Zagreb Declaration: Condemnation of Terrorism and Protection of Youth from Extremism and Spread of Hate

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the official recognition of Islam as an equal religion in the Republic of Croatia, a conference "Muslims in Europe – Heritage and Future" was held yesterday at the Islamic Center in Zagreb, reports the Patria News Agency. 

Following the one-day conference, religious leaders of Islamic communities in Europe, political representatives in Croatia, and religious dignitaries from the Muslim world:

- Proceeding from the fact that Europe has been a common home for three heavenly religions for centuries

- That through its history it has gone through various periods of coexistence and tolerance, but also challenges of the most severe world crises,

- Relying on the universal values of freedom, equality, human rights, and human dignity that Islam shares with followers of other religions and worldviews,

- Recognizing the fact that today in Europe there live indigenous European Muslims as well as those who have found their home in the embrace of European countries which they consider their homelands

- Acknowledging and affirming the idea of collective security as a European political and social heritage

- Expressing the need for a European model of organizing Muslims

- Accepting the fact that some irresponsible and malicious people who present themselves as followers and exclusive interpreters of Islam have severely usurped and hijacked the teachings and principles of Islam regarding human dignity, coexistence, and cooperation, violently replacing them with terror and criminal ideologies

- Aware of the increasingly pronounced danger of Islamophobia and the strengthening of radical right-wing tendencies

- Paying tribute to the Croatian state, which, by recognizing Islam 100 years ago, making it equal with other religions, and through continuous efforts to improve good relations, has developed an exemplary model for organizing and relating to states with Muslim minority communities

adopted

THE ZAGREB DECLARATION

1. We condemn every terrorist act in the world as a crime that has no religion and that affects every human being and society, leaving unforeseeable consequences for future generations.

2. We call on all European Union member states to recognize Islam and help spread tolerance and dialogue between religions and beliefs, taking the Croatian model as an example for European countries with minority Muslim communities.

3. We call for the spread of a culture of dialogue, tolerance, and mutual respect at all levels of European society.

4. We call for the implementation of the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, to criminalize Islamophobia in accordance with the United Nations resolution of April 11, 2011, No. 65/224.

5. We call on Muslim communities and their leaders in Europe to become more actively involved in taking responsibility and respecting the European standards of life for full citizens of European societies.

6. We call on imams and preachers to align their sermons, lectures, and addresses with the needs of the time and space so that their messages are understandable in the present and oriented towards the future.

7. We call on all muftis, imams, and religious missionaries in Europe to authentically convey the values of Islam to the time and space in which European Muslims live and operate in their interpretation of religious regulations.

8. We make a special appeal to imams and educators to do everything to protect the younger generations from extremism, the spread of hatred, and intolerance towards others and those who are different.

9. We call on Muslims to actively promote mosques and masjids as centers from which messages of coexistence, tolerance, and mutual respect will be spread, rather than messages of one-sidedness, exclusivity, sectarian, and madhhab intolerance.

10. We call on Muslim societies to adopt and implement the Marrakesh Declaration on the Rights of Religious Minorities in Muslim Societies, adopted on January 27, 2016, in accordance with internationally accepted obligations.