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The European Muslim Union

Documentation of theSkopje Gathering,

May 2010




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Both ‘European and Muslim’. Islam beyond ImmigrationSummary of the Skopje Gathering 2010

Muslims of Europe: confident, at ease and clearFinal Declaration of the 2010 Gathering of the

European Muslim Union Foundation in Skopje,Macedonia

Opening address of the EMU gatheringBy Abu Bakr Rieger, EMU president

The Significance of the Balkans for the EuropeanMuslimsBy Prof Dr Nevzat Yalçıntas, honorary EMU president

The heritage of Muslim architecturre in the Balkans –an inspiration for present day needsBy Behijudin Shehabi, president of El-Hilal, Macedonia



Documentation of the Skopje Gathering 2010

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The investment’s potential for sustainable economic development and growth in Balkan countriesBy Prof Dr Hüner Sencan, Rector of the InternationalBalkan University

The False Definition of Europe as a Christian Entity andthe Essential Muslim Component in Europe’s IdentityBy Prof Dr Ferid Muhic, Ss. Cyril and MethodiusUniversity, Skopje, Macedonia, Faculty of Philosophy

The role of mosques in Europe, as places of social dynamismBy Abdalhasib Castiñeira

The importance of collaboration between indigenousand immigrant Muslim communities in EuropeBy Prof Aziz Kobeiti Al Idrissi

The special role of the imam in the mosques of EuropeBy Shaykh Dr Nader Al Noori, head of Abdullah AlNoori Charitable Foundation, Kuwait



On the evening of Friday 28 May, thePresident of the HumanitarianOrganisation “El Hilal”, BehidjudinShehabi, and the President of theEMU, Abu Bakr Rieger, greetedaround 120 invited guests from allover the Balkans, Russia and WestEurope.

The keynote lecture on “TheSignificance of the Balkans forEuropean Muslims” was given by theHonorary President of the EMU, ProfNevzat Yalcintas. Dr Yalcintas outlinedthe traditions of Islam in the regionfrom the past to the present andpointed out the growing potential andsignificance of the millions ofEuropean Muslims.

On Saturday 29 May, theAmbassador of Turkey in Skopje, H.E.Hakan Okcal received the guests in

a welcoming speech. Abu Bakr Riegerthen presented the main theme of theconference. “The European Muslimsdo not have an identity crisis and arethemselves a proof that there is no con-tradiction in being both ‘European

and Muslim’.”

“Islam is not in itself a culture,” hesaid, “but rather filters existing cul-tures and produces new, positive cul-tural relations and connections. TheMuslims who speak European lan-guages today represent a constantlygrowing potential from Kazan toGranada,” Rieger added.

Talks and lectures from the conference,under the title, "Islam beyond

Immigration”, are presented here anddocumented in detail. The talks andlectures deal with the legal situationof the Muslims in Europe, the role ofthe mosques, the current financial cri-sis and the identity of European

Muslims.

On Sunday 30 May, comments andsuggestions on various subjects in-cluding, media, women, economicsand youth exchange, amongst others,were received by the EMU Board fromthe European Muslims, Imams andNGOs present at the conference. Thesubsequent workshop dealt with a mu-tual exchange of experiences, the

presentation of successful projects andthe coordination of joint activities.


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Both ‘European and Muslim’Skopje, the tradition-steeped capital of Macedonia was the scene for

this year’s EMU gathering from 28 to 30 May 2010.




The final message of the 2010

Gathering of the European MuslimUnion Foundation (EMU) was:

1. Islam is at home in Europe. Islamis part of the culture, history and civil-isation of the continent. Islam andMuslims cannot be defined as analien, foreign or merely immigrantphenomenon in Europe.

The existence of entire indigenousMuslim nations and peoples in theBalkans is proof of this fact. Eight hun-dred years of Islamic rule in Spain andPortugal represent a heritage that hasshaped European and Western civil-isation.

We, the Muslims of Europe are confi-dent of, at ease with and clear as toour identity both as Europeans and asMuslims. There is no contradiction be-tween these two aspects of our identity.

2. The EMU Foundation focuses on

implementing social activities and pro-grammes in Europe that are of bene-fit to both Muslims and non-Muslimsalike. The EMU Foundation seeks topromote the capability of Muslims andtheir participation in the common pros-perity and welfare of Europe.

The EMU Foundation intends to fur-ther projects that provide a remedy tothe current financial system. Membersof the EMU Foundation in Europe arealready putting into practice marketmodels, conducting them accordingto Islamic regulations of trade and asa means of da’wah, and by so doing,investigating the capacity of Islam toprovide valid alternatives and solu-tions to the present financial and eco-nomic crisis.

3. The EMU Foundation is concernedwith the role of mosques in European

countries and works towards excel-

lence in management, services, ac-counting, education and socialprogrammes among the mosques ofEurope – addressing in this way notonly the Muslim community but alsothe surrounding society.

The 2010 Gathering of the EMUFoundation in Skopje emphasises therole of the imam as a model of ex-cellence of character and personalconduct; that he should be a modelteacher and guide to be imitated andfollowed through his lessons and khutbas.

4. The EMU Foundation seeks to sup-port educational projects and initia-tives in Europe in order to fulfil theeducational needs of our children and youth. In this respect the EMU Foun-dation gives its full support to the establishment of an educational cen-

Muslims of Europe:

confident, at ease and clearFinal Declaration of the 2010 Gathering of the European Muslim Union

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tre for youth in the historic Muslim market of the city of Skopje, under the

auspices of our Macedonian memberand cooperation partner, the human-itarian organisation, “El Hilal”.

The EMU Foundation is equally com-mitted to support the efforts and initia-tives directed at protecting the Islamicarchitectural heritage of the city ofSkopje.

5. The EMU Foundation seeks to sup-

port media projects that give a voiceto the Muslims in Europe as well astraining young Muslims in the pro-fessional skills of journalism, publicrelations and audio-visual communi-cation.

6. The EMU Foundation agrees toraise issues specific to Muslim womenin Europe, their rights and concerns,and to promote the participation of

more Muslim women and Muslimwomen’s organisations in EMU activities.

7. The EMU Foundation stands for cooperation and mutual support bet-ween the indigenous Muslims of Eu-rope; those who belong to the regionswhere Islam has been present for hun-dreds of years those who acceptedIslam recently as well as the immigrant

Muslim communities of Europe. TheEMU Foundation regards solidarity be-tween Muslims – beyond racial andnational origin – an essential featureof the Muslim community.

The EMU Foundation will continue tomaintain contact with, and visits to,Muslim communities all over Europewith the aim of strengthening broth-erhood and cooperation.

Skopje, Macedonia, Sunday30 May 2010

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Dear ambassador, dear guests, dearbrothers and sisters in Islam.

As-Salaamu ‘alaykum.

It is a great pleasure for me to be heretoday in Macedonia, in the honou-rable capital of this country, Skopje.

I want to explain very briefly the struc-ture of the EMU to you. The EMU Foun-dation was founded on 13 May 2005in Istanbul, at the suggestion of ourhonorary president, Professor Yalçın-tas. Dr Yalçıntas was very much awareat that time that the Muslims of Europe

had significant potential. So he askedme to promote the idea of a networkof European Muslim communities, ofEuropean Muslim NGOs and busi-nesses. I had the honour of startingthis work, at the beginning very small,but with the help of Allah, now grow-ing by the month.

Our foundation is based and regis-tered in Spain, in Granada, Al-Anda-lus. We have our administrativeheadquarters in Strasbourg, France,a key city of Europe, as you are all

aware. And we have a working teamin Europe, with whom we work, cre-ate and promote activities on a dailybasis. We received strong supportfrom Spain; with Dr Hajj AbdalhasibCastiñeira now working with us in theEMU. He speaks perfect Arabic andI can also say, without exaggeratinghis importance, that he is one of thegreat ‘alims [Islamic scholars] ofEurope.

Leaving the structural perspective andmoving towards the real intention ofthe EMU; clearly we want to connectall the Muslims of Europe. We havebeen travelling since the inception ofthe EMU all over Europe, a wonder-ful task. In fact, some of the highestpoints of my life occurred on thesejourneys.

Just to give you some idea of the nature of our work, we visited Kosovowith our local representative, Dr Xha-bir Hamiti. I have been in Mitrovica,in Prizren and in Prishtina. Togetherwith Prof Dr Yalçıntas, we went toBosnia and saw Sarajevo and Mostar.We have been in Russia, where wehad an unforgettable meeting whileworking with Brother AbdulvakhidNiyazov. We have been Tatarstan.

We have been to Hungary, which in-cluded a very wonderful visit toBudapest. We have been in England

and in France, to name but a few.So you see, being the president ofEMU is a wonderful position becauseAllah puts you on a journey. I havemet so many wonderful people in all

of these places, and could easily ga-ther enough material for a Hollywoodmovie; All those who know the honou-rable Mufti of Western Thrace, knowthat his life contains enough materialfor a long film and that he is one ofthe emblems of Islam in Europe.

I have been asked to speak a littleabout the general idea of this confe-rence. I think we are now experienc-

ing one of its main ideas. I feel thatalready a strong message will comeout from Skopje to Europe. And it isthis; that Islam is not a culture. Islamfilters culture. Islam creates culture, butis not in itself a culture. That is why Ican be an Albanian, German, French,English, Swiss, or Italian Muslim butwithout having to negate or to rejectmy own culture.

Up until today, in my case, I have beenan admirer of Johann Wolfgang vonGoethe, one of the greatest poets ofEurope, and I can quote him also. Inthe 19th century, quite a difficult timefor Islam in Europe, he made a veryfamous statement; namely that, “IfIslam means obedience to God, weall live and die in Islam.”

I want also to state firmly that we do

not believe that Islam is a kind of radical theology. Why is that? Thisis because, in my knowledge and ex-

Opening address of the EMU gatheringBy Abu Bakr Rieger

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perience, Islam is always connectedwith culture. Islam has always been

connected with life and always con-nected with tradition. It is not a the-ology, or an ideology you candisconnect from the place where peo-ple they live. That in itself is a bal-ance. As such, we respect the greattradition of Islam in Europe – as wehave seen it in Tatarstan, here, in Al-Andalus and many other places inEurope.

You can see, that the meaning of thisconference is demonstrated by its veryprogramme; yesterday we had a feastwhose meaning was very simple, howwonderful it is to be a Muslim. It iswonderful to have brothers and sisters,and the fact is that we are all con-nected. It is wonderful that we are notlonely. It is wonderful that we haveno fear through having a revelation, apositive outlook and no resentment.We are not against anyone. In reality,

we are together here to celebrate andto praise Allah, subhana wa ta’ala.This is purely positive, with no nega-tivity.

Today we have something very impor-tant to offer. We will indicate to theEuropean people – a fact sometimesforgotten – that we Europeans havean intellect inspired by Islam. Allahhas given us brains. We can think.

We can argue. We are not living inthe past, nor yet can say today howthe future will look.

We use our intellect here and now andlisten to other thinkers. We listen topeople of knowledge. We desire tolearn about the situation of the humanbeing. This is a knowledge that canbe shared with everyone in Europebecause Allah ta’ala has given us

something. You need intellect. Youmay be a simple man or you can bea professor. You will find knowledge

and answers in Islam. If you allow me,I want to briefly indicate three fun-

damental aspects, which we – as theEMU – espouse:

1.) We are clear as to our identity.2.) We have clarity as to what Islam is.3.) We are absolutely clear about thetime we are living in.

Let me speak briefly about what hav-ing clarity over our identity means.We are European Muslims. This isvery simple and easy to understand.But, it is also the beginning of a jour-ney.

When I became Muslim, I was verymuch a German. I said to my teacher;“Look, I am a German and I am Mus-lim. But, all these Arabs, Turks,Indonesians … I don’t know, I am notsure.” My teacher did something verywise in saying; “I think, the best thingfor you is to go on hajj.” He sent me

on hajj. I left Germany as a German,with my tie, my passport, my moneyand my identity, and I went to Makka.When I came back to Spain, toGranada, an old friend of mine re-ceived me at the railway station.When he saw me, he said:“Subhanallah! Abu Bakr, you havechanged!” And an older companionof his interjected; “Well, how would you look after meeting one and a half

million buffalos?”

In other words: I left as a German andcame back as a Muslim.

There is another bit of the journeywhich we here are all familiar with,but that has to be mentioned, and thatis; the highest understanding of iden-tity – which you discover by beingon the path. If you study the important

scholars of tasawwuf in any tradition, you realise that they teach you some-thing very simple. It sounds very sim-

ple; the more you give up your iden-tity and the more you reduce your

nafs, the more Allah, subhana wata’ala, appears.

Although it sounds simple, it tookEuropean philosophy – Nietzsche,Heidegger, Schiller and many of theEuropean philosophers – centuries todiscover this reality. If you examineEuropean philosophy, you will find itis a search for unity, a search fortawhid. Identity is a journey. Its startis where you are from – your father, your mother, your family, your tribeand your situation – but you discoverat the end of the journey that there isonly One, only Allah, insha’Allah.Therefore, you are gathered and uni-fied with the human beings from allover the world.

The second point I want to mentionbriefly is that we are clear as to whatthe deen is. We have clarity about

Islam. Islam is not complicated. I amnot a professor, but I understood in avery short time what it means to be aMuslim; that you have to say the shahada, that you have to pray, that you have to go on hajj, that you haveto fast one month in the year and that you have to pay the zakat. This is notdifficult to understand and so even Iunderstood it.

Recently, at a press conference, I wasasked: “Mr Rieger, are you a liberalor a conservative Muslim?” I said: “AsI am not in politics, I do not use po-litical terminology. I am a lawyer andI can only say very simply, maybe toosimply, that I pray five times a day. Itis neither liberal to pray only one time,nor is it conservative to pray ten times.You may pray correctly. It is not lib-eral to pay 0.5 per cent in zakat, nei-

ther is it conservative to pay 20 percent. You can only pay the zakat cor-rectly.”




We believe that this is the simple basisof the deen, of Islam, and on it there

gathers more than one billion people,from all over the world. This is the clar-ity of Islam. There is no argumentabout the ’ibadat, the five pillars ofIslam. We know that Islam never didhave anything to do with extremes;when people stay together and whenthere is jama’at [community]. Our message is – as is that of the EMU;be careful of people who are alone.Don’t trust people who are in smallgroups, but rather stay with the jama’at. Despite the difficulties andall the problems, we are neverthelessthe majority of the Muslims. And tryto act with them as best you can.

On all these journeys all over Europe,I have met ‘ulama and great peopleof Islam, here in Europe. Let’s stay withthem and if we have questions, let’sask them. For centuries they havestood for a middle path, for the sirat

al-mustaqim. And they are accessible.They have not disappeared.

The third and last thing I want to speakabout, and it is specifically my con-cern – as it is the concern of all of us– and that is that we live in the hereand now; we live today. I believe thatif we use our intellect and knowledgeof Islam, we will be best preparedfor the time we live in. This momenthas its priorities and we all know whatthese are; they are the economy, itsmoney and financial transactionswhich presently dominate us, wher-ever we are from – whether Muslimsor not. It is logical that we ask Allah,subhanahu wa ta’ala, about this mat-ter, that we open the Qur’an and askourselves whether Allah say somethingabout this; Does Allah in fact commenton the world of commerce? Does Hestate anything about financial trans-actions? Is He in any way awareabout the economical dimension of

the human being? Is He in any wayaware about the greed that we mayhave, and so on?” And of course, theanswer is; “Yes, He is.”

When I had just become a Muslim,in the very early days, I found an ayatin Surat al-Baqara (275), where Allahsays, “I forbid usury and I allowtrade.” A very simple statement,which if you analyse deeply, helps

us understand the world in which welive today.

As we are all aware, the world hasagain come to a point of ‘financialcrisis.’ At this point, in Europe, we areall in the same boat, whether Muslim,Christian or Jew. If you go back in theEuropean tradition, you end up inGreece. If you open the famous bookentitled ‘Politeia’, its author Aristotle

– founder of political sciences inEurope – warns his fellow Greeks. Hesays; “The worst, the most dramatic

and negative thing that can happento a community is usury.”

This is in the ‘Politeia’. And of course,this Greek understanding of financialtransactions, the old traditional knowl-edge of Europe, is confirmed by Allahta’ala in the Qur’an. Allah gives usvery clear instructions; not to prac-tice usury but to allow trade. AsEuropeans, we have to think aboutthis and discuss its meanings.

In the time we are in, we have to dis-cuss with all Europeans, not just withMuslims, how we might work togethertowards a conclusive answer and howwe might set limits in the financialworld for the good of creation. Webelieve, as Muslims, because we havereceived instruction from Allah, sub-hana wa ta’ala, that we can neitheraccept, nor allow usury. In the sameway we can in no way accept the cre-ation of money in a limitless manner

– causing as it does clear problemsfor all of us in Europe.

I mention this because, sometimes, weMuslims are presented as very reli-gious people and a bit old-fashioned.Not so. We are living here and now.We act now. On Sunday, we will dis-cuss options, possibilities and dimen-sions of our work together, which willfacilitate survival in this difficult time

that Allah has put us in. We are broth-ers in this and our aim is to bring goodthings to the Europeans. We will talkin more detail later about our under-standing of the situation.

I believe, along with the professor thatit is not about us personally, rather thatwe are just symbols of this process,not the end of the story but just a smallchapter in the story. However, I do be-

lieve that we now have three large andgrowing groups in Europe that willplay a significant role:

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1.) The great community of the na-tive European Muslims – i.e. in Tatars-

tan, Russia, Al-Andalus and theBalkans. It is a growing reality, consisting of neither immigrants norforeigners.

2.) There is a whole group like my-self and brothers like Malik here fromSpain, or Amir from Russia. In a timein which nobody spoke about Islam,we converted to Islam. And I remem-ber that our parents looked at us andasked: “Why? Are you mad? Whyare you doing this?”

They did not understand immediately,and now we are parents ourselves,with children, who are EuropeanMuslims. In Germany we have a com-munity, which started with just a cou-ple of men, but now all of us havechildren. They in turn will marry andhave children themselves, who willsay; “We were born in Islam, we are

Muslims!”

3.) But also there is a third group im-portant to me, and I do not want theEMU to be perceived as an organi-sation which does not honour, for ex-ample, the earlier Turks who movedto Germany; workers and simple peo-ple who worked twenty hours a dayfisabilillah to open a mosque. We donot speak badly about any immigrant

community in Europe, because all ofthem did something for Islam inEurope.

And again, they also have childrennow. I have friends in Germany, withTurkish, Bosnian, Moroccan or Syrianfathers who speak better German thanI do. They have no dialect, and speakHigh German. They went to Germanschools and universities. And since I

believe that the identity of Europeansis defined by the fact that they speaka European language, naturally they

are Europeans too. The moment youlive in a European country and youlearn Macedonian, Albanian, Bos-nian, German, French or English –and you speak it well – then you are

part of the community and of the so-ciety. The number of these people, if you reflect on the matter, is growingagain.

Islam is in Europe. Europe’s Muslimshave a significant role to play. We donot have a crisis of identity and weare clear about the deen, about Islamand about our future. We have some-thing to give the Europeans and some-

thing to share with them.

Our approach is purely positive andI invite everybody here to work withus – not by becoming a party mem-ber – The EMU is not a club for which you will have to fill out a form. This isnot our role. We are a foundation andwe are doing civil work.

We simply want to bring our people

together. We have themes, obligationsand ideas and we want to formgroups to carry them out. We want

to work for good, for the social andcultural welfare of the Muslims inEurope. Everybody is invited to joinany of our programmes.

We ask Allah to give this meeting suc-cess in this and I ask Allah particu-larly to give our honorary president,Prof. Yalçıntas, strong health in thehope that he stays restless and in thestate of a frequent traveller.

I want to ask Allah to give ease tothe Mufti of Western Thrace and to re-ward him for his holding on to Islamin such a difficult time when no one

in Europe cared about his situation.He is a reminder to all of our youngpeople to stay with Allah and ourProphet Muhammad, may Allah blesshim and give him peace, in difficulttimes.

I specially want to thank the Turkishambassador in Macedonia for com-ing here. This is an honour for us andindicates that the EMU is working

with governments and not againstthem. Thank you very much for yourpresence.


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Islam today, with its European history,its socio-political structure, culture and

civilisation, is an integral part of thelife of the European people. In thisarticle we shall focus on Islam and itsreal existence in the Balkan Peninsula,its profound and unbroken connectionto the past and its relations with thisregion.

First of all we would like to clarify whatthe word ‘Balkans’ refers to. A shortdescription might state that it is a re-gion south of the basin of the riverDanube that stretches down to and ta-pers off into the Mediterranean, withthe Adriatic Sea to its West and theBlack Sea region, the Straits of theBosphorus and the Aegean Sea to itsEast.

The following countries are to befound in this region – viewed clock-

wise: Romania, Bulgaria, the Thraceregion of Turkey, Greece, Albania,

Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Ko-sovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatiaand Slovenia. Of the aforementionedcountries, Romania and Bulgaria arefulltime members of the EuropeanUnion and Croatia and Turkey haveongoing accession negotiations. Theregion covers an area of 800 km2 andhas a population of 75 million.

All the countries in the region aspire

to enter the European Union (EU).When referring to the region, the EUuses the term “Southeast Europe”while the term “Balkans” which cor-rectly describes the region’s history,its socio-political features, populationstructure and geography is deliber-ately not used. This fact sheds doubton the EU policy of expansion and insome countries is perceived as Euro-pean chauvinism and expansionism.The term “Balkans” is a geographicalterm, which means “a woody andmountainous region” and it utterly re-flects the topographic characteristicsof the region itself.

The introduction of Islamto the BalkansIslam, that appeared first in the Hijaz,in the holy cities of Mecca and Me-dina, started its rapid expansion into

Asia, Africa and Europe during thelifetime of the Prophet Muhammad,may the peace and blessings of Allah

be upon him, and especially duringthe time of the four Caliphs. When

Islam arrived in Europe people be-came acquainted with the true faith inthe following stages:

The expansion of Islam from Gibraltarto Spain; In the year 711, Tariq binZiyad with his Islamic army of 7,000soldiers crossed the sea through theStraits which were later named afterhim to Spain – from Africa to Europe– and laid the foundation for the 800-

year-long Islamic civilisation andreign. The Muslims extended their control by crossing the PyrenéesMountains, their advance finally beingstopped at the battle of Poitiers inFrance in 732.

Muslims managed to maintain theirIslamic reign and culture in the Southof Europe by way of Sicily. Italian art,culture and government adopted

many Islamic elements, which sowedthe first seeds of the renaissance.Muslim merchants and announcers(people tasked by the Prophet tospread knowledge without forcing oth-ers to accept it) left from Sicily andNorth Africa to introduce Islam to theSouth of Europe.

The introduction of Islam and Muslimsthrough Russia to Eastern Europe was

effected mainly through the regions ofPoland, Romania and Dobrocha, theso called “Eastern gate”.

The Significance of the Balkansfor the European MuslimsBy Prof Dr Nevzat Yalçıntas, honorary EMU president

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The amazing introduction and estab-lishment of Islam in Europe through

the Ottomans in such a short periodof time was in general achievedthrough conquests and the establish-ment of a righteous and just systemof governance.

Islam started to spread in the Balkanswhen the son of the Ottoman SultanOrhan Gazi, Sulaiman Pasha crossedthe Marmara Sea through the Dar-danelles and started to conquer theThrace region in 1354. The OttomanIslamic army aimed to reach the centreof Europe and had to follow the courseof the River Danube in order toachieve this.

Ottoman Muslims followed this trailand after numerous victories managedto spread Islam. There is no doubt thatthe Balkans was familiar with Islambefore the arrival of the OttomanMuslims. Muslim announcers from

Sicily and North Africa had alreadyintroduced Islam there. In order to prevent the announcers, only locallyeffective and relatively small in num-ber, from spreading the teachings ofIslam, the Pope urged the kings ofthe Christian Balkan countries to ban-ish them from their countries.

From the above, we can see that itwas during the reign of the Ottomans

that Islam made a greater impact, rooting itself in Europe. Ottoman con-quests opened the path to Islamicteachings and brought freedom toIslam as well as to other religions. Themeaning of the Turkish word conquest(fetih) is “opening” and in this contextit means opening the territory for theliberation of Islam. It is a well-knownfact however that there is no religiouscoercion in Islam, clearly stated in a

verse of the Qur’an. Islam spread inthe Balkan countries in the spirit ofpeace and freedom. The main reasons




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for the above originate from the nobleprinciples of Islam, its belief in “oneGod”, respect and tolerance for otherreligions as well justice and equality.The Islamic belief in “oneness” appea-led to the Bosnians and in particularmembers of the “Bogomil” sect, whoalso honoured “One God”, and whosoon embraced Islam.

Furthermore, in accordance withIslamic teachings, peasants whoworked as serfs for their feudal lords,gained rights to their own land, andby paying taxes on the proceeds ofthat land attained a better standardof living – which in turn made the ex-pansion of Islam easier.

The voluntary conversion of people to

Islam prompted the Papacy to try tostop the Ottoman forces and drivethem out of the Balkans, persuading

the Christian countries to form an al-liance and attack the Ottomans withlarge armies. Bloody battles ensuedand brought a halt to the expansionof Islamic territory, but none of theseefforts prevented Islam from expand-ing throughout the region of the Danu-be to the borders of Ukraine.

Victories believed to be pre-ordainedfor Islam and for Muslims glorifyingthe name of the God Almighty in theirearnest intention to spread the lastreligious announcement, their aware-ness that martyrdom accorded theman honourable place in the presenceof the Creator, all undoubtedly addedto the might of the Muslims.

When one analyses the details of the

battle of Kosovo that took place in1389, when Sultan Murad managedto defeat the Pope’s crusader army,

one recognises the influence of the pu-rity of Islamic beliefs on the victory it-self. The crusader army outnumberedthe Ottoman Islamic army and someof the commanders of Sultan MuradHudavendigar argued that this madethe battle difficult to justify. Howeverat the war council, Ali Pasha Vizierread the verse from the Qur’an, which

asks; “How many a small force hastriumphed over a much greater oneby Allah’s permission?” lifting theirfaith and willpower and boosting theirmoral.

Just before the start of the battle,Sultan Murad Hudavendigar pros-trated in prayer and in tears made asupplication saying; “O AlmightyGod, make the Islamic army victori-

ous, You Who have made me a sol-dier of God, grant me martyrdom inthis battle”.




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The Eastern issueWith the conquest of Istanbul by Fatih

Sultan Mehmed in 1453 and the endof the conquests in the Balkans, a newera was ushered in throughout theOttoman territories which was alsonamed “the Ottoman Peace”. Fatihand his sultans, apart from the con-quests, issued imperial edicts guar-anteeing the safety of property, life,the protection of chastity and freedomof religion to the non-Muslim popula-tion – announcing the complete free-

dom of their culture, customs andreligious worship and also acceptingand safeguarding the existence andfunction of the churches and syna-gogues.

This is why, during the 600 years ofOttoman Muslim government untiltoday, all Balkan nations have pre-served their religions, languages, cul-ture and customs and also theiridentities.

When the Ottoman Islamic govern-ment gained strength and stability, thecountries subject to the crusader spiritstarted discussing how to destroy theOttoman Turks, weaken the Islamicstrength and drive the Muslims out ofthe Balkans. Ultimately, they deviseda plan named, “the Oriental Issue”.The essence of this plan was, “to drivethe Ottoman Turks out of the Balkans

and in a second stage, remove themfrom Constantinople and banish themto the Middle Eastern steppes.”

In order to achieve this goal, they ini-tiated various strategic and tacticalacts of provocation in the Balkans.Finally, in 1912, after the BalkanWars, the Balkans detached them-selves from the Ottoman Empire.

The region faced bloodshed, mas-sacres and calamities. People startedmigrating to Turkey. Those who migra-

ted were not just Rumelian Turks (thoseliving in the European part of the

Ottoman Empire). In the face of greatloss and oppression, a large numberof Albanian, Bosniak, Goran andPomak Muslims also moved to Turkey.

The number of the above-mentionedimmigrants is larger than the numberof those currently living in their re-spective countries. Turkey is still con-sidered to be their homeland. Turkshave not forgotten their fellow Muslimsin the Balkans and have alwaysshown interest in their problems.

Balkan Muslims todayThe Balkans is still home to the oldestestablished Muslim population inEurope. After the Balkan wars in1912, many independent and self-governing countries were established.People have always migrated fromthese countries to Turkey. However,apart from all these waves of immi-

gration there are still populations whohave managed to preserve their reli-gion, customs and identity eventhough they are a minority.

After the Second World War, theBalkan countries, with the exceptionof Greece, fell under the hegemonyof dictatorial communist regimes.Communism embodying the principleof “atheism” was against the existence

and practice of any religion. This principle applied to all religions in-cluding Islam. They demolished orclosed down the mosques. BecauseTurkey was part of the free world andwas a NATO member, the communiststurned against the Muslim Turks livingin the Balkans.

After the death of President Tito,Yugoslavia disintegrated. Certain fa-

natic Serbian organisations andgangs took arms against our MuslimBosnian brothers and committed acts

of genocide. 250 thousand Bosniansand other fellow Muslims were killed.

They raped tens of thousands of inno-cent and chaste women. They vicious-ly killed 8 thousand men of all agesin Srebrenica alone. The great heroand intellectual Alija Izetbegovic andhis followers faced days, months and years of difficulty. These enemies ofIslam attacked Kosovo as well. Mus-lims in Kosovo, mainly the AlbanianMuslims, faced grave losses. NATOair forces reacted and peace was re-stored. Serbian leaders who led thosegangs now face prosecution as warcriminals.

During these frightful acts of genocide,Turkey extended a helping hand toher fellow Muslim brothers and sistersand helped a great number ofrefugees.

The current situationPeace reigns throughout the Balkan

countries and amongst our fellowMuslims today. Bosnia and Kosovoare trying to heal their wounds andare working hard to obtain perma-nent peace in their countries. Turkishdiplomacy is trying its best to assistthem as much as possible.

After the arrest of the Serbian warcriminals, Serbian and Bosnian lead-ers came together under the chair-

manship of the Turkish Minister ofForeign Affairs Prof Ahmet Davutoglu.

The two countries decided to offi-cially recognise each other and es-tablish diplomatic offices in therespective capitals. There is no doubtthat it is our, as well as the obligationof all peace loving people in theworld, to help the Balkan countriesthat suffered genocide – and espe-

cially our fellow Muslims who werethe real victims of this event. Turkeyis making all the necessary efforts in




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this direction. According to statistics,around 21 million Muslims currentlylive in the Balkans. If we take into consideration the natural rate of pop-ulation growth, we can firmly statethat this number will grow even more.Even if we exclude the 10 millionMuslims who live in the Thrace regionof Turkey, the number of Muslims wholive in the Balkans still numbers 11 mil-

lion – a number not to be taken lightly.Thus the Balkans will have a signifi-cant contribution to make with respect

to the total population of Muslims living in Europe. We should alwaystake this fact into consideration.

ConclusionsMuslims living in the Balkans facedmany problems after the departureof the Ottomans from this region andhave suffered a lot. The memories ofthe Bosnian and Kosovo tragedies are

still fresh in our minds. Islamic tradi-tions existed for a long time in theseterritories and many legacies of

Islamic culture and civilisation are stillto be seen. We have to restore themto their former glory and make themfunctional again. In particular, weshould teach the new generationsabout Islamic knowledge, somethingneglected for a long time, togetherwith the fundamentals of the Islamicfaith, the principles of worship andculture. We should also strengthen the

communication between the BalkanMuslims communities and those livingin other countries.

There is a significant number of Muslims living in the Balkan countries today. The

following statistics come from a recognised source

Balkan countries Number of Muslims (2010)

Albania 3,000,000

Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,500,000

Bulgaria 1,100,00

Kosovo 2,000,000

Macedonia 800,000

Serbia 250,000

Croatia 100,000

Slovenia 50,000

Romania 100,000

Montenegro 120,000

Greece 600,000

Turkey (Thrace region) 10,000,000

Total 20,620,000




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The Balkans nowadays and through-out history has formed a complexstructure, from the geopolitical, cul-tural and historical point of view.What I would like to address on thisoccasion, refers to the existing,Islamic architectonic heritage, as wellas culture, introduced to this regionwith the arrival of the Ottomans, in

the 14th century.

To begin with, I would like to look atthe terminology of what I mean by“Islamic architecture”. I simply pointout that for the scope of this paper, itis reduced to those segments relatingto socio-cultural, political, and aesthe-tic values, all within the connotationof the Islamic building heritage. Pri-marily, I recognise it through the reli-gious structures, namely the mosquesand tekjes, being focal points of thespiritual tradition and doctrine since

the times and the continuity of theOttoman Empire in the Balkans andup until the present day.

In fact, in the wider context of archi-tectonic and aesthetic shaping of public space in the Balkans, the con-tribution of the Ottomans is far greater(especially within urban areas). Assuch, in the Balkans we find manybuildings whose purpose simply por-trays the high civil achievementsreached by the rulers. According totheir basic functional characteristics,

I classify these as infrastructural, eco-nomic, or religious.

The second momentum, which alsoneeds a short terminological note,refers to the phrase “cultural heritage”.Without going deep into the com-plexity of this structural unit, not tomention pragmatic aspects, I wouldsimply emphasise that I do not evalu-ate it only from the administrative and

institutional point of view. On the con-trary, I will try to encompass the tota-lity of what is essentially within theindividual as well as within the col-lective system of values from whichthis cultural heritage emerged.

What then does this cultural heritagerepresent? How can one realise andrightfully treat the reflection of theidentity of the European Muslims? It

is quite evident that the Islamic reli-gious structures in the Balkans are themost recognizable and portray the

contours of an epoch, of a distincti-veness and self-consciousness. At thesame time, they express the contours

of a complexity, interconnectivity, andpresent-day reality, part of the multi-cultural and multi-confessional setting,which is the Balkans.

I will refer to the Old Skopje Bazaaras an outstanding example of this ten-dency. Generally speaking, the oldbazaars from the Ottoman period represent the central focal point of theoriental city, with their role, as with

the overall urban development of thecities within the Balkans, being un-doubtedly positive.

In this specific case, the Bazaar vividlyincorporates the stylistic and urbancharacteristics of an epoch, bringingan extraordinary fusion of structures,which serve the most diverse functions.But, it is the religious buildings, incor-porated within the Bazaar, that are the

most recognizable, and the ones thatparticularly bring a great feeling ofcalmness, peace, and harmony. Suchreligious structures represent a re-markable symbiosis of the mystical anddoctrinal elements of European Islam,incorporating both a universal as wellas a functionally adjusted architectonic,or more broadly speaking, a culturalaspect. The challenge lies in under-standing their role in articulating the

contemporary cultural, social, politicaland aesthetic relations, not only withinthe Balkans, but in Europe as well. The

The heritage of Muslim architecturre in theBalkans – an inspiration for present day needsBy Behijudin Shehabi, president of El-Hilal, Macedonia




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mosque, as an integral, constitutiveelement of the traditional urban land-

scape in the Balkans, represents a keypiece of European-Oriental expression,with the minaret representing the ver-tical emphasis of the aesthetic, and theBazaar, its spatial composition.

Hence, the Old Skopje Bazaar genuinely expresses the philosophyand the doctrine of European Islam,offering both openness, and stylewithin a space that is in harmony withits geographical positioning and overall functionality.

But Islamic architecture goes even further in its brilliance. I base this state-ment on two additional features,again in relation to the compositionof the Old Skopje Bazaar. In the firstcase, I focus upon another importantcultural monument: the Mustafa PashaMosque.

In many ways, it represents a genuineexample of architectonic creativityand spatial harmony. But in contrastto what I said earlier; namely, thatmosques represent a central and vertical focal point in the Bazaar, thistime, we witness a slight exceptionfrom such a principle.

To be more precise, the Mustafa PashaMosque, is firstly released from the

communicational north-south positio-ning and so, instead of being withinthe central Bazaar area, it appearsthis time as a communication point,dominant above, yet connecting theOld Skopje Bazaar-Skopje Fortress(Kale) axis.

The second interesting feature is thefact that within its monumental form,it manifests not only a spatial open-

ness (most explicitly throughout its central dome), but at the same time,a symbiosis of cultural and historic




styles, from the Byzantine to more an-cient ones. The entrance section of themosque best exemplifies this culturaland historic positioning and repre-sents a qualitatively new momentum

in the Islamic architectural tradition.

Finally, I will indicate another excep-tional construction; the Harabati BabaTekje, in Tetovo. In this case, we havea stylistically exceptional compositionthat stands outside the framework ofthe urban location concept I mentio-ned, on the contrary capturing theessence of Islamic mysticism, peace,and spiritual purity. It this case, it is a

relatively enclosed (fenced) architec-tonic composition, where the centralspatial role is given to the shadrvan,an expressively social component ofthe complex – another expression ofthe progressive element of Islamic doc-trine and philosophy.

Starting with these three monuments,what becomes immediately clear istheir exceptional importance and,

within a greater societal context, theneed for these structures to be ade-quately protected. It is not an easy job

at all. One has to start from the under-standing that the protection of culturaland historic heritage of architecturalnature is a continuous and foremost“a living process”.

It is not exclusive to any party. TheIslamic culture in the Balkans, beinga constitutive part of contemporaryEuropean culture, actually conformsits own “living sintagma”. Where thenis the right balance? I would indicatethe heart of man; half the way is insideevery individual who lives and con-stantly discovers his/her spiritual self,through the wisdom of the Almighty.

The essential need for protection ofthe Islamic architectural cultural andhistoric heritage in the Balkans, along-side that of other congregations,seems not to be adequately articu-lated. In view of our recent past, reli-gion is most likely to be affected bya variety of short-term political ma-nipulations.

Therefore, as believers, no matter towhich congregation we belong, wemust not allow the recent tragic situ-

ation to repeat itself, since when emo-tions boil in the Balkans, religiousbuildings suffer, and most evidently,Islamic ones.

In that respect, I take advantage ofthis opportunity, to emphasise the con-structive role taken by the Republicof Turkey, especially when it comes tothe Islamic architectural heritage ofthe Balkans. It is a positive examplefor all of us and an inspiration for thefuture. Only with such a degree of self-consciousness will we succeed, andpreserve these authentic and genuineattributes of European Islam, that on

the one hand symbolise a progressivespiritual activity, and on the other, thefascinating multicultural societal con-text of the Balkans.

In the end, I am happy in the knowl-edge that we have the necessary ca-pacity and wisdom from the Almightyto guide us, through all the difficul-ties and trials that have been and may

yet occur in this pivotal region.

I thank you for your attention.

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In recent years the Balkan region hasemerged as one of the best destina-tions for direct foreign investment(FDI), with the region attracting the attention of foreign investors. It is expected that countries of this regionwill enjoy membership in the EU withinfive to ten years. As has been demon-strated in the economic booms of

recently acceded, EU member coun-tries, the period leading up to full EUintegration is a strategic time for for-ward-looking investors to maximisetheir opportunity.

According to studies on investment opportunities for sustainable economicdevelopment and growth in the Balkancountries, different areas emerge aspotential economic sectors for invest-ment. For this discussion, we will hereexplore only the main sectors men-tioned by those surveys. The sectors

that will be explored and mentionedas having important investment po-tential in this region are; agriculture,

the food processing industry, the timber and wood processing industry,tourism, and the manufacture of carparts.

The Balkan region offers opportuni-ties in agriculture and food process-ing through its favourable climate andits low-cost, rural labour force. Stillusing traditional methods, this region’sfruits, vegetables, meat and dairy

products are cultivated using few ar-tificial additives, chemicals, or pesti-cides. All countries in the region havea high level of fragmentation in thefood and beverage than say in the au-tomotive components industry, a factthat is demonstrated through smallerand more frequent investments.

That is why this sector proves to bethe main opportunity for new investors

in the Balkan region. Individual coun-tries, such as Bosnia and Herzego-vina, offer some advantage in thewood processing industry. The nextmost important sector in the Balkansis tourism. This region, as a land ofdifferent religions and cultures, hasbeen a bridge between East andWest, and as such offers considerableopportunities for investors in tourism.Despite global overcapacity in vehi-

cle production, significant investmentshave occurred during the past five years in Central and Eastern Europe,

particularly in the pre-accession coun-tries that subsequently joined the EU.The question now facing the WesternBalkans is how to leverage the movement of capital that appears tobe migrating from the CentralEuropean Countries (CECs) towardsome of the South East EuropeanCountries (SEECs).

IntroductionThe purpose of this study is to conductan analytical view of the relationshipbetween potential investment and sus-tainable economic development in theBalkan countries. In doing so, thestudy will reveal the specific sector ineach country that is ripe for investment.

The paper is in two parts. The firstpart, through an examination of in-dividual countries, explores the ad-vantages and disadvantages of eachcountry, while the second part focuseson specific sectors and the countriesthat offer the best investment possi-bilities in each sector.

Regional BackgroundThe Balkan countries, with a popula-tion of 20 million, represent a relevantregion for foreign investors, especiallybearing in mind the ethnic and the cultural diversity of the region. For thepurpose of this conference, it is impor-

tant to note the fact that, more thanhalf of the population are Muslims,despite the fact that migration con-

The investment’s potential for sustainable economicdevelopment and growth in Balkan countriesBy Prof Dr Hüner Sencan, Rector of the International Balkan University




tinues. The wars may have ended andEU policies on immigration become

increasingly strict, but the “westerndream” still exerts a powerful force ofattraction on the people of theBalkans.

This is particularly noticeable inKosovo and Bosnia where unemploy-ment affects 40 per cent of the work-ing age population. The brain drain,primarily among young graduates, iscompromising the future of this region

and in recent years there has beenan increase in the number of migrantsbeing forcibly repatriated under read-mission agreements signed by all theBalkan countries with the EU. TheBalkan region is characterised by itscrucial geopolitical position, directneighbour with the European Union(EU) and a bridge to the Middle Eastand Central Asia.

Macedonia has enjoyed official can-didate status since 2005, while fourcountries; Bosnia and Herzegovina,Montenegro, Serbia and Albania,have engaged in the ‘Stabilisation andAssociation’ process. Kosovo is pre-sently in the state-building process andat the starting point of EU access.

These countries all benefit from spe-cific European policies, in particularunder the Stability Pact for South EastEurope, with the EU taking on grow-ing civil and military responsibilitiesin post conflict management, prima-rily in Bosnia and Herzegovina andKosovo.

The Agriculture andFood processing industryThe importance of agriculture to theeconomy is both deep and diverse.

Primary production from agriculture,hunting and forestry has increased asa percentage of the Gross Domestic

Product (GDP), with more than 40 per-cent of the population in the Balkan

countries living in rural areas. In thelast few years, in all the Balkan coun-tries, mechanisation and use of fer-tilisers has increased. In the past,drainage and the irrigation of landwere important throughout theBalkans, drainage being more ex-tensive in areas such as Vojvodinaand Macedonia. In the last few years,important investment has been madein the agricultural sector in Kosovo.

Macedonia and Kosovo have someadvantage in agriculture, comprisedas they are of fertile soils, a range offavourable microclimatic features andnatural highland pastures convenientfor the production certain crops, hor-ticultural produce and lamb.

In Macedonia, about 49 percent ofthe total area, equivalent to1.27 mil-lion ha, is agricultural land, which

includes about 700,000 ha of pas-tureland. A further 37 percent of thecountry (950,000 ha) is forest. Mostof the cultivable land (82 percent or461,000 ha) is used for productionof cereals and vegetables, with26,000 ha (5 percent of the cultivableland) vineyards, 15,000 ha (or 3 percent) orchards and the remaining58,000 ha (10 percent) meadows.Around 1 per cent of the total agri-

cultural land consists of swamp andfishponds.

Kosovo is well endowed with agri-cultural land. Out of a total surfaceof near 1.1 million ha, 588,000 ha,or 53 percent, is cultivable land. Withsome 60 percent of the population living in rural areas and mostly wor-king in agriculture, Kosovo has a longagricultural tradition. Currently, the

agriculture sector contributes 19 per-cent to the GDP and is the main sourceof income for the majority of the pop-

ulation. It is one of the most impor-tant employment providers in Kosovo

accounting for 16 percent of the valueof exports.

The foodprocessing sector has faceda major challenge with the arrival ofseveral international supermarkets inSerbia in 2002 and 2003. This hasbeen the single most significant fac-tor affecting food production, pro-cessing and retailing industries andwill have a profound impact on agri-

culture. The first 6,000 m2

foreign supermarket opened on the outskirtsof Belgrade in December 2002, withat least another three hypermarkets ofabout 15,000 m2 by the end of 2003.It is expected that all towns with pop-ulations of more than 30,000 willhave supermarkets within five years(provided that the respective localeconomies are sufficiently buoyant),posing a significant challenge toSerbian producers, processors and re-tailers. Such facts indicate that Serbiaoffers the best opportunities in the foodand beverage processing industry.

The wood processing industryBosnia and Herzegovina has a longtradition in forestry and wood pro-cessing, going back to the second halfof the 19th century. The abundance

of both hard and softwood as wellas the low-cost, skilled labour force,together with manufacturing facilitieswith capacity for various wood prod-ucts, timber and furniture productionthat exceeds domestic demand,makes this sector export-orientated.Currently, the largest markets for theseproducers are Germany, Croatia,Serbia, Italy and the UK, but the po-tential to export to other countries is

vast. Forests cover about 27 thousandkm2. State-owned forest accounts foraround four fifths of this amount, al-

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though this share should decrease asrestitution issues are resolved.

The standing volume of timber is esti-mated at more that 300 million cubicmetres, with an annual growth in theregion of 10 million m3. About halfof the growing stock is coniferous,while the main broad leaf species areoak and beech, while more spe-cialised woods include walnut, appleand cherry.

TourismAlbania and Montenegro have someadvantage for investors in tourism be-cause of their being on the Adriaticcoast. Many ruins and rich vestigesof Albanian and Montenegrin historyawait visitors. There are many notabletourist attractions. Additionally, theircoastline has become increasinglypopular with tourists due to their rel-atively unspoiled beauty and amaz-

ing beaches.

Albania’s northern Adriatic coast be-gins in the delta of Buna River, nearthe city of Shkodra. The Adriatic coast-line offers countless opportunities foroutdoor recreation. The Ionian coastbegins in Vlora and continues south-ward towards Greece, ending at theCape of Stillo. It is a coastline markedfor its rugged beauty and, although

rocky, offers many opportunities forkayaking, swimming, and other formsof outdoor recreation.

Montenegro has a longer history ofinvestment in this sector and as a re-sult offers a more elite tourism, whileon the other hand, Albania offersmore potential and greater choice forinvestors looking to invest in tourismin the future.

Automotive componentsA review of the FDI automotive com-

ponent projects in the Balkans, revealsthat only two of the countries under

review in this paper have investmentsin the manufacturing of car parts;namely, Bosnia and Herzegovina andSerbia.

In recent years, Macedonia also madesome efforts in this sector, through of-fering economic free zones for in-vestment in the manufacturing of carparts. As a result of the significant ef-fort made by the Macedonian gov-ernment, we now have an importantForeign Investment project earmarkedfor one such zone by “Johnson Con-trols”. Johnson Controls, the globalleader in the production of seats, bat-teries, and other automotive interiorparts will start operations in Macedo-nia once the technical specificationsof its 6,000 m2 factory building arecompleted. The first phase of the in-vestment is estimated at 9 millioneuros, with the company expected to

hire 500 mechanical engineers ini-tially.

A second important investment proj-ect in the Macedonian free zoneSkopje 1, secured in 2009, is an in-vestment made by the Italian company“TeknoHose”. The company, whichproduces armoured, high-pressurerubber hoses for the automobile in-dustry, will invest 10 million euros in

a factory employing 150 people.

Bearing these facts in mind, we canconclude that all three of the countries– Macedonia, Bosnia and Herze-govina and Serbia – have attained acomparative advantage in the pro-duction of car parts and for the au-tomotive industry as a whole.

Specific features

Albania. With its developing marketeconomy, Albania offers many op-portunities for investors, with property

and labour costs being low, the youngand educated population is ready to

work, while tariffs and other legal re-strictions remain low and in manycases are being eliminated. Albania’slocation offers notable trade poten-tial, especially with EU markets – itshares a border with Greece and isjust across the Adriatic Sea from Italy.Albania has also entered into freetrade agreements with all the Balkancountries, creating the opportunity fortrade throughout the region.

The Albanian economy in recent yearshas experienced an economic growthin real terms of approximately 56 percent. Growth in 2007 is estimated toremain strong at 6 percent, supportedby an improved performance and ahigh growth in industry and also bya notable growth of exports and di-rect foreign investment. Such growthgoes hand in hand with improvementsin infrastructure, technological inno-

vation in various sectors, as well asa remarkable development in humancapacity.

Bosnia and HerzegovinaThe economy of Bosnia and Herzego-vina offers a strong human and re-source base, a long industrial traditionas well as a favourable business en-vironment, all of which enable sus-tainable and profitable investment in

various value added, and particularlyexport oriented businesses.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has madeserious transformations and restruc-turing moves, broadly adjusting theirlegal and regulatory framework toEuropean standards, further prepar-ing an already favourable businessenvironment for substantial investment.With a well-developed education sys-

tem, the availability of R & D institu-tions and engineering companies aswell as all categories of qualified,




foreign languages spoken, their highlymotivated and competitive workforceis a crucial guarantee for successfulinvestment.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has become

an ideal location to invest in, with anumber of investment opportunities invarious sectors. The economy ofBosnia and Herzegovina remains oneof the fastest growing in Europe, of-fering potential investors significantopportunities for penetration into awider regional market and of runningtheir business on a world scale, sinceBosnia and Herzegovina is a signa-tory to the Central European Free

Trade Agreement (CEFTA), which pro-vides free access to this consumer mar-ket with over 50 million people.Bosnia and Herzegovina also has freetrade agreements with Turkey, as wellas preferential export regimes with theEuropean Union, USA, Japan, Cana-da, Switzerland, Australia, Norway,New Zealand, Russia and Iran.

Kosovo

In recent years, Kosovo has made anoutstanding progress in establishing

the foundations of a modern market-oriented economy. Kosovo’s real eco-nomic growth in 2007 was estimatedby the IMF to be over 3.5 percent, out-performing the 3.1 percent growthof the previous year. The really good

news is that the main engine behindthis growth is the Small and MediumEnterprise (SME) sector, which is grad-ually becoming the backbone of theeconomy of Kosovo. The macroeco-nomic stability is maintained with aninflation rate of below 2 percent anda continued increase in exports. Theinflow of FDI is also rising. Estimationsindicate that in 2007 alone, some300 million euros were invested in

Kosovo.

Great investment opportunities willalso be available in the years to come.The Government of Kosovo is plan-ning to proceed with a project for theconstruction of a new power plant“Kosova C”, with investment amount-ing to 3.5 billion euros.

The privatisation process is set to

continue, offering great opportunitiesin the sectors of agriculture, tourism,energy, mining, and metal processing.

Kosovo is planning to invest 1.3 bil-lion Euros in the construction of new

highways to Albania, Serbia, andMacedonia, and has recently an-nounced the privatisation of the mobiletelephone network operator “Vala”.

MacedoniaThe Republic of Macedonia is rapidlyadvancing on the path of political andeconomic reforms towards strength-ening its democratic society and itsopen market economy. The result is

political and macroeconomic stabilityproviding much room for growth. Theeconomic performance of theMacedonian economy is expressedthrough a stable GDP growth ofaround 5 per cent, a low inflation rateof 23 per cent on average, fiscal dis-cipline confirmed by international fi-nancial institutions as well as awell-functioning coordination betweenfiscal and monetary policy.

The financial system consists of theNational Bank of Republic of Mace-donia as a central bank, commercialbanks, saving houses, exchange of-fices, insurances, financial lease, bro-kerage and swift money transfercompanies, together with the Mace-donian securities exchange market.

Macedonia is a unique blend of

ancient and modern, offering a richmulticultural experience. In a periodof less than an hour one can enjoymedieval monasteries, churches, mos-ques, vineyards, bazaars and space- age shopping centres. The country’smild Mediterranean climate is re-flected in people’s lifestyles, makingMacedonian citizens cheerful, easygoing and welcoming to people fromall countries and backgrounds.

MontenegroAfter a decade of internal and exter-

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nal political and economic shocks, inrecent years Montenegro has under-

taken an ambitious program of wide-reaching economic reform in an effortto promote growth and raise livingstandards. For several years in a row,the growth in the GDP has been sig-nificant, reaching 8.6 per cent in2006 and 10.7 per cent in 2007, ac-cording to ‘Monstat’.

For two years in a row, Montenegrohas recorded the highest FDI percapita in Europe (1,100 euros).According to the Canadian FraserInstitute, Montenegro is the leader ineconomic freedom in the regionranked 58 out of 141, while Croatiais 90, Macedonia 84, Slovenia 88and Bosnia and Herzegovina 105.

The 2008 Competitiveness Report re-leased by the World Economic Forum,ranked Montenegro 65, while Bulga-ria was 76, Serbia 85, Macedonia

89 and Bosnia and Herzegovina107. In the latest Standard and Poorreport, Montenegro received a long-term BB+ and a short-term B sovereignrating, being one of only a few coun-tries that maintained the same markfrom the previous year.

Montenegro is safe and stable, witha growing trend for direct foreign in-vestment and economic freedom as

well as dynamic economic develop-ment. As a consequence, the businessenvironment climate continues to im-prove. It is open and it is this open-ness that compensates for the size ofthe local market.

Free markets today are more attrac-tive to investors, especially when thereare no restrictions on remit profit, div-idend or interest. Add a strong cur-rency – Montenegro is using the euro– and a favourable tax climate, withthe lowest corporate tax rate in Europe

at 9 per cent, a personal income taxof 12 per cent and VAT of 7 per cent

and 17 per cent and Montenegro isan attractive proposition. All rates areflat.

SerbiaOver the past five years of extensivepolitical and economic reform, Serbiahas developed into a stable demo-cratic country with a fast growing market economy. Western-oriented,democratic political parties have thesupport of the majority of citizens andthe Government is shaping an at-tractive environment for doing business, while legislative activitiesare increasingly bringing the legalframework in line with EU regulations.

As a member of the InternationalMonetary Fund, Serbia exercises asound and consistent economic pol-icy resulting in strong economicgrowth, state budget surplus, and

rapid export expansion. The country’sprogress is fully supported by leadinginternational development institutions,such as the World Bank and theEuropean Bank for Reconstruction andDevelopment, while the process of EUand WTO accession is under way.

Foreign companies in Serbia are guar-anteed equal legal treatment to localones. They are allowed to invest in

any industry and freely transfer all fi-nancial and other assets, includingprofits and dividends. A foreign in-vestor can buy real estate, under thecondition of reciprocity and can leasebuilding land for up to 99 years.Investment projects in Serbia are in-sured by all major national and in-ternational investment and exportinsurance agencies. The protection offoreign capital is further safeguarded

by Bilateral Investment Treaties signedbetween Serbia and 32 other coun-tries.

ConclusionForeign investments have come to oc-

cupy centre stage in the developmentpolicy of the Balkan countries withmost governments seeking to max-imise foreign investment inflows withliberal policies and a variety of in-centives. Foreign investments are ex-pected to contribute directly andindirectly by generating output, em-ployment and foreign exchange, aswell as by fostering learning and tech-nological capacity. To maximise theeffect of foreign investment, the Balkancountries have to take some uniqueand proactive decisions, as a strategyfor the entire region:

Firstly, the benefits of foreign invest-ment in terms of technology, employ-ment, wages and overall learningprocesses can be seized, only if theyare part of a larger socio-economicstrategy.

Secondly, since the beginning of the1990s, when countries from this re-gion changed their economic systemfrom centralised State planning to thefree market economic model, the pol-icymakers of these countries havehowever been focused solely onmacroeconomic stabilisation as thebasis for competitiveness, ignoring re-gional and sectored policies. This ap-proach has to change in the future.

Countries from this region must dis-cover and promote their comparativeadvantages.

Last but not least, despite its impor-tance, it is important not to over-em-phasise the potential of foreigninvestment. Even a coherent and long-term strategy based on foreign in-vestment can be no substitute for along-term national development strat-

egy. Foreign investment alone will notsolve the structural socio-economicproblems of the region.




Allow me at the outset to thank theEMU Foundation, Prof. Nevzat Yalçın-tas, its Honorary President, the EMUPresident, Abu Bakr Rieger, and MalikSezgin, the Secretary General in par-ticular, for inviting me to speak at thisprestigious gathering on a timely topic

of great importance to Europeans, im-portant to both of its essential com-ponents; the Muslim and non-Muslimcitizens alike.

Many men go fishing all of their liveswithout knowing that it is not fish theyare after. The most important thing inscience, as well as in life, is to un-derstand what we are really lookingfor, what it is we are after! I ask you

to keep this in mind.

Nowadays, we often hear the ques-

tions; could Europe accept being a

land for Islam as well? Do Muslimsconstitute a significant demographic,intellectual and cultural component ofthe continent? And, as a continent orgeographic entity, does Europe be-long partly to the Muslim world? Inother words, does Europe have aMuslim identity as well, besides its dis-tinctive Christian identity? Can we infact say that Europe is a Christian-Muslim continent?

Given that Islam today is the secondlargest faith in Europe, and given thatour present-day civilisation is not with-out strong Muslim roots, whether inthe realm of science, philosophy, orthe humanities, would it not thereforebe appropriate to qualify this civili-sation as “Muslim-Christian”? Wouldit not be right to admit that Islam andthe Muslims constitute one of the key

components of Europe?

European culture is far from beingmonolithic. The general view, accep-ted as a self evident fact, is that whatwe call European culture was laiddown by the Greeks, strengthened bythe Romans, stabilised by Christianity,reformed and modernised through the15th century Renaissance and Refor-mation and globalised by successive

European empires between the 16thand 20th centuries. Not a word aboutIslam or Muslim influence.

To make this crypto-mythology simple,

the description of Europe’s identitywas simplified into the standard bi-nomic conflict of ‘civilization versusbarbarism’, gradually transformedinto the battle of Good against Eviland finally equated with the con-frontation of West against East, where“West” stands for Christian Europe,and “East” – soon replaced with“Orient” – as synonym for “Muslim”.The brilliant book of Edward Said,

“Orientalism, Western Conceptionsabout the Orient” (1978, 1989) disclosed, down to the tiniest details,this huge and systematic ideologicalproject aimed to smuggle in the storyof perennial differences of a “centrallyplaced superior Western/Christianculture and man, in opposition to theOriental, as an inferior periphery,marked by the absence of culture orcivilisation through the complete lack

of rational capacity and logical thinking characteristic of the Muslimpeoples!”

An extremely valuable contribution foran objective and correct understand-ing of Muslims as an integral elementof European identity is to be found inMahmoud Mamdani’s excellent book,“Good Muslim, Bad Muslim” (2004);an allegory of the notoriously racist

response by General Phil Sheridan tothe Commanche chief Toch-a-way’ssaying, “Me, good Indian!” namely;

The False Definition of Europe as a Christian

Entity and the Essential Muslim Component

in Europe’s IdentityA contemporary philosophical debate by Prof Dr Ferid Muhic

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23

“The only good Indians I ever sawwere dead!”[1]

Let me make a brief analysis of thenotion “West/Western”, as proposedby Western and specifically Christianmen of science, since it illustrates theideological character of this para-digm, demonstrating a complete lackof rational competence and the ab-sence of logical thinking by its authors.The history of civilisation of “the West”came to a triumphant climax in the period of European colonialism andimperialism. Geographically defined,the notion suggests spatial division ona line of cultural identity, so that Euro-pean identity would be Western,Christian and civilised, while non-European, Asian, African would beOriental, Muslim and uncivilised. Howdo we distinguish the West from theEast geographically? By the zeromeridian. And where is it to be found?In Greenwich, a suburb of the city of

London!

So, geographically, everything eastof London is eastern, or oriental, notto mention France, Germany, Italy…Aha, I see, they mean it metaphori-cally, meaning philosophy, democ-racy, morality, logic, mathematics, artsand science? So, were those inventedand developed in the western hemis-phere, to the west of Greenwich? No,

they all came to Western Europe fromthe region of the Balkans or from theeastern coasts of Anatolya! Orpheus,Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Socrates, Pla-to, Aristotle, Phidia, Solon, Poliklet,Pericles, Alcibiades, to name a few,were all born and lived and died veryfar to the East, mostly in the wonder-ful peninsula of the Balkans, and onthe islands and coasts of the IonianSea, very far from London and the

zero meridian at Greenwich.

No, no, they must have meant spiri-

tually, since Christianity is Western,and Islam is an Oriental religion! Is

that so!? But Judaism, Christianity andIslam came from the same courtyard,so to speak! Abraham, Ibrahim orAvraam was the father of the Jews andthe Arabs, as he was the prophet ofGod, sent to all three religions! Andit did not all start in the West London,nor even the easternmost part ofEurope, but in Asia!

And as for the myth of the self-madeidentity of Europe, the truth is that eventhe glorious tradition of philosophy,science, arts and humanistic inspira-tions originated in Africa and Asia(Egypt and Babylon, only later com-ing to Western Europe from the re-gions of the Balkans and Anatolya),as Martin Bernal demonstrated in hisfamous book “Black Athena” (1987).So, the presentation of “Greece” asthe self-made cradle of European phi-losophy, politics and the spiritual

virtues (ethics and aesthetics included)is an intellectual fraud and conspir-acy, little more than an ideologically-motivated project fabricated in theperiod between 1785-1985.

The decisive influence of Egypt, al-though completely ignored and over-looked, was so strong that all the“polis” on the islands, as well as thoselocated in the European peninsula of

the Balkans and of Asia Minor(Anatolia) were intellectual coloniesof Egypt and Babylon. Pythagoras,Plato, Archimedes, Herodot and manyothers went to Egypt, the spring ofknowledge in all sciences and the cra-dle of the highest wisdom in philoso-phy. There was no “Greece” as a state,not at that time, and not until 1838,and even then, only in a very reducedarea much smaller than it is today.

The Euro-centric view was also typicalfor generations of poets and philoso-

phers from Europe. Two referencesare particularly enlightening in this re-

spect; the vision of Paul Valéry, thepoet and essayist, and that of EdmundHusserl, the philosopher.

Paul Valéry in his essay ‘The Euro-pean’ [‘L’Européen’], wrote in 1924;“Wherever the names Caesar, Gaius,Trajan and Virgil, wherever the namesof Jesus Christ, Moses and St. Paul,wherever the names Heraclitus, Aris-totle, Plato and Euclid have a signifi-cance and carry weight, that is whereEurope is … It is remarkable that thepeople of Europe are not defined byrace, nor by language or customs, butby desires and breadth of will (…).”

On the grounds of such fabrications,we can indeed imagine, like Valéry,a cultural identity of Europe as beingthe remarkable expansion of a unity,achieved by the Roman Empire,Greek thought, Roman law and the

Bible, in total absence of the Qur’an,Islam and the Muslims!

We could go still further in our searchfor Europe’s imaginary conceptualheart. It is what Edmund Husserl pro-poses in his famous Vienna lecture ofMay 1935, entitled ‘Philosophy andthe Crisis of European Humanity.’Following an uncritically ideologicallyfabricated myth, he sees the origin

of the spiritual idea of Europe as beingin Greece. Such returns to the sourcesof the “spiritual form of Europe” arenecessary and enlightening. They giveus powerful threads to the culturalidentity of Europe across two millen-nia. That all the national cultures drawmainly – but not exclusively – on thesame original sources largely explainsthe cultural unity of Europe over thecourse of time. But they can and must

be complemented by an analysis ofEuropean national cultures themselvesand the close and complex relation-




24

ships between those highly diverse cul-tures with a strong and permanentMuslim influence, which ensure thecultural unity of Europe.

As we can see, no part of the modernEuropean identity originated fromWestern part of Europe, nor even fromthe Western hemisphere, for that matter. Western regions of Europeonly adopted and adapted cultural elements, all borrowed from the East,(the Orient!) and through their ex-pansive power and imperial politicswent on to influence the global cul-tural situation.

Geographically, culturally, and reli-giously speaking, the words “West”

and “Western”, when intended to de-scribe the reality of Europe, are totallyempty words, completely deprived ofany meaning.

“West” is not the correct antonym oropposite to the notion of “Orient”,since it combines two different langua-ges – English and Latin – in a pejo-rative connotation for that matter. Thelexically correct antonym to “Orient”should be “Occident”, and I suggestthat as a description of its imperialistand colonial practice, the word mightbe pronounced as “Accident”!

The lack of authentic proofs stimulatedthe imagination of many Europeanpoliticians to produce a great number

of legal and bureaucratic texts in orderto support the acceptance of thiscrypto-mythological construction, com-pletely ignoring, to this very day, theMuslim factor. Even minor proposals,

such as that of Luxembourg in pro-viding access to European UnionInstitution Libraries (3/7/95), are jus-tified as, “an important contribution(...) to fostering the spirit of Europeancohesion and identity in a way whichwill strengthen the sense of a commonEuropean identity amongst all the cit-izens of the Union.”

We could go further in our search for

Europe’s conceptual heart, into whatEdmund Husserl proposes in his fa-mous Vienna lecture of May 1935,




25

entitled ‘Philosophy and the Crisis ofEuropean Humanity’. He sees the ori-

gin of the spiritual idea of Europe asbeing in Greece, where a handful ofmen initiated a radical discussion onall aspects of cultural life in their ownnation and among their neighbours’.

In reality, instead of such a monolithicpicture, the identity of Europe mightbe better described as a series of over-lapping cultures. Whether it is a ques-tion of North as opposed to South;West as opposed to East; Christianityas opposed to Islam; Protestantismas opposed to Catholicism; manyhave claimed to have identified thecultural fault lines across the continent.‘Opposed’, but also composed of;there have been many cultural inno-vations and movements, often at oddswith each other.

And since the fact that Islam has beenan integral component of European

identity going back to the seventh cen-tury and lasting in continuo ever since,it is clear that, “Europe and Islam havea shared history and therefore, ashared identity”, to quote His Excel-lency Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu,Secretary General of the Organisationof the Islamic Conference at the Centerfor Dialogue.

Thus, the questions of “European cul-

ture”, “European identity” or “Euro-pean values” and so on, are far morecomplex than seem to be. To put itclearly and straightforwardly, it meansthat any serious historical, cultural,and socio-political understanding ofcontemporary Europe as well as theregional, continental and global situ-ation, reality and perspectives, mustbe interpreted with a view to the pres-ence of Muslims as one of the key fac-

tors, and the influence of Islam as anextremely important fact. But allow meto remind us all; there is more to the

truth than just the facts.

Looking for the truth in a far more complex context, then we see theserelationships stand out as an obviousexample of a centuries-old yet con-structive process of give-and-takeamong cultures and civilisations. Itcould safely be said that the interac-tion between Islamic civilisation andthat of the West is “historically” uniqueand unprecedented, given its scope,depth and duration. The geographicproximity, the openness of spirit, theintertwined relations and the meet-ing of common interests played a cen-tral role in forging these relationships.

Since its very inception, Islam was atthe doors of Europe. Merely twelve years after the death of the ProphetMuhammad, may Allah bless him andgive him grace, Muslims were inArmenia, Georgia, Daghestan andelsewhere, including parts of the

would-be Byzantine Empire. Less thaneighty years later, Muslims were inSpain. Twelve years after that, theywere in the southern regions of Fran-ce, and in almost all the islands of theMediterranean Sea, from Cyprus toSicily, from Mallorca to Rhodes, in-cluding Malta and others. Vast terri-tories in Eastern and Southern Europecame under Islamic rule for over 500 years, ending only at the beginning

of the 20th Century.

The presence of Muslims in Spainlasted almost eight centuries. Theirpresence there marked the history ofEurope and played a glorious role indisseminating science and knowledgeas well as the lofty values of toleranceand peaceful coexistence. It sufficesto say that Islamic civilisation not onlycontributed to the advent of the

Renaissance and the Enlightenment inEurope, but also directly shaped theirmost important parts, as well as for-

mulating their essential concepts. Thiscontribution alone speaks volumes.

Hardly had Islamic rule faded in Spainand Western Europe when the lanternof Islam started to shine in EasternEurope under the Osmanli Devlet – orOttoman Commonwealth, that devel-oped from a territory of less than5,000 km2 in 1299, to the incrediblevastness of 24,000,000 km2 in 1699,and where in every part, it introducedthe concept of life and state basedon Islamic values.

Cordoba’s role was replaced bySarajevo, which was the most liberaland tolerant city in Europe, accord-ing to Charles, Prince of Wales, in aspeech delivered at the Oxford Centreof Islamic Culture in 1991. This waspossible because Islam tapped on therich resources of diversity that earnedit instant acceptance from the indige-nous populations.

That was the case, especially in theregion of the Balkans. Organised inaccordance with the supreme Islamicvalues, the Osmanli Devlet left all nations and ethnic groups with theirown languages, schools, and religiousinstitutions intact. Bosniaks, Serbs,Croats, Greeks, Albanians, Bulgars,Vlachs, Romanians, all preserved theirlanguage, their cultural identity, their

traditions and customs as well as theirright to practice freely the religion theychose, since it was all strictly protectedby the highest authority of the Osmanlistate; the spirit of Islam! Right after thewithdrawal of the Osmanli Devlet, allthese peoples were ready to createtheir own national states, confident intheir completely intact and preservedidentities!

This was definitely the most liberal andtolerant regime in history. If we compa-re this historic phenomenon with what




26

happened over the immense territoryof all three Americas, namely North,

Central and South America, we seethat the indigenous populations wereeither totally exterminated, decimatedor put in reservations; that their lan-guages were completely forgotten orerased through a systematic practiceof compulsory introducing English(North America), Spanish (Middle andSouth America) or Portuguese (Brazil)languages. The freedom of the in-digenous inhabitants to practice theirown religion was defined as a crimeand sanctioned by law in the USAuntil 1972.

Even if today they were given thechance to create their own state, mostof the indigenous peoples of theAmerican continent would probablynot be able to do so in next severalcenturies. In India, with all its ancientspiritual tradition and rich culture, afterBritish colonial rule, the official lan-

guage remains English today, not tomention the administration, politicsand education. From the very first moment of French colonial rule in partsof North Africa, the French languagebecame official by decree, and allpublic and state institutions organisedaccording to the French pattern. Howare we to understand these dramaticcontrasts if we follow the way liberalrule and principles of cultural and re-

ligious tolerance have been under-stood?

It was not the brutality of the British,Dutch, French, Spanish, Portugesepeoples etc., that contrasts with themore humane character of Osmanlipeople. Apart from a few culturallygenerated differences, people tend tobehave in a similar way all over theworld since they are more or less the

same beings. The distinguishing fea-ture was that of Islam. The OttomanCaliphate, the social reality, with all

its complexity, was based on the reli-gious, philosophical, social, economi-

cal, educational and legal premisesof Islam. Its mind, as well as its body,its ideals and its logic, its spirit andits will, its character and its emotionswere all conceptualised, organisedand effected in strict respect to the fun-damental postulates of Islam.

The understanding of what was law-ful or forbidden, concepts of pride andshame, aesthetic standards of beautyand ugliness, criteria of truth and false-hood, the ultimate goals of science orthose of education – all and every sec-tor of the social reality and subjec-tive reception of the world, the life ofeach and every individual citizen, waspermeated and shaped to the tiniestdetail by the Islamic world view.

It is correct to say that over the lastseven centuries of its history, for atleast six hundred years, the Osmanli

Devlet was the most powerful Islamicstate in the world, strictly founded onthe key principles of Islam exemplify-ing through all its social, economic,philosophic, cultural and organisa-tional aspects, the paradigmatic message of Islam. This cultural impactof Islam, actively present for well over1,300 years on the soil of Europe, produced an integral component ofEuropean cultural identity, in fact

forging an authentic Muslim identitywithin its Christian composition.

Therefore, to recover its Islamic legacymeans for contemporary Europe thequest to regain self-respect, to re-adoptits true identity and to fully understandthe integrity of all its demographic andcultural elements. The region of theBalkans is of critical importance forEurope’s future in this respect, since

it was exactly here that the new Mus-lim identity of the autochthonous Euro-peans was created, in the most natural

way and included the greatest numberof people (probably up to 20 million).

Speaking about the toponym “TheBalkans”, it should be said that it tooalso preserved strong elements of thisnegative ideological reception, re-maining without good reason, the syn-onym for “backward, oriental, Islamic,barbaric, divided lands in permanentand irrational conflict.”

For a long historical period, more than2,000 years, the Balkans unified andmoulded Roma-Hellen-Slav communi-ties, then to remain part of theOsmanli Devlet for more than 550 years of its most recent history. It con-nected all three continents known inthe ancient time and as such rightfullynamed “Catena Mundi” – “The Claspof the Worlds”. Everything called (aswe have seen, wrongly) “Western”philosophy, arts, culture, democracylogic and science was in fact created

here. And from here, much later, itspread in the rest of Europe, almostexclusively by Muslims – viaAndalusia, and via the Balkans dur-ing the Osmanli Devlet. None of thisevidence has been correctly recog-nised. We see that even today, theterm “Balkans” is replaced with theepithet “South Eastern Europe.”[2]

This is completely meaningless since

it deprives the Balkans of its name asthe legitimate sign of the identity, igno-ring all its rich history, creative capacity, and cultural peculiarity.

Although the old Turkish term desig-nates “a mountain chain”, its furtherderivation discloses incredible powerand beauty. Divided in two words,“Balkan” consists of “Bal” and “Kan”– namely, “Honey” and “Blood”. The

two most precious and noble subs-tances of life, united in this syntagma,metaphorically point not only to the




27

sweet and healing qualities of honey,but also of life-giving liquid; the blood,

which is the universal epitome of élanvital (H. Bergson), pointing rightfullyto the energy, vitality, virulent and cre-ative power of the Balkan people.

Be as it is, there is nothing in the his-tory of the Balkans which could right-fully include any pejorative contextin the name of this wonderful penin-sula, nor anything to be ashamed of,while there is a plenitude of things thatthe whole continent would be right-fully proud of.

So I repeat the question. Are the Mus-lims indigenous to Europe, or do theybelong to another peculiar world? Forthem, is Europe a host or home? Butthen, after all, who is indigenous toEurope, who has right to decide whothe host is and who the newcomeris? What about the case of theAmericas, or Australia? Obviously,

we have no need even to ask the question if Europe is a Christian entityor whether it has an Islamic compo-nent? The Islamic component is an in-tegral part of the European identityin all its aspects, from the spirit to mat-ter, from music to architecture, fromits ‘bal’ to its blood. But what is thereality with respect to the cultural her-itage of Islam with the reality on theground, its geographical borders and

the demographic elements of Europe?

In this context, I would like to reiterate that Europe has never beenan exclusive Christian continent.European civilisation has never beenexclusively Christian or Jewish. Andeven these two components, let meemphasise again, in their origins arenot European.

Having so stated, we can safely saythat Europe and the Muslim worldhave shared a common existence

around the Mediterranean Sea basinwith their territories overlapping in

many parts of Eastern Europe, theBlack Sea region and the EurasianStates. Geography aside, IslamicEurope shares with non-Islamic Europetwo major cultural components; theirspiritual and moral legacies which hailfrom the Ibrahim/Abraham/Avraamtradition, while their scientific, philo-sophical and intellectual references,among other things, are derived fromthe influences adopted, adapted andsedimented in civilisations flourishingin the region of the Balkans and Ioniancoasts of Anatolya and later spreadand adopted by the rest of Europe.

The permanent factor which providedthe continuity of Muslim presence asan integral part of the European iden-tity, epitomised in the eight hundred years of Al-Andalus and representedby the five hundred years of theOsmanli Devlet, was the clearly de-

fined system of state instruments whichencouraged spiritual unity, foundedon the principles of voluntarily sharedsupreme values and ultimate goals,explicitly expressed in the values ofIslam.

It is of utmost importance today to reclaim the positive impact of theMuslim legacy and contribution toEuropean identity and culture, in order

to eradicate internal ethnic, cultural,and religious conflicts in the Europe,especially in regions where a highpercentage or even the majority areMuslims, most notably the Balkans, aswell as reducing the social and polit-ical tensions which were the outcomeof misunderstanding, or even the in-tentional falsification of the true mean-ing and nature of the Islamic-Ottomanlegacy.

If we are to revive and to reaffirm themeaning of European identity or goal

is to regain the integrity of its histori-cal consciousness, then we have to

abandon the aberrations and the pre-vailing, ideologically distorted, per-ception of Islam and Muslims andreplace it with a historically correctand more productive understandingof the true impact of Muslims as anessential and influential component ofEuropean identity.

Practical suggestions

• Developing campaigns to foster anddisseminate respect for culture, reli-gious pluralism and cultural diversity.• Ensure freedom of religious prac-tice without prejudice to secular laws.• Address the root causes of terror-ism, including the occupation of in-dependent states and political conflict.• Exert an effort to engender a posi-tive sense of belonging and respon-sible citizenship among Muslim youthand give them more incentives to par-ticipate in mainstream public life.• Review the curricula of school text-books throughout Europe to correctuntruthful and demonising perceptionsabout Islam.

1 “The only good Indian is a dead Indian”is a saying often invoked when inquiringtoo closely into the truth. These words werespoken by Theodore Roosevelt, less than15 years before General Phil Sheridan.In January 1869, General Sheridan was

in camp at Fort Cobb in Indian Territory(now Oklahoma) shortly after GeorgeCuster’s fight with Black-Kettle’s Che- yennes. Turtle Dove, or Toch-a-way, whowas a chief of Commanches trying to im-press the General, struck himself in thebreast and said “Me, Toch-a-way; me,good Indian”. The General smiled and an-swered, “The only good Indians I ever sawwere dead.”2 Critical and well-argued comments onthe misuse of the toponym “Balkans”, seethe article of Prof. Ilber Ortayli; “TheBalkans and the Ottoman Inheritance”,

published in The Great Ottoman-TurkishCivilisation, Ankara 2000, Vol. III, pp.241-245




“The mosques of Allah shouldonly be frequented by those who have iman in Allah andthe Last Day and establish salatand pay zakat, and fear noone but Allah. They are theones most likely to be guided.”

(Sura Tawba, Ayat 18)

“In houses which Allah has

permitted to be built and in which His name is remem-bered, there are men who pro-claim His glory morning andevening, not distracted bytrade or commerce from the re-membrance of Allah and theestablishment of salat and thepayment of zakat; fearing aday when all hearts and eyes will be in turmoil – so that

Allah can reward them for thebest of what they did and givethem more from His un-

bounded favour. Allah pro- vides for anyone He wills with-out reckoning.”

(Surat An Nur, Ayats 36-37)

The importance of the mosque in theUmmah of Islam, in history and inevery Muslim community is well re-flected in the fact the EMU Foundationhas defined mosques as one of itsseven points and areas of interest andwork. There was a very significant talkcontaining comprehensive documen-tation, delivered by our HonoraryPresident, Prof. Nevzat Yalçıntas, in

the year 2008 at the EMU Meeting inPotsdam, Germany, entitled; “TheMosque in Europe,” which I recom-mend to you and which can be readon the EMU Foundation website.

Continuing that research, I intend tofocus here particularly on the vitalfunction of the mosque as the heartof the organism of the Muslim com-munity. The title chosen for my talk in-

dicates precisely that the mosque islike a heart in a living organism, theorgan that acts as an engine to pumphealthy and vital energy to the socialbody of the Muslim community.

The two ayats of the Qur’an, fromSura Tawba and Surat An Nur, whichI have chosen to begin this paper, bothpoint to precisely that; that there is aliving community of believing men and

women who establish the worship ofGod and who are not distracted fromremembrance of their Creator by their

trade, their business or by their dailyand worldly activity. As a result, theirtransactions are guided by the re-membrance and taqwa of Allah and

that is reflected in the payment ofzakat.

I divide this paper into five parts; anintroduction with four premises, a briefexploration of the first mosque andwhat it represented for the first com-munity, the Muslim community inEurope today, a section on the mosquein Europe today, and finally conclu-sions and recommendations.

IntroductionIn the 2008 conference, ProfessorNevzat Yalçıntas concluded his studywith five recommendations. I wouldlike to take some of them as a pointof departure. Professor Yalçıntas en-couraged each Muslim Community inEurope to be in possession of its ownproper mosque. He recommendedthat smaller groups of Muslims, if dis-

persed in any particular area, movecloser to places where mosques arefocal points.

Secondly, Prof. Yalçıntas recommen-ded that great care should be takenin the maintenance and cleanliness ofour mosques – not only the basics butalso attention to finer, aesthetic ele-ments: beauty, decoration, gardensand attractive architecture. A third

recommendation at the end of his lec-ture was that mosques should be com-pletely integrated with the non-Muslim

The role of mosques in Europe,as places of social dynamismBy Abdalhasib Castiñeira

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communities that surround them andthat each Muslim community should

make sure that programmes be putinto effect to ensure this integration.

In this paper I will try to complementthese themes, on the basis of my ownunderstanding, knowledge and per-sonal experience from the effort ofbuilding the mosque of Granada inAndalusia, (1) providing a few moreanswers to these questions andadding some further recommenda-

tions to the aforementioned ones.

The state of affairs inour mosques in EuropeIn Europe today, we find mosques andIslamic centres, as well as musallasand prayer rooms. Some Islamic or-ganisations or associations have aspace for prayer and other facilitiessuch as offices, a library, classrooms,shops, a butcher’s, a barber’s, a can-

teen and even space for games andping-pong.

There are Islamic national centres, likethe Albanian Islamic Centres, Bosnian,Turkish Diyanet mosques, mosquesof Milli Görüs and a number of Islamiccultural centres. Some of these mos-ques follow Hanafi fiqh (normallywhen the community is from Turkey,Pakistan or India), some Maliki fiqh

(in the North African and West Africancommunities) and some, mostly estab-lished by Muslims from the Arabworld, are openly non-madhhab,modernist or salafi mosques.

This diversity of forms and pluralityof understanding in the present spreadof mosques in Europe is a reflectionof the state of our Ummah with all itsvarieties of schools and national iden-

tities, but is also a manifestation of thegrass-root congregations of Muslimimmigrants, often poor and poorly

equipped with knowledge and skills.At an early stage, some Muslim indi-

viduals, zealous about preserving thepractice of their deen, initiated mostof these mosques, which others joinedand supported. And this is how thevast majority of mosques in WesternEurope and America have been es-tablished in the last decades.

The state of affairs of the mosques inEurope is often not exemplary. Poorconditions of the building, bad up-keep, poor hygiene or no activitywhatsoever addressed to the neigh-bouring society (the ghetto mentality).It is not uncommon to find scandalousmismanagement holding sway and in-house fighting dominating in a shame-ful way among those who would seekpermanent positions of power. In somecases these things are taking placein countries and cities of WesternEurope where cleanliness, hygiene,high standards of quality in public

buildings and good management ofinstitutions of public interest are thenorm. How is it that we allow mosquesto be in a worst state of upkeep thanschools, hotels, libraries or any otherpublic building?

Some mosques in European countrieson the other hand, can be portrayedas examples of excellent manage-ment, with dignified premises and dy-

namic programmes of education andsocial interaction.

That the mosque is essential to ourdeen and important in our life, is men-tioned in the Book of Allah and hasplayed a vital role from the beginningof our history and is a crucial elementof our future in Europe. For all thosereasons it is imperative to give themosque its hurma. The mosque has to

be honoured in its primordial function.The Muslim communities in Europemust know and apply the correct

knowledge in all matters regardingmosques and establish them in a cor-

rect and Islamic form, not in some newform which has been improvised orinvented and therefore deprived of theblessing, protection and guarantee ofsuccess that belong to the deen ofAllah and His last Messenger, peaceand blessing of Allah be upon him.

I want to focus on differentiating andseparating all other dimensions of lifewhich also belong to our deen andalso need be developed in Europeand the Western countries, but thatmust have their own spaces and theirown rules. Shops, markets, butchers,barbers, the public square, the street,cafes, canteens where people eat,drink, watch television, meet andsmoke (often too much), places ofsport and leisure for our young; allare necessary parts of our communitylife. Each community however mustdevelop these areas and activities, but

not necessarily mix them up with themosque. In a recent visit to a mosquein Germany I was surprised to find alarge group of young Muslims play-ing ping-pong in the main access hallto the prayer room. Their voices couldbe heard from inside the mosque andanyone; particularly non-Muslim, vis-iting the otherwise beautiful mosquewould feel they had come to thewrong place.

Four premisesTo arrive at appropriate conclusionsto the questions posed above we mustset out with the correct premise. In myattempt to answer these questionsabout the mosque in Europe, I there-fore propose four premises.

1) That Islam belongs to and inEurope. Islam is not alien, foreign or

immigrant. Muslims belong to Europe,not only on historical grounds but alsoeven before that, by natural law. This




earth is Allah’s earth. All creatures areAllah’s slaves. Wherever we go and

live, there is a place to worship Allah.In the Qur’an, Allah revealed to thelast of the Messengers, peace andblessings be upon him; “My slaves, you who have iman, My earthis wide, so worship Me alone!”(Surat al’Ankabut, Ayat 56)

The argument as to historical legacyand the original belonging of Islam toEurope, to which my own country isa testimony (800 years of Muslim rulein Al Andalus) – and this country, thewhole Balkan Region from Bosnia toThrace are also witness to this – andhas been the topic of one of our speak-ers at this conference.

We belong here. We are Muslims andwe are Europeans. We affirm our be-lief, our deen, our way of life, and westrive to the best of our ability to im-plement the wisdom of Islam in our

lives and in this land, to which wehave a lawful right as much as any-body else, regardless of our race, na-tionality and origin.

2) That Islam is our natural right, ourlegitimate choice and one of the es-sentials of existence, not somethingsecondary and negotiable. Our ful-filment of Islam is fulfilling the purposeof our existence. It is not a matter of

one ideology competing with otherideologies. It is our natural right, ourmost important right, which comesnext to our right to preserve our lifeand integrity, our families, our pos-sessions and wealth, our honour anddignity. There is nothing to feel apolo-getic about. There is nothing thatshould place us in a position of infe-riority, to have to make excuses or begfor the right to be allowed to be what

we are. We stand in dignity, strengthand with generosity as Muslims in theEuropean continent.

3) That the implementation of Islamis a blessing and a mercy. Islam is not

only a mercy for believing and prac-ticing Muslims, but also to thosearound them. Muslims uphold theprophetic wisdom that transformshuman beings, illuminates their un-derstanding, develops their noblequalities of character and behaviourand establishes justice, fairness andmercy in the community, not only forand among Muslims but also in theirrelations with non-Muslims.

4) That we are proud of our identityas Europeans. We acknowledge thegreat universal heritage of ourEuropean tradition and affirm thatmuch of it is in perfect concordancewith the belief and practice of Islam.Much of our own scientific, culturaland social heritage in fact comes fromthe Muslims. On the other hand, weidentify numerous manifestations inour European intellectual and spiritual

life and in the works of great spiritsthat coincided with Islam or actuallyrecognised and accepted Islam; fromGoethe to Rilke, from the 14th cen-tury Mallorcan monk Anselm ofTurmeda to the Scottish writer, ThomasCarlyle ,in the 19th century, to GeorgeBernard Shaw in the 20th century andscores of other writers, philosophers,musicians and artists in modern times.

We strongly reject the forged hy-pothesis, now widely disseminated inthe media, that Islam represents athreat to the freedom, safety and rightsof Europeans andWestern peoples.The exact opposite is the truth.

If we can agree upon these four prem-ises then we can look at the matterfrom two sides.

From one side, and to grasp the cor-rect matters concerning the mosque,let us turn to the sources. How was the

mosque of the Prophet Muhammad,may Allah bless him and grant him

peace? What did it represent in thelife of the first community and whatdid the mosque mean to the originalMuslim community from which wetake our inspiration and model? Whathas the role and way of operatingmosques been throughout the fourteencenturies of Islamic practice fromAndalusia to the Malay Archipelago.

And then from the other side; how are

mosques contributing to inspire, trans-form for the better and benefit Muslimsand the environment in which they livein a non-Muslim society in Europe?What are the challenges, the mistakesfrom our side, the threats from ad-versaries and opponents and whatconclusions may we draw from these?

The Mosque in the First community

If we turn our attention to the begin-ning of Islam, we find that theMessenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, and hisCompanions gathered in houses topray, to worship God, to recite theQur’an as it was being revealed andto learn from the Prophet of God. Thehouse of Al Arqam, not far from theancient sanctuary of the Ka’abah usedto be a place of congregation for the

Prophet and his early Companions,while they were being oppressed andpersecuted in Makka.

The first Companions who migratedto Madina before the Prophet, likeMusaib ibn Umair, used to hold salatin congregation in people’s privatehouses.

When the Prophet, blessing and

peace be upon him, arrived in Yathribwith his companion Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, he established the first mos-

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que, dedicated to the worship ofAllah, the little mosque of Quba, on

the outskirts of Madina, on the landof the Banu Amr ibn ‘Awf.

After a few days he moved on into thecity of Madina, where he was ac-cepted by the people of the city astheir leader and welcomed by thelarge majority of them. He then un-dertook the construction of themosque, which was going to be at theheart of the Muslim community and

the location of much of the revelation,teaching, and examples of the sunnawhich were going to remain forever.

In the very few days, weeks andmonths taken for the building of themosque, other events closely relatedto the establishment of Islam in the landand to the meaning of the mosque it-self, were happening that cannot bedivorced from the mosque.

According to Ibn Ishaq, as the mosquewas being completed, the Prophet,

peace and blessings be upon him,made a covenant with the Jews and

the non-Muslim Arabs of Madina andsurrounding territories, in order to reg-ulate relations and their mutual coex-istence. As soon as worship of Godhad been established in congrega-tion, the adhan instituted and the lifeof the community given form andorder with the rhythm of the five salats,of immediate import was the estab-lishment of order and concord withthe rest of the society.

After that the Prophet, blessing andpeace be upon him, established themarket of Madina, a space wherepeople could trade freely, regulatingits correct and fair rules by establish-ing limits in the place where the peo-ple of Yathrib had traditionally hadtheir market called Souq al Manakha.He forbade fraud, monopoly andusury and laid down principles for

economic activity.

In the early weeks of the life of

Madina, after the hijrah, as the mos-que was being built, the Prophet, may

Allah bless him and grant him peace,established the historic bond of broth-erhood between the immigrants (al-muhajirun) from Makka, who had lefteverything behind, with the localMuslims of Madina (al-ansar) wholived and owned agricultural farms,houses and industries on the landwhere they had been for generations.

The contract of brotherhood between

the members of the Muslim commu-nity, the solidarity and mutual supportamong this first generation of theCompanions of the Prophet, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace,the sharing of their property and car-ing for the wellbeing of one anotherwas one of the most important causesfor the success of Islam.

During the first year of the hijrah, a

large delegation from the Christiansof Najran in the South of the ArabianPeninsula came to visit the Prophet.




Consisting of 60 riders, so Ibn Ishaqreports in his sira, they came to pay

their respects to the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, but did not accept Islam.They were received in the mosque andafter a kind and courteous reception,given hospitality for three days by theProphet and his community.

In the first months after being built, themosque became the departure pointof various expeditions to explore theterritory in order to defend Madinafrom its enemies and to watch for dan-gers, threats and attacks. These ex-peditions culminated, one and a half years after the arrival of the Prophetand his Companions, with the expe-dition to confront the powerful armyof the Quraish in Badr. Allah gave theMuslims permission to wage war andthe first military confrontation with theenemies took place on 17th of Rama-dan at the wells of Badr, resulting in

a resounding victory for the Mes-senger of Allah and the Muslims, aday that came to be known as the dayof Furqan, or the day when truth andfalseness were clearly separated.

Lessons from the early days of Islam.The events that were taking place inthe early days of the Muslim commu-nity in Madina were not separate fromthe establishment of the first mosque

and are significant for us today. Weare also establishing Islam, exercis-ing our legitimate right, implementingwhat Allah has wanted for mankind,and following the practice of the onewho was sent as a mercy for theworlds. In following the blessed sunnaof building mosques we must also fol-low the entire pattern of the estab-lishment of Islam, to the best of ourability, with understanding and sound

knowledge. The mosque has to beseen as the centre of the Muslim com-munity, not as the community itself.

Clarity with the neighbouring society

Our commitment and our will to sus-tain relations of mutual respect andcollaboration with regards to thesafety, prosperity and the wellbeingof the society in which we live haveto be clearly affirmed.

This will remove two dangers; the dan-ger of fanaticism (the cultural mediumof extremism and terrorism) that servesto alienate some already marginalised

Muslims from our European societyand the other danger; that of aban-doning our self respect and dignity,fragmenting our cohesion as oneUmmah and falling short in our aspi-ration to fulfil our purpose in existence.

The Muslims of Europe can agree withthe people of dunya about workingtogether towards a dunya hassanaand invite them to enjoy life. As for

the Muslim community, we too haveevery right to exercise our collectiveeffort towards obtaining a respectablelife in this world and procure our suc-cess in the next life.

The community is notonly the mosqueThis matter includes aspects directlyrelated to the building and establish-ment of the first mosque, or we could

say, in order to differentiate a mosquefrom a temple or merely a space ded-icated to the rituals of worship, it mustbe understood that its physical build-ing and its function is integrated withinthe Muslim community in a broadersocial pattern that also includes:

1. Clarity and explicit obligations andrights of the Muslims in their relationswith other communities.

2. The bond of brotherhood and sol-idarity among Muslims. Inner cohe-

sion is equal to inner strength andasabiyah, the term used by Ibn

Khaldun.

3. Alongside the establishment of thefive prayers in congregation and thejumu’ah prayer which constitute theheart of the Muslim community, themarket place also reflects soundnesswith its correct business transactionsand equity, with fairness in the flowof wealth from the rich to the poorexemplified in the collection and dis-tribution of zakat.

4. The mosque was the house ofprayer and worship, school, council,house of governance and justice andthe point of departure of expeditionsto spread the light and guidance ofIslam and to promote strength andrespect in the eyes of those whowanted to damage or even destroythe Muslim community.

Salat and zakatImportant as it is to establish mosquesfor congregational worship, life is notrestricted to formal rituals of worship;in other words, every action in the lifeof man may be seen as a form of wor-ship with every action in the life of aMuslim being an act of worship toAllah. The sincerity and depth of one’ssalat is put to the test in the marketplace, in transactions. The discipline

of the five appointments to prostratebefore the Creator produces a differ-ent type of human being, a differenttype of market and business moral-ity. Allah has made licit trade and hasforbidden usury. The catastrophe ofthe current financial system and thenow evident injustice and imbalanceof the capitalist economic model, theterrible consequences for our naturalenvironment, the profound disequi-

librium in material wellbeing and development between some parts ofour planet and others, the shameful

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accumulation of wealth in a few handsand the protection of those few ban-

kers, speculators and oligarchs by thepolitical class; all of these issues,which would have been consideredradical critical statements only twenty years ago, are now mainstream opin-ion among ordinary people in Europe.However, business goes on as usualas there seems to be no feasible al-ternative to the present paradigm.

When the Prophet built the firstmosque in Madina, grace and peaceof Allah be upon him and his Com-panions, a market was also estab-lished, as we have seen. A change isneeded in the direction of our Muslimcommunities in Europe from the psy-chology of “minority” to a position ofleadership in society. This change re-quires understanding of the world’spresent situation and knowledge ofthe deen. By understanding the dilem-mas, ailments and disorders of our

time, which originate from a deeplyunnatural economic system, and byassuming the obligation of zakat in itsfull form, implying as it does the pro-hibition of usury, there will be no al-ternative but to establish alongsideour mosques, our own markets, of-fering a message of liberation and away out. Many honest people in theworld are waiting for this good news.

We have the cure in our deen, and itis our responsibility to implement it.We cannot separate salat from zakat.In our mosques, where salat is estab-lished, zakat also needs to be restoredand the concern to establish halaltrade.

Much theoretical work has been donein recent years on the parameters ofhalal trade, with a lesser number of

practical efforts being made to es-tablish viable models of trading andexchange using real currency (the

dinar and dirham) alongside the im-plementation of the fair formulas of

business contracts of the shariah.These contracts and the precise butvery broad parameters of conduct inthe market place and which constitutean almost forgotten part of our fiqh,ensured enormous wealth, advance-ment and culture to Islamic civilisa-tions in various regions of the worldover the fourteen hundred years.

Some EMU members in Germany,

Spain, Portugal and the UK are con-ducting Muslim markets in the streetsand public squares of their countriesto create this alternative. EMU mem-bers in Switzerland and Germanyhave started the minting and distri-bution of gold dinars and silverdirhams – to name but a few of theinitiatives appearing in Europe and intime worldwide, inshallah.

We have the salat, and inseparablefrom the prayer is the giving out fromour wealth, a share of our surplus, col-lected by the authority of the Muslimcommunity.

Reaching outto the societyThe mosques indicate the totality ofIslam. It is the totality that has to beour goal; otherwise our mosques will

become temples. Our expeditionsmust reach out to further Islam, to de-fend our projects, our communities, toadvance the case of Muslims and de-fend them from attacks, atrocities andabuse wherever they are persecuted,to lobby through media, lawyers andpolitical institutions, exercising ourrights in European societies, withinEuropean law and joining in effortsto change the laws when they are un-

fair or damaging to our faith and ourcommunity. These are our expeditionsof today.

In the example of the first communitywe find that by opening the doors of

the mosque the perception of Islam assomething alien will change; thismeans dealing with respect and know-ledge those who visit the mosques.Showing respect and interest in thearea and location of the communityis a necessary act in a land whereda’wa remains a priority.

The question of authorityThe social dynamism emerging from

mosques demands authority. Variousformulas have been used in the set-ting up of boards and committees forthe administration of all the hundredsof new mosques that have appearedon the European continent, particu-larly among the immigrant communi-ties. However, all such structures areonly valid when the correct principleof authority is in place. There is nostructuralist substitute for the author-

ity for an amir. Mosques have to beunder such an authority. The imam isnot that authority and the Europeangovernment’s present concern withcontrolling the training of imamsmisses the point. The problem of aMuslim community and the Ummahas a whole lies in the lack of true authority

Mosques in Europe

There is now nearly half a century ofexperience of mosque establishmentin Europe. Their number continues togrow. There are indeed positive as-pects of this proliferation of mosquesand Muslim communities all over thecontinent. We praise and thank Allahfor these places where His name is re-membered, His book recited and thesalat established. There is halal meatat hand now in almost all corners of

Europe, places of solace and re-membrance of Allah and circles ofteaching the deen of Islam to the




young and the old. That is an immense giftand blessing for which we must certainly be

grateful. The presence of Islam is now estab-lished in every land of Europe. New genera-tions of Muslims, born here, know theirmosques and feel secure and safe asEuropeans and as Muslims. What negativeaspects there are, by and large are throughour own shortcomings. They are our respon-sibility; we cannot blame anyone but ourselves.

Some such negative aspects of our mosquesin Europe are so hideous and so unaccept-able that they discourage even Muslims fromgoing to the mosque and almost provide jus-tification for the hostile attitudes of racists, ex-tremists and neo-Nazis in European societies.

Mosques are too visible in Europe, so be-coming the target of hostility and fierce op-position. In the city of Cologne, not far fromwhere I live now, opposition against the build-ing of the biggest mosque in Europe contin-ues to be stirred by right wing parties andneo-Nazi groups. The issue remains a hotly

debated one in the media and in politics. Inthe recent regional elections in North RhineWestphalia, posters depicting a mosquecrossed out in red could be seen everywhere.

In Seville, Spain, a small neighbourhood, sup-ported by rightwing groups and local mediaoligarchs has managed to put such pressureon the municipality of the city that in 2009,two years after having granted a piece of landto the Muslim community in that neighbour-

hood having being registered in the LandDepartment for use as a mosque and Islamiccentre, have had the concession overturnedand permit cancelled.

The story is repeated in many places in Europe.Lichfield, England, Italy, Gothenburg, Sweden,Dudley, in the English West Midlands, Aalborgin Denmark last week; in many cities of Europe,extremist rightwing groups are provoking ha-tred of Islam and Muslims and rallying peo-ple into the streets to prevent the constructionof mosques or to demand the closing downof existing ones.

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Under European constitution there isa broad recognition of the freedom

of religion and until the fierce propa-ganda of the Neo-Conservative ‘Waron Islam’ (deviously named War onTerror), Muslim populations had en-joyed a high degree of respect andfreedom in most of those very samecountries.

We cannot afford, under these cir-cumstances, any internal struggles andcompetition for power inside ourmosques, any embezzlement of funds,any lack of programme, lack of hy-giene, shortcomings in legality, anyopaqueness or irregularity in ac-counting, any bad relations with theneighbourhood or awkwardness inour relations with the authorities andthe mass media. For such as these,we can only blame ourselves.

In every community there must be anevaluation and a diagnosis, and if

changes are needed, then it is es-sential to apply them to our mosques,invoking a system of auditing andbenchmarking as effective as that ap-plied to our business interests, to en-sure an equally effective performanceand management in the fulfilment ofobjectives. The philosophy of excel-lence and quality that empowers cor-porations and gives success toengineering, industrial and trading

projects is part of our deen; it belongsto Islam. The Prophet Muhammad,blessings and grace be upon himsaid; “Allah has prescribed that anything done be done well.”

5. Conclusions and recommendationsI have tried to show that Muslims needthe congregation and the community,that the mosque and the establishingof salat is central and essential, but

that life does not stop there. Islam isDeen Al Fitr, it is the natural commu-nity that restores those aspects of life

that globalisation and the consumersociety have lost, and which Muslims

and humanity both need. The naturalsocial dynamism is made effective bythe Qur’anic joining of salat andzakat. Alongside the establishment ofmosques, there has to be seen the es-tablishment of zakat. Zakat requiresauthority that collects and distributes.But authority, an amir, is also neces-sary to successfully conduct any proj-ect, to give cohesion and order to ourcommunities. Fitra is what people arenostalgic for, longing for it for them-selves and their children. The ad-mirable example of the brotherhoodbetween the muhajirin and the ansarshows us a pattern of sanity, safetyand integrity. We have to do our work.We have to do our part. It is up tous; it does not depend on others. Theposition that naturally belongs to thepeople of Islam is one of leadershipand showing the way forward. It isimpossible to be satisfied being de-

fined as an alien minority.

What there seems to be consensusabout is the perception that ourmosques must provide education,teaching of the Qur’an, the basis ofthe deen to our young and our adults,and guidance in matters of belief andworship. What is not always under-stood is the necessity of having a re-ception to meet visitors, to receive

schools, universities, civic associationsand researchers. What is often neg-lected is the need to have a goodworking relationship with the neigh-bours, the media and governmentagencies; from the local municipality,to the ministries of religious affairs,justice and home affairs.

What has not yet become mainstreampractice in our mosques in Europe is

the professional auditing of accounts,criteria of quality management of pro-grammes, personnel and achievement

of objectives, which are identical tothose being applied in successful or-

ganisations.

I have also emphasised the impor-tance of the marketplace as a physi-

cal space and the importance ofimplementing Islam in the arena of ourbusiness transactions. Where there

is a mosque, there should be a mar-ket. Where there are scholars thatknow the fiqh of ibadat, there must beexperts that know the fiqh of the mu’a-

malat. The curse of riba that has poi-soned our world will be removed bythe practice of Islam in trade, business

and by the collective efforts of theMuslim community; the establishmentof the Muslim market openly, for all

to see.

In this, the EMU Foundation can play

a role – by improving our mosquesin Europe, promoting knowledge,

know-how and the training of youngMuslims with the necessary skills bymeans of programmes adapted to thespecific needs of mosques in Europe.

I suggest also the publication of a di-rectory and a map of the Mosquesof Europe, a tool of learning for stu-dents and a guide to travellers. By the

same token I would recommend thepublication of a Muslim Yellow Pagesdirectory of Europe, gathering as

much data as possible about the dy-namics of the social life of the Muslimsin Europe: mosques, schools, hospi-

tals and doctors, organisations, trad-ing unions, markets, lawyers, services,professional associations and the

Muslim media.

I invite you all, and remind myself, to

participate with the best of our talents

and with the most sincere of effortsto implement the deen of Islam inEurope with wisdom.




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In this paper I will try to touch upona series of questions about the current

obstacles which prevent the achieve-ment of harmony, cooperation andunity between the indigenous MuslimEuropean and the migrant Muslimpopulation of Europe.

For example: How can cooperationbetween the indigenous and immi-grant Muslim community be achievedin Europe? What are the possibleroles that European Muslims and im-

migrants can play to achieve such co-operation? What are the steps thatEuropean Muslims can take to helpMuslim immigrants integrate withinthe European environment? How canMuslim immigrants contribute to sup-port the European Muslims? Can Islamcoexist with different European cul-tures, or should European Muslimsreplicate every aspect of the cultureof Eastern Muslims? And, how can

European Muslims maintain the char-acteristics of their European identitywhile at the same time be Muslims?

I finish my paper by proposing tworecommendations to this conference.But it is necessary at the outset to dis-cuss the importance of migration inIslamic history and how the Prophet,peace and blessings of Allah be uponhim, was able to change the course

of history by uniting the indigenousadherents (Ansar) with the migrants(Muhajirun).

How did he transcend the ethnic, eco-nomic, social and racial characteris-

tics that divided them?

Migration in the historyof IslamThe word Hijrah in the Arabic lan-guage literally means to leave one’shomeland and settle in another place.In Islam however, Hijrah refers to themigration of Prophet Muhammad,peace and blessings of Allah be uponhim, from Makka to Madinah. This mi-

gration and resettlement in Madinahis considered to be the starting pointof the organization and establishmentof the first socially, politically and eco-nomically independent Muslim com-munity. The Hijrah story begins withthe Prophet Muhammad, peace andblessings of Allah be upon him, or-dering the Muhajirun to migrate toMadinah. The Muhajirun were thecompanions of the Prophet, peace

and blessings of Allah be upon him,who originally resided with him inMecca.

This migration from Makka toMadinah was not done just to escapethe persecution and torture of the dis-believing Quraysh, but it also gaveMuslims the opportunity to organizethemselves into a real Islamic Ummah(community) in the city of Madinah,

which in the end had a far-reachingeffect upon Islamic history. Upon theirarrival in Madinah, the Muhajrun

were welcomed and received supportfrom the Ansar. The Ansar were those

indigenous citizens of Madinah whobelieved in the Prophet, peace andblessings of Allah be upon him, hismission and had invited him to cometo their city.

Today, history is repeating itself in an-other form, and we Muslims are onceagain faced with the task of restor-ing the Muslim nation to its place atthe head of civilization through the re-

vival of a pure Islam as was practicedby the Prophet, peace and blessingsof Allah be upon him, the Ansar andthe Muhajirun in Madinah alMunawwarah.

What I am alluding to, by way of anal-ogy, are those European Muslims whohave wholeheartedly converted toIslam and who support it by way ofda’wa; they are the Ansar of today,

while the immigrants who come toEurope from the Islamic world of Asiaand Africa are the Muhajirun of today.

The Muhajirun of today however,move to Europe with different motivesand objectives to those who immi-grated to Madinah with the Mes-senger of Allah, peace and blessingsof Allah be upon him; a hijrah clearlyoutlined in the sound hadith, narrated

from Umar ibn al Khattab, illustrat-ing the various levels of intent. Theprophet, may Allah bless him and

The importance of collaboration between indigenousand immigrant Muslim communities in EuropeBy Prof Aziz Kobeiti Al Idrissi



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grant him His grace, said; “Actionsare only done by intention, and manwill only have what he intended.Therefore, whoever emigrated for thesake of Allah and His Messenger, thenhis migration was for the sake of Allahand His Messenger. And whoever em-igrated to attain something of this

world or to marry a woman, then hisemigration was for whatever reasonhe emigrated.”

This is the first hadith that al-Bukharimentions in his Sahih, and it is oneof the most pivotal sayings of theprophet in Islamic Law. The repetitionof the first part of this significant ha-dith reinforces the fact that the primaryreason for making hijrah in Islam is

for the sake of Allah and His Mes-senger, even though other types of mi-gration; the seeking of worldly benefit

for example, are not rejected by Islam.

What must also be understood is thatthese forms of immigration are en-couraged in Islam for those underduress or through weakness in theEarth, whether physical or mental, forAllah ta’ala says in Surat an Nisa;

“The angels ask those theytake while they are wrongingthemselves; ‘What were yourcircumstances?’ They reply,“We were oppressed on earth.’They (the angels) say, ‘Was notthe earth not wide enough for you to have made hijra else- where in it?’”

If we examine the hadith of hijrah,

transmitted from the Messenger ofAllah, peace and blessings of Allahbe upon him, we may conclude that

hijrah first and foremost is for religiousreasons, the best reasons, while againhijrah may be for economic, socialand political reasons which accord-ing to the above mentioned Quranicayat, will be out of necessity.

If we look closely at the case of mi-

gration to Europe in the contemporaryage, we find that it does not departfrom either of the already mentionedmotives. There are groups of peoplewho go to Europe for the purpose ofgiving Islamic da’wa; they are a mino-rity of the Muslim immigrants. Anothercategory is those immigrants who mi-grate to Europe for social reasons,such as to join their families or for pur-poses of marriage. A few immigrants

have taken refuge in European coun-tries from political oppression in theirhomeland. However, economic rea-





sons remain the main motivation be-hind the migration of Muslims to Euro-

pe. The majority of Muslim immigrantshead to Europe to seek employmentin agriculture, construction or trade,while a few of them have jobs in in-dustrial factories as well.

Now I would like to turn my discus-sion towards two questions: How didthe Prophet unite the Muhajirun andthe supporters? And how did he tran-scend the ethnic, economic, socialand racial characteristics that dividedthem? To answer these questions, wemust examine the essential steps takenby the Messenger of Allah immedi-ately after he first arrived in Madinah.The first step taken by the Prophet,peace and blessings of Allah be uponhim, after his arrival in Madinah wasto build a mosque where the Muslimscould meet to pray collectively fivetimes a day.

This constant praying in jama’at (col-lectively) maintained harmony andunity between the Ansar and theMuhajirun, and allowed them to checkthe ongoing circumstances of eachother. The mosque, as an institutionfor education and learning, plays anessential role in assisting Muslims toshare the same moral, social, politi-cal and religious values, and helpsto blur differences and to achieve co-

hesion in the Muslim community.

The second step that was taken bythe Prophet, peace and blessings ofAllah be upon him, in Madinah wasto establish bonds of brotherhood bypartnering the Ansar and theMuhajirun. The Prophet (peace andblessings of Allah be upon him)bonded each muhajir with an ansariregardless of their tribal considera-

tions and class distinctions, in theprocess linking the strong to the weak,the rich to the poor, the white to the

black, and the slave with the freeman.This historical fraternity was able to

triumph over discrimination based ontribe, sex or colour, and replacedthem with the bond of faith and reli-gious brotherhood.

Today, the entire Muslim Ummahawaits the realization of this kind ofreligious brotherhood between theEuropean Muslims (indigenous or con-verts) and the Muslim immigrants inEurope, even though it has proven tobe elusive if not impossible to achievein the East for reasons that are wellknown to us.

Now lets turn our discussion to exa-mine another question; namely, theobstacles to the cooperation betweenindigenous and immigrant Muslims inEurope. The first obstacle that standsin front of Muslim unity, not only inEurope but also in the whole world,is the absence of a spiritual example

that can create a brotherhood basedon the Prophet’s wisdom and fore-sight. Allah said in the holy Quran:“This is my way; I invite unto Allah with sure knowledge, Iand whomsoever follows me with sure knowledge.”

The Muslim community should have aleader. When The Messenger ofAllah, peace and blessings of Allah

be upon him, sent three of his com-panions on a specific task, he wouldappoint a leader among them and ad-vised them to consult each other, butin case of differing views, they mustobey their leader or amir. This is wellillustrated in the Holy Quran and inthe sayings of the Prophet, peace andblessings of Allah be upon him, suchas the hadith reported by Abu Hurai-rah, in which the Prophet, peace and

blessings of Allah be upon him, said:“He who obeys me obeys Allah, andhe who disobeys me disobeys Allah,

and he who obeys the amir obeys meand he who disobeys the amir dis-

obeys me.”

We may not speak about an amir inthe absence of a group gatheredaround him. Yet in spite of the fact thatEurope today is witnessing a signifi-cant presence of Muslim immigrantsand European Muslims, these twoMuslim groups have yet to reach ahigh level of discussion about develo-ping an Islamic community of Europe.

While community means harmonyand coherence among its members,we find that Muslims in Europe arestill facing obstacles that slow downtheir communication and cooperationtowards reaching the goal of unity,brotherhood and high standards ofmoral and social behaviour.

Obstacles Towards

CommunicationKnowing the obstacles to communi-cation and developing solutions toovercome them is the first phase ofsolving the problem that should be fol-lowed by other constructive phases inthe future that will lead to an effec-tive cooperation between immigrantsand indigenous Muslims in Europe.These obstacles can be divided intolinguistic, cultural, traditional, con-

ventional and intellectual obstacles,(details of which I have spoken aboutelsewhere).

ConsequencesImmigrant Muslims might be some-what deficient in communicationthrough an ignorance of the language,which can affect their opportunitiesto aspire to decent work or income.In addition, the lack of ability to com-

municate in the host language hasan impact on the Muslim migrant’spersonality, one that creates in them

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a social and psychological crisis thatcan be associated with a permanent

feeling of alienation in the host land.

In turn, this feeling of alienation creates in the Muslim migrants a sense ofabsence from full citizenship, whichin turn acts as a barrier to full inte-gration into a European society thatremains strange and difficult for themto understand and interact with.

The potential role of

European MuslimsThe role of European Muslims is par-ticularly important for the developmentof Islam there. This can be clearly seenby observing what they have achievedand the roles they have come to playin the development of associations,brotherhoods, and in the Islamic cul-ture of Europe as a whole.

European Muslim groups, both in-

digenous and converts, can play arole in cultural mediation in variousways:

1.) By imparting knowledge to immi-grants about the pluralistic society inwhich they live and what it means tobe a minority in that society.

2.) By sharing a network of political,institutional, and religious ties.

3.) By providing information bothwithin the group (through publishing)and outside (by maintaining relationswith the media, conferences, publi-cations, and explaining Islamic beliefsin a way understandable to Europeancultures).

4.) By demonstrating the dignity of theIslamic community. It is particularly

gratifying for the members of the im-migrant Muslim community, especiallyif they are low in the social scale and




poorly educated, to see westerners,more so if educated and financially

well off, embracing their religion. Thisproves the universality of their religionand demonstrates that it is not just afaith belonging to underdevelopedareas of the world or immigrants fromthese areas.

On the other side, the presence ofimmigrants in Europe is certainly positive for the Europeans who convert to Islam. They represent psy-chological compensation for the lossof their friends and family membersdue to their conversion and may beof help in giving direction to Islamicinstitutions, centres and mosques inEurope thanks to their experiencein their home countries, as well asteaching Muslim languages, whichcan help European Muslims to knowmore about Islamic sources and references.

Steps that European Muslims

can take to help Muslim immi-grants integrate in the Euro-

pean environment:

1.) To help in establishing mosquesin order to worship Allah together; astep that will ensure their religiousidentity will not be affected.

2.) To found Islamic institutions, cen-tres and schools to teach Europeanlanguages to facilitate the incomers’integration to their new environment.This will also open up work and jobopportunities, which in turn will con-tribute to the improvement of their in-come as well as to the ameliorationof their social status and will alsomake them feel more comfortable inEurope.

3.) To apply political pressure on theirEuropean governments, by legal, as-sociative, and academic means aswell as through the media, in order tochange the negative attitude towards

Islam. This will contribute effectivelyto the newcomers becoming more in-

terested in participating in the build-ing of a European society through itsidentification with Islam.

How could the Muslim immi-grants contribute to support theEuropean Muslims?

1.) By teaching languages that mayhelp the European converts to under-stand Islam more; Arabic, Turkish,Persian and Urdu are the languagesthat have been used to study andteach Islam – and in particular, ofcourse, Arabic, the language of HolyQur’an.

2.) By translating original Islamic textsin an objective way, which will helpEuropeans to use those texts withoutbeing suspicious of their source ororiginality, especially texts that ori-entalists have used to undermine theimage of Islam.

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3.) By getting rid of the idea that theyare the sole owners of Islamic religious

truth.

4.) By participating in the manage-ment of mosques, religious institutionsand Islamic centers.

5.) By attempting to establish bridgesbetween European Muslims and theirMuslim brothers in the East in orderto strengthen cooperation betweenthem, to exchange experiences, aswell as promote harmony between thevarious components of the MuslimCommunity.

My recommendations to theconference would be:

1.) The formation of a group/orga-nization that will be responsible fordialogue and communication betweenMuslims converts and immigrants inthe West. This group/organization

will undertake the task of studying theissue of integration, as well as work-ing towards its accomplishment. Itshould be under the supervision of theEMU and should consist of represen-tatives from every Muslim minority thatexist in Europe.

The work of this group/organizationshould be distributed among a numberof specialist committees, for example;

a committee for communication anddialogue, a media committee, a trans-lation committee, etc.

2.) The promotion of Sufism. Sufismhas an enormous capacity to unite theconverts and Muslim immigrant com-munities regardless of the multiplicityof their religious affiliations. It shouldbe based on unity rather than division.

Promoting authentic Sufi orders, par-ticularly ones that have a clear Islamicapproach and that can mend the rift.

The teachings of Sufism encourageplurality and diversity and at the same

time discourage terrorism and ex-tremism.

The backing and support of theseideas by credible Islamic bodies, suchas the EMU, will also close the doorsof suspect movements that work underthe name of Sufism yet disseminatethe abandonment of Islamic law andreligious rituals of Islam, claiming thatspirituality is independent of the

prophetic practice of the religion.

Finally, I would like to express my op-timistic view that in the future, Muslimsin Europe will, inshallah, achieve thislooked-for cooperation between theMuslim migrant communities andEuropeans Muslims (indigenous andconverts).

The world community of Muslims will

thus be restored by the Muslims of theWest, as the well-known and distin-guished Islamic scholar Sa’id

Ramadan Al Boutti implied when hesaid; “The whole world will soon wit-

ness that western civilization will notlet slip the key of human happiness,nor will it throw it away beyond thereach of Man, as some pessimists con-ceive. The light of Islam is still on andthe human sentiments will find in Islamthe key they have been looking foreverywhere for happiness. This keywill be found in the West itself, andthis will only happen through guid-ance from the light of Islam and

through the light of science under itsnew perspective.”

May Allah bless the soul of the geniusof his age, Badi’ Az-Zaman Sa’id al-Nursi when he said that “Europe ispregnant and will one day give birthto Islam.”

Now we are starting to see this real-ity. Allah ta’ala has said in the Holy

Qur’an, “Allah is triumphantover everything but most peo-ple are unaware.”




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European Muslim UnionFoundation

Head Office, Strasbourg10, Place du Temple Neuf67000 Strasbourg

FranceTel: +33-38-8357520Fax: +33-1-57317454

Email: [email protected]://www.emunion.eu

Malik Sezgin, EMU Secretary GeneralMobile: +49-173-4321049

Email: [email protected]

B ANK ACCOUNT DETAILS

Name: Fundacion European Muslim UnionBank: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, BBVA

Branch: Oficina Principal

Address: Plaza de Isabel la Catolica, Granada, Spain

Account Number: 0182 5695 82 0201504038

IBAN: ES36 0182 5695 82 0201504038

SWIFT: BBVA ES MMXXX

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