THE GRAZ CONFERENCE
(13 –15, 6. 2003)
THE ROLE OF ISLAM IN EUROPE
(HUMAN RIGHTS AND EDUCATION)
A NEW EUROPE IN DREAMS OF  AN ANCIENT EUROPEAN MUSLIM
(Speech by Raisu-l-ulama Mustafa Cerić)

On ninth of March, 2002, dr. Harald Baloch, visited my office in Sarajevo in order to offer me the Key Note Speech in the religious program of the annual celebration of the Cultural City of Europe of the year. I have already had the Rotterdam experience of that sort and felt honored to be invited this year (2003) to Graz to offer some of my ideas about the future of Europe with many faiths.

I remember that the main topic of the Spiritual Evening of the seventh of October, 2001, of the City of Rotterdam was “How Do I Relate to Others”, which was further translated into a challenging subtitle: “How can Fear of the Stranger Be Overcome.”

    You will notice that ever since the September 11th, 2001 became the main topic of Muslim-Western relationship, the topic like the above was both embarrassing and challenging for me. It is embarrassing because it somehow implies that I am a stranger and, hence, that I should explain to Europeans how they can overcome the fear of me being a Muslim.

And it was challenging because I thought that it was time for the Europeans to face the fact that they have Muslim neighbors who are not strangers but native Europeans who appreciate the rhythm of European life as much as they do and who, at the same time, see in the morality of Islam their very chance to be respected by their neighbors.  

In order to share both the embarrassment and the challenge with my Muslim colleagues whose job is to provide the right spiritual leadership to Muslim communities in Europe, I have proposed to dr. Baloch that we organize an internal meeting with as many Imams who work in Europe as possible before my speech in Graz.
Dr. Baloch has graciously accepted the proposal and, in turn, was endorsed by my dear brother Enis ibn Hasan al-Shaqfah, the Head of the Office of the Islamic Affairs of Austria. With the great support of the Foreign Ministry of Austria, the Government of the Province of Steiermark and the Municipality of Graz, here we are with the financial support of our brothers from the Muslim countries, ISESCO and EIC (European Islamic Congress, Paris).
Of course, we appreciate the generosity of our brothers from the East, but we would like to live the day when we, the European Muslims, are capable to organize similar meetings with the financial support of our European governments and our corporate organizations whereby our brothers from the East can see that we are well to do in our religious and cultural affairs.

Unfortunately, European Muslims are not in such a position yet to show to their brothers in the East that they are able to survive financially on their own. The European Muslims are still financially dependent on the support from the main Muslim countries. There should be no problem in that, I guess, except for the fact that when Muslim Europeans receive money from their brothers from the East some people in Europe see that as “terrorist money”, but when they ask for “the European money”, the Europeans are hesitant to repond positivly. I hope that this meeting will be a good example on our Muslim part to accept the ownership of our problems and to realize that Europe is not Dār al-islam, but it is not Dār al-harb either. Europe for us Muslims is Dār al-‘ahd, the Abode of Contract and Peace.

Europe is not Dār al-islam because Muslims do not constitute the majority rule of the land and thus the Muslim Law cannot be fully implemented. And Europe is not Dār al-harb because some aspects of the Muslim Law in it can be implemented. Therefore, the land of Europe is Dar al-‘ahd because it is possible to live in accordance to Islam in the context of the Social Contract "as the principles that free and rational persons concerned to farther their own interests would accept in an initial position of equality as defining the fundamental terms of their association."  

It is not difficult to prove that the idea of Contract, social or otherwise, is a legitimate one in Islam. We have plenty of doctrinal and historical documents, which indicate to the concept of ‘Ahd (contract, treaty, pact) as the opposite to the concept of Harb (war, warfare, fight, combat etc.). The very idea of Islam is peace with God, with His Messenger, and with the rule of law. "God does call to the House of Peace..." (10:25); "The servants of al-Rahman are those who walk on the earth in humbleness, and when the Ignorant address them, they say, 'Peace'!" (25:63). "...
It is in the spirit of these Qur'anic verses that the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) had made treaties (Sulh or ‘Ahd) with Mushrikīn at al-Hudaybiyya, with the Jews and Christians in al-Madīnah, and with the neighboring kings of Abyssinia, Persia and Byzantium. The al-Khulefāu al-Rāshidūn have faithfully followed the example of the Messenger and in turn they have been followed by the good Muslim rulers throughout the history of Islam as well. This historical fact of the Social Contract, which has been initiated by the Muslim good will towards other nations and religions, has been well documented by dr. Muhammad Hamidullah in his unique book: Mejmūah al-Wethāiq al-Siyāsiyyah li al-‘Ahd al-Nabawī we al-Khilāfah al-Rāshidah  (مجموعة الوثائق السياسيّة للعهد النبوي و الخلافة الراشدة).

As we have said, we have no difficulty in proving the validity of the theory of Contract (‘Ahd) because we can safely claim that it is a genuine part of an overall Islamic doctrine and history. Our difficulty lies, nevertheless, in the lack of a genuine concept of Dar al-‘ahd that could be applied in the context of an European environment that would guarantee the decent status of Islam as a way of life and of Muslims as citizens of Europe. There are things about Europe that Muslims ought to know and there are things about Islam that Europeans should respect.

 
First, the Muslims ought to know that Europe is the Land of dialogue and mutual respect, not the Land of war and mutual conflict. It is not right to curse the land in which you live and it is not good to be disgraceful to the people who show you hospitality.   
Second, the Muslims should know that they have the right to engage themselves in developing a kind of European legislation and jurisprudence concerning the most important Islamic core-values, such as dietary laws (halal food), the precepts on modest dress, Islamic burial practices and the Muslim cemeteries, free time for Friday prayers and annual holidays.
Thirdly, the European governments ought to realize that Muslim communities in Europe need the infrastructural provisions that include the creation of organizations, facilities for Islamic education, mosques and the training of Imams for Islamic work that will provide for Muslims both the confidence in their Islamic identity and the peace with their neighbours.   
And fourthly, Europe should have realized by now that it is time that Islam be institutionalized and represented in Europe in such a way that the young generation of native European Muslims do not feel unworthy because of their faith. I think we have had enough of the voluntary Islam in Europe based on narrow tribal and ethnical customs, which create an unbearable headache to all of us, but to innocent European Muslims in particular. 

          
    Having said that, it is needless to say that we all agree that the interfaith dialogue has no alternative, especially in Europe that is by definition multinational, multiethnic and multireligious, but also multilingual by experience.  It is obvious that if one learns how to relate to others in the multiple differences of one field - say national, it is much easier for him/her later on to adapt to the plurality of another field - say religious. In fact, here is the key challenge for all of us: how we can learn to live with the plurality of religions and how we can build our capacity to overcome the fear of the stranger who claims to believe in God, sometimes quite similar to our own belief, but yet not the same, and sometimes quite different, but still similar to our belief.

Here I have in mind Judaism, Christianity and Islam, three of the main faiths of Europe all of which have risen in the East and at a certain point of time have set up in the West. The Sun’s light, which rises every morning in the East and generously enlightens the West, was the reason for the notion of the Latin verb orī-rī  to rise, meaning ‘the origin of the heavens in which the sun and other heavenly bodies rise, or the corresponding region of the world:’  the Orient or East as opposed to the Occident or West. It is obvious that the verb orī-rī taught us the notion of orientation because all churches, synagogues and mosques in the West are oriented towards the Orient, i.e., to the origin of the heavens in which the right guidance of God has been rising from time immemorial.

No one has the right, neither the power, thanks to God Almighty, to stop the light of the Sun to enlighten us all in the West. Similarly, no one has the right nor the power to prevent us in Europe to enjoy the light of the Spirit of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon all them).

Consequently, we have the full right, all of us in Europe, to receive the light of the Word of Eternity and the Eternity of the Word that is emanating from the East towards the West. Even when one of us in Europe has no worldly Might, he/she still has the heavenly right to be what he/she believes is the best of the spiritual blessings for his or her life.  

Therefore, Europe is not the continent of one faith, but of many faiths. Or to put it in a sunlight context: Europe is not the continent of one Sun’s ray, but of many sunrays that make our world so wonderful in its diversity of beautiful colors. The notion that Europe is exclusively Christian is incorrect both factually and historically. Together with Christians, the Jewish and Muslim communities have throughout history contributed a great deal to the European spiritual, cultural as well as political and economic life. This fact of European history is not enough known not only because some European historians tend to ignore it entirely, but also because Jewish and Muslim historians have almost neglected that part of their history. I believe that the historical clarity of the role of Jews and Muslims in the European history, especial in medieval Spain, will help both the Jewish and Muslim communities to find their right place in Europe at the present and future time and will help also the European Christians to appreciate the fact that the European history is the product of many faiths and cultures. In order to farther show how important it is that we read European history comprehensively, I would like to quote here John Lukacs who is rightly reminding us that: “We live forward but we can only think backward … not only of the present … but also of our entire view of the future: for even when we think of the future we do this by remembering it.”  Based on this Lukacs’ insight, I believe that remembering our common European past will help us not to forget our common European future.

Unfortunately, our knowledge of the European past and, so, our comparison of the things of the past with the present, especially when it comes to a sort of religious interaction among three main faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is often either full of prejudices or empty of reasonable meaning.
Some of our history books are full of such examples that lead you to believe that the line between Islamdom in the East and Christendom in the West is final. This is not true by the simple fact that these two world religions have their followers both in the East and the West and that both of them went through a testing time before they have been accepted both in the East and the West. It is very known that it was only by the Edict of Constantine/Milan , 313, as a manifesto of toleration of the Christian Church that Christianity had received an official citizenship in Europe. That, of course, was a significant step towards an overall notion of religious tolerance in Europe.

Let me, once again, quote John Lukacs in respect of the importance of comparison: “All things are known by comparison, for comparison contains within itself a power which immediately demonstrates … And just as our act of seeing depends on contrast, our knowledge of the present depends on our knowledge of the past”.  

In order to show how right John Lukacs is I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the great Khalife Abd al-Rahman III of Europe/Andalusia appointed Hasdai bin Shaprut, the prince of the Andalusian Jews, as his foreign secretary . This detail of European history from the beginning of 10th century is telling us that it is possible that the Muslim Khalife and the Jewish foreign minister work together for the public good. The comparison here is my dream that the rulers of today’s Europe remember such an example of European history so that one day, I hope very soon, a native European Muslim, for instance a Bosnian Muslim, may become the foreign minister of the European Union. Of course, I am serious about that, and, of course, I believe that the European governments cannot ignore any longer the European Muslim demand to become part of the decision-making when it comes not only to their religious and cultural rights, but also their political and economic expectations. I do not know any European government that has a Muslim minister of anything. Sure, I agree with those who say that one should not be the minister just because he or she is Muslim, but if we turn the argument the other side around, the conclusion will be that one should not be deprived of the right to be the minister because he or she is Muslim.   
Perhaps, the next example of the European-Bosnian history does not satisfy all the criteria of the human rights as we know them today, but it certainly gives me, the old European-Bosnian Muslim, the right to speak of it loudly and proudly. I mean the example of the Ahdname of Sultan Mehmed Fatif (the Book of Covenant) which he issued on May 28th, 1464 to the Franciscans of Bosnia by declaring for them five fundamental rights: the right to life (nafs), the right to faith (dīn), the right to freedom (‘aql), the right to property (māl) and the right to dignity (‘ird). I wish that on July 11th, 1995 we Bosnian Muslims had had such an Ahdname issued by any of the European rulers so that Sreberenica’s women would not have become widows in the high time of the European human rights and in the daylight of the Safe-Zone of the Security Council of the United Nations.

By the comparison of the Mehmed Fatih’s Ahdname that saved the Franciscans of Bosnia in the middle of 15th century of the European history with the Butros Butros Gali’s resolution of the Security Council at the end of the twentieth century that did not save ten thousand Muslims of Srebrenica, I would like now to bring to your attention another kind of comparison that will show the whole complicity, but also the real possibility of the future of Europe with religious tolerance and human cooperation. For some Europeans, perhaps, this comparison will not be easy, but for the sake of the clarity of our history, which will lead us to a better future, I dare to bring it to your attention.  

In its long history Europe has witnessed many Monarchs, just and unjust, humble and arrogant, great and small. Two of them, however, attracted my attention because of their influence on the European Islam at different times and in different ways. They are Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain and Francis Joseph I in Bosnia. The tempting year of the former was 1492 and for the latter it was 1882. The difference between these two Catholic Monarchs in their approach to Islam and Muslims is as big as the time distance of 390 years between them. Ferdinand and Isabella could not tolerate Islam in the Iberian Peninsula and, therefore, the Moorish Muslims had to leave their home forever after eight centuries of their uniquely productive cultural life. On the other side, the Catholic Monarch Francis Joseph I has not only shown his tolerance towards Islam in Bosnia and Hercegovina, but also he did not spare his time and energy to help the Bosnian Muslims to make further progress in their endeavor to adapt to the European life with their strong Islamic identity.  

Unfortunately, the recent Bosnian experience was closer to the revival of the logic of Ferdinand and Isabella than the continuity of  the spirit of Francis Joseph I. Fortunately, the friend of Ferdinand and Isabella Milošević is now in Den Haag, the fact that brings us closer to the Francis Joseph’s spirit of hope for truth, justice, peace and reconciliation that will lead Europe towards religious tolerance.

I hope that the European Catholics are as proud of their historical Monarch Francis Joseph I who had helped the Muslims of Bosnia survived the very complex Balkan history as the European Muslims are proud of their Sultan Mehmed Fatih the Magnificent who had saved the Franciscans of Bosnia by his famous Ahdname.  

And I hope, also, that the logic of Ferdinand and Isabella of the fifteenth century of the Iberian Peninsula is dead as well as the evil of Milošević of the twentieth century of the Balkan Peninsula is overcome in Den Haag.

These are the dreams of an ancient Muslim of Balkan who, unlike his fellow brother of Iberia, has survived the European history so that he may be an important witness of the Muslim-Christina relationship that is based on a rich experience of the past and a promising remembering of the future as well. We want to be very clear that we disagree with people who, on behalf of Islam, do wrongs to other people, but we do not accept the logic that two wrongs make one right.  

Therefore, we expect from the European media, the European governments as well as the European public to free the European Muslims from the collective guilt for each and every Muslim individual who might have done wrong somewhere. In addition to that, it is very disturbing for us to repeatedly read in the European media and to hear from some European politicians and even academicians, the inappropriate attributes, such as intolerant, primitive, uncivilized, terrorist, etc., of Islam, the Qur'an, and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). We believe that it is neither fair to blame Moses and the Torah for Jewish individual wrong doings, nor it is right to blame Jesus and the Bible for the mischievous of some Christian individuals. Unfortunately, when a Muslim individual or group do something wrong in the world, the first thing on the mind of some journalists in the West is to blame Islam, the Qur'an, and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Very often, they forget the name of the alleged Muslim person and, instead, open a very unbalanced debate about the faith of Islam and its teachings with a tendency to discredit it in an ugly way.

Of course, I will not forget to mention here the fact that some media in the Muslim East tend to present Europe and the West in general as the world of Godless people, the world of immorality, pornography, drugs, etc.  No, that is wrong because neither the Muslim world in the East is terrorist nor the Christian world in the West is infidel. We are all human beings capable of doing good and evil at the same time. I hope that this Conference will make us aware that it is better that we do well to each other.