Building a Better Bridge

Transcription

1 Building a Better Bridge Ipgrave, Michael Published by Georgetown University Press Ipgrave, Michael. Building a Better Bridge: Muslims, Christians, and the Common Good. Washington: Georgetown University Press, Project MUSE., For additional information about this book No institutional affiliation (13 Dec :52 GMT)

2 Bosnian Muslim Scholars on Governance and Justice C Fikret Karcic In modern Islamic thought in Bosnia and Herzegovina, developed in post- Ottoman times, there was no systematic treatment of issues such as governance and justice. Bosnian scholars of the Habsburg era, , initiated debates about the permissibility of Muslims staying in a non-muslim polity, about Muslims serving in a non-muslim army, about the compatibility of being Muslim and being European, and the like. These issues were debated in the form of responses (fatwā) and short treatises. The same trend continued during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, During Socialist rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina, , Bosnian Muslim scholars faced new challenges centered on the question of how to preserve Muslim identity in a Marxist secular state. The elaboration of an Islamic view on governance and justice was unlikely to take place in a situation when the regime considered that only the private life of individuals is a legitimate area of religion. During the breakup of Yugoslavia and the genocidal war of , Bosnian Muslims were struggling to survive and, in the postwar period, to reconstruct their scattered life and de facto partitioned homeland. This was not a time to engage in major theoretical endeavors but rather to find simple answers to the issues of daily life. In what follows, I present, in the fragmentary form of excerpts from interviews or debates, different views from three selected Bosnian Muslim scholars. Despite the shortcomings of this method, it can provide an insight into the main tendencies and the frame of reference of these scholars. 93

3 94 Seeking the Common Good Alija Izetbegovic, intellectual and political leader of Bosnian Muslims. On democracy Very few words have been the subject of so much controversial understanding, and abuse, as the word democracy. Ithinkthatonlytheword religion has had a similar fate throughout history. Absolute rulers rarely admitted that they were dictators; they called themselves democrats and asked others to consider and call them as such. Due to these controversies, the United Nations, as far as I remember, published Demokratija u svijetu zategnutosti which very vividly demonstrates this global misunderstanding of democracy. Maybe because of that, it is necessary for me to give my own opinion on the question. I believe that God created people free and equal, that higher or lower races do not exist, and there are neither good [n]or bad nations. I believe that people bring with themselves a certain number of inalienable rights, and that governments have no right to limit these rights, much as I do not believe in the unrestricted rights of the majority, as a tyranny of the majority is a tyranny like all others. I believe that the measure of liberty is the relationship to minorities, and that freedom of thought is, above all, the freedom to think differently. These, in short, constitute my understanding of democracy. 8 Fikret Karcic, professor of Islamic law. Marko Orsolic: I have one question which I would pose to Professor Fikret Karcic. If there were in Bosnia and Herzegovina more than fifty percent Muslims out of the whole population, would it be required by Islam, by Shari a, by Islamic law, to establish an Islamic Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina[?] Let me state my position: if there were in Bosnia 99.9% Catholics, I would not be in favor of a Catholic state, in fact I would be the first to be against it! Fikret Karcic: I believe that there are many others who could answer this, but I will try to give my answer to this. I would start the answer by going back to 1258 when the Mongol commander Hulaghu han destroyed Baghdad and overthrew the caliphate. He posed a similar question to the Baghdad ulama of the famous Nizamiyye school. Hulaghu asked: Who has the greater right to rule and be obeyed as a ruler a just non-muslim or an unjust Muslim? The Baghdad ulama replied: A just non-muslim. In this religious opinion (fatwā), the attribute of justice is given preference over the attribute of religion. By referring to this event several centuries ago, I can now offer an answer to the question posed. The issue is what

4 Bosnian Muslim Scholars on Governance and Justice 95 meaning or social function should Islam have in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or in Yugoslavia. Whenever discussing this issue, it is important to take into account where and in what conditions this question is posed. Rosenthal in one of his books, Islam in the Modern Nation State, points out that the definition of Islam in the Indian sub-continent depended on where the answer came from on one side, India, or on the other side, Pakistan. The question and the answer are shaped by social and historical circumstances. Muslims in these areas, from the end of Turkish rule in 1878 practically and from 1908 legally, accepted that Islam be treated equally as the other religions. Such was the case in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1918 until Such a legally equal treatment of Islam was continued in the secular socialist state from The Islamic community accepted the separation of religious communities from the state, abolition of the Shari a courts, and the Shari a law in the civil sphere. As such the Islamic community accepted the definition of Islam as a religion. Hence, I think that the idea of some Islamic republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina falls into the domain of political fantasy or speculation. Personally I think that the secular, the truly secular model, is the most appropriate for multi-religious societies. I have doubts regarding any ideological state, and I believe that the rule of law and the manifestation of religion is defined by law, and not by political opportunism. This is the frame which is necessary for the exercise of human rights and freedoms, of which religious rights and freedoms are a part. 9 Dzemaludin Latic, poet, professor of Qur ānic exegesis, and political activist. That is what I call religious Bosnia, Bosnia without the oppressor and the oppressed, as our Prophet (s.a.w.s.) would say. Q: What kind of Bosnia is that? A theocratic state? A: No, not a theocratic state! That would be a state where religious values are respected most, to such an extent that all four of our religious communities are a social value, and atheism is a private matter of the individual, but not a social value! In such a state, religious officials would have a say regarding drafts of laws that are before our parliament. In such a way, we would build peace among the nations of Bosnia. Q: What do you expect from the SDA (Democratic Action Party)? What kind of SDA? A: I would like that, not only the SDA but all Bosniak political activists and organizations, stick to the principles of Islamic politics.

5 96 Seeking the Common Good Q: What principles are those? A: I translate and publish books on this topic, but in short they are: understanding politics as a trust (amāna) from God; avoiding selfcandidature; a humble life; distancing one s family from power without injustice to the family. The SDA should share the social crisis of its people, rather than SDA MPs receiving a salary of 3000KM. One leader should not be given all or most authority. One should never be without a leader who has religious credentials and abilities. One should not cheat ( Who cheats is not one of us ); tell the truth to enemies; have trust in those with whom you rule and achieve the trust of fellow associates; allow freedom of thought; respect the opposition, and not accuse the opposition of coup d état when it is better than us; reach decisions by convincing and not by intrigues and force. Specifically, apart from the struggle for Bosnia and for the freedom of Islam in Bosnia, I expect the SDA to have a policy which I term politics of the Bosniac whole (politika bosnjacke cijeline). 10 These three fragments show us the diversity that exists in contemporary Muslim thought in Bosnia and Herzegovina: from reference to the views of the school of natural law, through the refusal of an ideological state, to a kind of positive attitude of the state toward religious values. Within these coordinates, contemporary Muslim thought in Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to develop.