Croatian Parliament: Ceremonial Session on the Occasion of 100 Years of Islam

A ceremonial session is underway in the Croatian Parliament on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the recognition of Islam as an equal religion with others in Croatia, reports the BH News Agency Patria.

Croatian Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković stated that Croatian Muslims are an integral part of modern Croatian society.

- We are very proud of that. The Republic of Croatia and the Islamic Community can be proud of what has been built through joint work over these 100 years. Today, we have an experience of coexistence and regulation of relations between the state and the Islamic Community that can serve as a model for many countries - said Orešković.

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović said that the decision to recognize Islam had its historical context, but "what is even more important, it has a significant role in Croatian society.".

- That decision showed the democratic maturity and freedom-loving consciousness of that era. It also expressed the fact that Muslims are an important component of Croatian social life. This participation grew in scope and importance, from generation to generation, Muslims in the Republic of Croatia have distinguished themselves through their work and actions, often valued for their moral virtues and diligence.

The mufti of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Husein ef. Kavazović, also addressed the attendees, and his speech is presented in full:

Ladies and gentlemen,

I greet you warmly and express my joy that today we are marking one hundred years since the Law on the Recognition of Islam in Banate Croatia, which was previously adopted by the Croatian Parliament, came into force on April 27, 1916. I extend my sincere congratulations to the Republic of Croatia, its citizens, the Meshihat of the Islamic Community in Croatia, Muslims in Croatia, and all other members of our Islamic Community on this significant anniversary.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The official recognition of Islam in the Croatian Parliament in 1916 has multiple historical significances. The act of institutional recognition of Islam in the Croatian Parliament a hundred years ago marked the beginning of a new era in which Muslims, with their centuries-old roots in the Croatian ethnic space, were increasingly perceived as compatriots and full participants in Croatian society, and in which Muslims perceive Croatia as their homeland where they can fully express both their Islamic and European identity.

The past hundred years bear witness to the historical significance of recognizing the legal and institutional status of Islam and Muslims in Croatia. On one hand, Muslim citizens of Croatia have made a recognizable and significant contribution to Croatian scientific, educational, literary, artistic, cultural, sports, and social life as a whole over the past hundred years. On the other hand, the Islamic Community in Croatia has been among the best-organized and most successful parts of our Islamic Community for decades. It is enough to recall the historical event of the opening of the Zagreb Mosque in 1987 for the Islamic Community. The opening of the Zagreb Mosque meant much more than the opening of a beautiful religious building for our entire Islamic Community, for all its members. It was, and it is important to recall today, an event that, after many trials we went through during the Yugoslav communist regime, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, paradoxically, significantly strengthened our self-confidence, instilled hope, and directed our gaze towards the future. The solemn opening of the Zagreb Mosque took place before the radiant faces of the largest Muslim gathering up to that point in the areas where our Islamic Community operated at the time, but, we do not forget, also in the atmosphere of the genuine hospitality of the city of Zagreb and its citizens.

The fact that the act of recognizing Islam in the Croatian Parliament a hundred years ago had great historical significance is also confirmed by the period when Croatia fought for its independence, the Homeland War, and the post-war years, just as the Republic of Croatia as an EU member and its society confirm today by marking this anniversary in such a way. We will never forget the solidarity with which Croatia received and sheltered refugees and displaced persons during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are equally proud that a relatively large number of Muslim citizens of Croatia participated in the Homeland War for the liberation of Croatia.

According to the reports submitted to me as the Reis-ul-ulema and the Council of Muftis in Sarajevo by our mufti Aziz ef. Hasanović, according to assessments and analyses from various sides, according to everything we know, the rights and status of Muslims and the Islamic Community in Croatia are at a level with which we can all be satisfied. The autonomy of the Islamic Community, its organization, and the support that the Republic of Croatia provides to the work and activities of the Islamic Community, the respect and trust that Muslim citizens of Croatia enjoy in Croatian society, the results they achieve in all areas of social life – these are contents, values, and standards that should be an incentive for many other countries in the region and in Europe.

Ladies and gentlemen, the anniversary we are marking today, one hundred years since the institutional recognition of Islam in Croatia, represents a credible and referential occasion and reason, in a spiritual-historical, political-legal, and cultural-civilizational sense, to responsibly and with mutual trust think about the future of Muslim-Christian relations in Europe, about the future of Muslim citizens and communities in Europe, about the challenges and prospects facing both Muslims and pluralistic Europe.

In this regard, here in Zagreb, the capital of the Republic of Croatia, and today as we mark one hundred years since the official recognition of Islam in Croatia, I may express the hope that Europe will build its future on the historical foundations of the Muslim cultural and civilizational contribution to its pluralistic identity, just as, in my capacity as the supreme head of this Islamic Community, its members and adherents, I may express the hope that Muslims will build their future in Europe on the foundations of their commitment to universal Islamic spiritual values, from which they can and must derive spiritual and cultural-historical anchors for benevolence, coexistence, dialogue, peace, and loyalty to the democratic, legal, and political values of the countries in which they live.

Convinced that the Republic of Croatia, as well as Muslims in Croatia, will play a significant role in the future in this regard, based on the fruitful experience that the anniversary we are marking testifies to, assuring you that in such a commitment and endeavor, you will find a sincere and reliable interlocutor and collaborator in the Islamic Community which I lead, I once again congratulate you and extend my expressions of respect and gratitude."