Posted on 06/16/2006 11:43:37 AM PDT by Dark Skies
The people of Sarajevo, renowned for their pluralism, have been shaken after a series of incidents including the murder of a Muslim woman by her Islamic extremist son who questioned her faith.
Upholders of Bosnia's moderate version of Islam say the problem caused by an influx of hardline fighters during the country's 1992-1995 war has worsened in recent months, highlighted by the gruesome murder.
"Bosnia's tradition of Islam is tolerant, it promotes pluralism and we should not allow those representing a one-track ideology to teach us," says Jasmin Merdan.
The 26-year-old -- a practising Muslim who portrays himself as a "victim" of the Wahhabi ideology before abandoning it -- is one of the few courageous voices in Bosnia who dares to criticise extremism.
"They express their convictions with violence, introduce anarchy in mosques and preach intolerance," says Merdan, who recently founded an association in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo to fight against "those who deny basic teachings of Islam".
Supported by a handful of independent journalists, Merdan recently published a book condemning the harmful influence on Bosnian people of Wahhabism, a radical version of Islam.
Merdan says the book was "warmly welcomed by imams who do not dare to speak" but sparked death threats against him and pressure from members of the Wahhabi community.
Several incidents since the beginning of the year have shaken Sarajevo and confirmed Merdan's fears.
In February, a young man who recently converted to Wahhabism killed his mother reportedly because she refused to join him for morning prayers.
After the murder, the 23-year-old went to a "Wahhabi" mosque with blood on his hands and clothes, telling his fellow believers that he just made a "sacrifice to God".
In addition, several young couples have complained to the local media and police that they had been harassed by "bearded" men in parks while they were kissing and hugging.
According to Merdan, they were members of the so-called "Sharia militia" -- a group of self-styled religious police. However local police said they were not aware of the group's existence.
Wahhabism is a hardline version of Islam that originated in 18th century Saudi Arabia. It took its roots in Bosnia, whose Muslims are mostly followers of moderate Islam, in the country's 1992-1995 war.
During the conflict, hundreds of volunteers from Islamic countries -- known as "holy warriors" or mujahedin -- came to Bosnia to fight alongside its mainly Muslim army.
All of the foreign fighters were expected to leave the country following the war, but an unknown number of them remained and obtained Bosnian citizenship mostly by marrying local women.
"Since the war, the number of followers of Wahhabism has been growing," says Merdan, slamming the "passiveness" of Bosnia's laic and religious authorities.
Some 40 percent of Bosnia's 3.8 million inhabitants are Muslims. Orthodox Christian Serbs represent about 31 percent, while Roman Catholic Croats account for around 10 percent.
Merdan voiced regret that the Bosnian Muslim religious leader, Mustafa Ceric, has never publicly condemned the activities of the Wahhabists.
Meanwhile, the editor-in-chief of a Bosnian weekly, Vildana Selimbegovic, deplored the "isolation" of the few Muslim theologians who voice their dissatisfaction with the presence of Wahhabists.
"Politicians do no want to or are too afraid to talk. The majority of Muslims remain silent. It seems that they will remain silent until the devil claims his due," Selimbegovic wrote in the weekly Dani.
Sarajevo's imposing King Fahd Mosque, named after the late Saudi monarch who financed its construction, has in the past few years become the core of Bosnian followers of Wahhabism.
"Sometimes I ask myself whether I am really in Sarajevo. The number of bearded men and women dressed in chadors will soon be equal to other people," comments Adnan, a young Muslim who lives near the mosque.
Adnan says that the King Fahd Mosque has attracted a number of Wahhabi families from surrounding neighborhoods.
"They try the same recipe as in Sudan or other Arab countries," says Merdan.
"If we allow them, in 20 years, people like me will not be allowed to speak," he stresses.
At any rate, Jelisic was charged and tried for crimes committed in the Brcko area by the ICTY. He admitted he was the executioner in the series of photographs"
So why didn't you say that in the first place? The onus is on you to explain, not us to have squeeze it out of you, wiggler.
"Serbian bullet in the back of the head."
What's to explain? I gave you a picture, along with the perp's name.
Find someone else to hold your hand and walk you through becoming an informed participant in the discussion.
Heck, I will even pay for your travel accomodations and three days stay. I'll even drive you around and we can go to locations as you please.
The offer to accept is on you, or do you need daddy's permission? I know that you are nothign without riding his coattails and can't give any fictional facts you are famous for without him giving you that information.
Deal?
I think it's great.
But CAIR will not even attempt to settle it man-to-man, or in any other upfront way.
They're routinely abusing our court system to destroy this nation.
Just like the ACLU, they're doing it under the guise of concern over "discrimination", knowing full well that the Islamic countries they hail from and the communist countries the ACLU aspires to recreate here would laugh them right out of court.
CAIR protest whom? He's an idependant contractor who gets a 1099 from whomever he works for.
mosque building,
college "learning centers" and
prison recruiting programs.
That sums it up.
I see it all over the place.
Which explains all those Balkan muslim names on the lists of Gitmo prisoners or held locally by our forces in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Well, it would were there any Balkan muslims in Gitmo or showing up in Iraq or Afghanistan, but they're not, Tom, because you're simply FOS and making your "facts" up as you go along.
To wit: List of Individuals Detained by the DoD at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, through May 15, 2006
0 Bosnians, 0 Albanians, 0 Macedonians.
And in Iraq? The Balkan muslims are so underrepresented they don't even rate mention in the various analyses of foreign fighters killed or captured that appear every now and then in the news or from groups tracking the issue.
Just as an example, the CSIS report "Iraq's Evolving Insurgency and the Risk of Civil War" 4/20/06
Number and National Origin of Foreign Volunteers
No one knows where most of the foreign volunteers present in Iraq at any given time have come from. The mix seems to vary constantly, and estimates differ from source to source. For example, the US military reported 375 foreigners so far had been detained in Iraq in 2005 as of late October. The percentage of foreign detainees was only a little over 4% in early 2005, and had actually dropped by the end of 2005. Among those detained were: 78 Egyptians; 66 Syrians; 41 Sudanese; 32 Saudis; 17 Jordanians; 13 Iranians; 2 Britons; and one each from France, Israel, Ireland, and the United States. p 198
In summary, you, and your posts, are nothing but a source of inane disinformation.
Yes, your hand is obviously busy playing with yourself.
Wahhabism is a sick cult.
Best.
Comeback.
Ever.
So you going to continue to show your amazement by gettin' on the kneepads and taking out the dentures?
They'll attempt to pressure "whomever he works for".
They'll try to make it too expensive and controversial for anyone to hire him.
It's a tactic that has proven, sadly, very successful-- even with employers who have thought of themselves as not one to cower to threats and with a sound reputation in their industry--which is why they've copied it from the ACLU, whom I am certain has been a close consultant to CAIR.
I always hear that tatoos often represent something about the journey of your life and are sort of signposts of where you were at the time you got them, so if I were considering a tatoo the one your buddy has would have to be one of my top considerations.
I don't even know the guy yet I feel like I wish I did.
NY Times, July 21, 1995, page A8 -- Bosnian government soldiers from the enclave of Srebrenica which fell to the Serbs last week, stopped for a rest Wednesday near the government held town of Kalesija. The soldiers trekked for days through Serb-held territory, carrying their wounded.
Izetbegovic's plan in his own words -- and Clinton supported this -- "peaceful, multi-ethnic Bosnia", my a**!!!! http://www.youngmuslims.ca/biographies/display.asp?ID=2
I have warned you that you are in serious Spiritual danger and error.
Repent now!! Quit supporting godless bosnian and albanian islamics!!
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