links to terrorism. At the end of 2002, the <b>Cultural Centre King Fahd</b>, tried to change its public image and attempted to distance itself from these extremist circles, and established closer relations with the official Islamic Community of BIH. When the government of SAUDI ARABIA decided to close the HSC all the mosques whose construction was financed by the HSC were handed over to the BIH Islamic Community, and the King Fahd Cultural Centres in Sarajevo and Mostar to the Embassy of SAUDI ARABIA for management. According to the Cultural Attaché of the Saudi Arabia Embassy in BIH, the King Fahd Cultural Centre is a cultural institution that remains under the supervision and care of the SAUDI ARABIAN Embassy. Despite of this fact, the facilities of the Cultural Centre King Fahd and the King Fahd Mosque in Dobrinje, Sarajevo, are still the epicenter of the spreading of radical ideas in BIH.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">RADICAL MOVEMENTS ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE POOR CONDITION OF EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES, IN SOME AREAS IN BIH, AND OFFERING YOUNG PEOPLE A VARIETY OF POSSIBILITIES, AS MEANS TO SUBSEQUENTLY RECRUIT THEM</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The spreading of radical ideas in BIH has been linked to the return process of the people who were displaced during the war and to the social, economic and education situation within the country. The return of Muslims to some areas of BIH controlled by BOSNIAN SERBS or B-CROATS is creating an unstable local climate, potentially leading to increased ethnic tensions and inter-ethnic incidents. Some of these Muslim returnees are members of the Wahhabi sect. The perceived harassment of BOSNIAKS may stimulate an increased involvement of organizations tied to Islamic extremism in local communities. Reportedly, Wahhabism was already attempting to take advantage of BOSNIAK feelings of frustration by trying to radicalize the youth of these areas. These radical movements are taking advantage of the poor condition of education and social services, in some areas, and offering young people a variety of possibilities, as means to subsequently recruit them. The same policy has been used by different radical Islamic movements all over the world.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Extremist recruiters, who are likely to be a few years older, take the young people under their care, organizing bonding activities like camping trips and sporting events. The recruiter gradually isolates the recruits from their families and steps into the role of mentor. In this newfound clique, young recruits find the social integration and spiritual space they have yearned for, as radical indoctrination intensifies, and bonds tighten around a shared worldview.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">DRUG ADDICTS, THE PRIME TARGET FOR INDOCTRINATION AND RECRUITMENT TACTICS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Radical religious groups are also offering health and social services to former drug users and petty criminals. The weak mental and physical condition of the addicts makes them easy targets for indoctrination and recruiting. In addition, former drug users are familiar with illegal activities and once recruited these individuals may be used to support the organization, through criminal activity. For these reasons petty criminals inside jails all around Europe are also recruited. The FBIH (Federation) houses numerous drug rehabilitation centers, funded by SAUDI ARABIAN as well as IRANIAN NGOs who use “spiritual rehabilitation techniques” to “cure” their patients.</span></span></div>

WAHHABISM IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA Part 2

WAHHABISM AT THE DOORSTEPS OF EUROPE             THE ISLAMIC REVIVAL During the 1970s and 1980s, Bosnia and other parts of Yugoslavia witne...

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