WHY IS IFTAR A PROBLEM - ISLAMOPHOBIA IN THE PRINCIPLES OF OUR PARTY Fecal liberalism in an attempt to drive out Islam on the waves of secularism!

By: Rasim Belko

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The fact is that throughout the history of Bosnian Islam, one peculiarity has been dominant. One of the central peculiarities is the constant confrontation with secular order and secular principles. This is something that has greatly influenced Bosnian Islam and given it a special note throughout history, right up to the present day. Whether it is called Bosnian Islam today or something else, that is secondary to me. I don't think it's the deciding factor. This is how Wolfgang Höpken, professor of history of Eastern and Southeastern Europe at the University of Leipzig, and visiting professor at several universities worldwide, spoke about Bosnian Islam for DW in February 2019.

But, what would the political climate of Sarajevo care about what Islam in Bosnia is and what it is like, when for them this issue is the same as the stench of the sewage system discharged into Sarajevo's streams and ultimately into the Miljacka River. And in a city that stinks, the political protectors of their party and others' rights cannot see the purity of Islam as those who come from the east and west to witness it in Šeher do. They equally witness the beauty of Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, and their interweaving.

No one has ever come to this city, and likely never will, to see the monumentality of the political ideas of the party run by self-proclaimed liberals, in fact, atheistic children of communist persecutors of Islam and religion from our former country. Therefore, any judgment they make about Islam and religion in general from "Their Party" is a judgment of zero value and must be viewed as such.

Many have come to Šeher, entered the Begova Mosque, absolutely unconcerned whether we are a secular state or a state of some other order. Because, as Professor Höpken said, Islam in Bosnia has coexisted with the secular order for so long that it is difficult to find a line of secularism separating the state and Islam without serious effort. The fact that this line seems too large and too stretchy for the dilettantism of political thought is a problem that awaits resolution through, for example, the study of Islamophobia in the political life of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I did not write this to glorify Islam or religion for anyone. That should remain a matter of personal feelings and choices. However, the story of secularism, since the emergence of the party called "Naša stranka" (Our Party), has begun to evolve into a form of political action that is more akin to Islamophobia than to advocating for secularism, democracy, or anything similar.

For example, any idea that touches upon Islam and connects it, even in a micro form, with the state is met with the scalpel pen of the liberals from "Their Party" and cut down in its infancy as a destruction of secularism and an approach to radical Islamism, an Islamic state, and so on.

Is secularism alive in a state they want to kill?

I have not noticed that, for example, liberals under the FGR watermark are so vehemently, if at all, shouting about crosses, icons, and other symbols of Catholicism throughout the country. These FGR dilettantes are not bothered by the organization of various events on the occasion of several Catholic holidays, from the biggest ones like Easter and Christmas, and so on.

If, by any chance, they were to peek into the RS, these FGR structures of archaic communist atheism would be chilled by the anti-secularism that protrudes from every corner. Everything there is religious, Orthodox, Svetosavski. Schools have krsne slave (patron saint celebrations) and Orthodox symbols on their exteriors and interiors. Children (of all faiths and nationalities) must attend the celebrations of these slavas and other Orthodox holidays. Wait, in that entity of RS, the police have a krsna slava, the National Assembly, the Government, the president, mayors, chiefs... everyone has a saint and a slava.

In that entity, secularity cannot be measured even at low frequencies, but the presence of "Their Party" is identical.

Because secularity must be enforced where Muslims are, especially where they have not yet been eradicated by knife and rifle, so that azans are heard, veiled women are seen, the Quran is read, children attending mekteb (religious education) are seen...

And in the eyes of communist liberals with an American stamp, this is unacceptable and a problem that must be prioritized. That is why there is such a fuss about shortening classes by five minutes, or rather, shortening the lesson by half an hour, to allow schoolchildren to attend iftar.

Parent Councils (obviously under political control) get involved, media funded by American money launch discussions and surveys on whether such a decision is supported or not... And the decision was made by the legislative body of Sarajevo Canton, elected in democratic elections according to democratic rules.

"Their Party" is falsely liberal

And one more thing, those who built secularism in our region by persecuting religious officials and thinkers with Islamic characteristics did not raise a rebellion against such a decision. The heirs of the Communist Party, which imposed secularism in the cells of Foča and Zenica, and partly on Goli otok and forced labor, did not rebel.

Liberals who are not bothered when Christianity, i.e., Catholicism and Orthodoxy, attacks their view of secularism rebelled. These liberals did not rebel when, during ceremonies marking the anniversary of the start of the aggression against BiH and the prelude to genocide, Orthodox priests gave speeches and sent political messages. Just as they do not rebel against the socializing of Catholic clergy with convicts for the most serious war crimes.

But, in the end, the peoples and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina must be repeatedly told that "Their Party" is falsely liberal, because it adapts both secularism and freedom to its goals and interests. Therefore, such a political project must be democratically expelled, because in the struggle for power, it has never relied on secularism, but on Bosniaks and Bosnians, Muslims, the only truly free-thinking and good-natured people in this country and beyond. And that good nature could easily become a boomerang that will lead to the disappearance of such a people.

Therefore, it is high time to understand that "Their Party" is not a Serbian, nor a Croatian, but a purely Bosnian problem, and that with the next elections, we should send it back to its American settings and American soil.

As for Islam and secularism, they have no reason to worry. Because, as John L. Esposito wrote in his book "Islam and Secularism in the 20th Century": "Both secular and Islamic paths will be challenged to develop modern forms of secularism that will support true and open pluralism, responding to the diversity in society - a pluralism that will protect the rights of both believers and non-believers." Such paths cannot be developed or walked by those who would abolish Islam through secularism.