RELIGIOUS INTERPRETATION DEMANDS RESPONSIBILITY AND KNOWLEDGE

Abstract

This text is an analysis of a hutba (sermon) on Islamophobia by a student of the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Sarajevo, promoted by the media of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It contradicts the tradition of hutba, and its assertions come into direct conflict with the values which define the Faculty of Islamic Studies and are proclaimed by agencies in the Islamic Community. It seems that a young hatib has dealt with the topic of Islamophobia from a religious perspective in an irresponsible manner and without adequate knowledge. Furthermore, he has wrongly equated Islamophobia with a number of other things. Citing only one Qur’anic verse, he proclaims eternal enmity between Christians, Jews, and Muslims, he gives the inexhaustible diversity of human relations in the world the semblance of a one-sided Bosnian- Herzegovinian conflict, and he transposes the aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina and genocide against Bosniaks, the crimes of urbicide and terrorist acts against Bosniak returnees from the realm of institutionalized social life into the world of phobia and conditioned behaviour. Even so, Islamophobia is a serious topic. It expresses European apprehensions and contains the ideological essence of European crusades and colonial expansions. The old agenda of fabrication, simulation, and mobilization it has gained new life in the post-communist political mythology of the West. It is one of the first and most important elements in the Eastern attempt to justify the Bosnian and Herzegovinan campaigns, and part of the rationale of the Western hegemonic aspirations towards Bosnia and Herzegovina. The text mentions that as far as Muslims are concerned, Christians and Jews have never been seen as a strictly external issue, because the Qur’an establishes religious pluralism, the coexistence of the existing religions is expected and Muslims are ordered to hold dialogue with Christians and Jews. Labeling things incorrectly creates confusion, perpetrates violence, and increases injustice. The Bosniaks should be aware of this more than others because they are the victims of the first genocide in history which occurred before the eyes of the world, a genocide which was called “ethnic cleansing” by its perpetrators. When genocide is considered cleansing, it is concealed, relativized, and transformed into a tolerable activity. That which should worry us isn’t found in Islamophobia but in provoking and using fear of Islam, in using false information which does not correctly describe Islam and Muslims but offers a biased definition. The world’s power-wielders cynically exploit the wealth of Muslim people and demand that Muslims respond to violence with tolerance. Further, Muslim religious and political members of the power elite, institutions, and systems are both impotent and reluctant to remove the reasons for the false representations of Islam; they should seek to protect the wealth and values of the Muslim people and effectively oppose both acts of terror and the terrorists themselves, as their actions are their own.