Serbia: Bosnian Spiritual Leader Sparks Controversy
The world belongs to Allah:
Qur’an:8:39 “Fight them until all opposition ends and all submit to Allah.” Belgrade, 20 May (AKI) — The spiritual leader of Bosnia’s Muslim majority on Wednesday sparked controversy by stating that nothing could separate Muslims in Serbia from those in Bosnia. Reiss-ul-Ulema Mustafa Ceric made the comments during a visit to a Muslim community in Serbia’s Muslim-majority Sandzak region bordering Montenegro.
“We are one, and there is no force that could separate us,” Ceric told Muslims in the Sandzak town of Tutin.
- Imam in Bosnia Sex Abuse Case Found Guilty
- Florida Imam ‘Sexually Batters’ 13-Year-Old Boy…
- Kosovo’s Parliamentarians Applaud Biden
- Kosovo: Serbs March Against Biden in Mitrovica
- Karadzic Seeks UN Help in Motion Against Charges
“Sarajevo has been and will remain a spiritual centre for all Bosnian Muslims, wherever they live,” he said as he ended a three-day visit on Wednesday.
| Muslim:C9B1N33 | “The Prophet said: ‘I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and they establish prostration prayer, and pay Zakat. If they do it, their blood and property are protected.’” |
Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia, where Muslims make up 40 percent of the population — the largest group in the country.
“We, the Bosniacs (Bosnian Muslims) in the Balkans, demand no more and no less than what others have,” Ceric said.
“We know very well what it is, and they (Serbian leaders) will learn soon what it means.”
Serbia’s 200,000 Muslims are split into two groups. One is led by Muamer Zukorlic, who recognises Ceric’s supreme leadership.
A second group led by Adem Zilkic, believes that Muslims in Serbia should be autonomous from those in Bosnia.
Supporters of the two groups have often clashed in recent years, and several people have been wounded.
Zilkic appealed to Ceric to postpone his visit, warning it could have a “bloody epilogue” but there were no incidents.
Ceric also criticised Bosnian Muslim leaders in Sarajevo for “loving less” their fellow Muslims in Serbia.
Muslims in the former Yugoslavia are of Slavic origin, but were granted Yugoslav nationality by the former strongman Josip Broz Tito in 1963.
But after Bosnia seceded from Yugoslavia in 1992, most Muslims, except Kosovo Albanians, tend to call themselves Bosniacs.
Serbian ambassador to Bosnia, Grujica Spasovic, said Ceric’s concern for other Muslims was legitimate as long as it was related to cultural and religious ties.
But he said Ceric was “interfering in the politics and internal affairs of another country”, meaning Serbia.
Along with several Bosnian Muslim leaders, Ceric has called for Bosnia to be transformed into a unitary state of “Bosniac” people, prompting protests by the country’s two other main groups — Serbs and Croats.
American vice-president Joseph Biden on Tuesday urged Bosnian leaders to unite while pledging support for Bosnia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity enshrined in the US-brokered Dayton peace accord that ended the 1992-1995 civil war.
