Bosnia falls between east and west and therefore seems to have a stratigic position both culturally and spatially, what role do you see that bosnia can play in bringing about civilizational understanding and reconcilation between east and west?
Answer
First of all I would like to thank you my brother Fahmi for your question. As much as it is challenging to be at the edge of civilizations, it is as challenging to be in the middle of civilizations. But everything is relative except the Almighty Allah. Bosnia in one sense is in the middle of civilization on the other hand it is on the edge of civilization. The role of Bosnia is to make a bridge between civilizations East and West and to try to be both in the sense of connecting the east with the west and the west with the east. However sometimes it is not easy to be in the middle because you fail to exercise the full energy of your potential by taking into account the demands of the East and West and therefore you lose the color recognizable by both. In any case it is interesting to be between the East and the West to feel the glory of both and at the same time to see the shortcomings of both.
Name
Layla
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Profession
Question
Many Muslims state that to reconciliate with the West, Muslims should be in a more powerful position. What is your comment?
Answer
I don’t think that our strength depends on the reconciliation with the West or the East. I believe that our strength depends on the reconciliation with the true values of Islam that do not discriminate between the values of the East or the West in the geographical sense, but rather in terms of universal values because of the fact that the West is not an enemy to Islam nor is the East. The biggest and most dangerous enemy to Islam is ignorance (Jahl) whether it is from the East or the West. This is why the time before Islam is called Jahiliyya(Time of ignorance) and has not been called either the time of Kufr or the time of Shirk. This is why Islam is a symbol of knowledge that is equal to the symbol of faith.
Name
Ali
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Profession
Question
It is obvious that after 9-11 terrorist acts, amny voices were raised here in the U.S. with the help of themedia, to demonize Muslims and Islam. Can we talk in the future about a dialogue between the West and Muslims?
Answer
It is wrong to pose the West to be against Muslims or vice versa because I live in the West and I am not against Islam, and I am Muslim but I am not against the West. I am against ignorance, poverty, evil, and hatred whether I live in the west or the east. Islam gives me a sense of cosmic belonging and the word of Allah gives me company so that I don't feel lonely in the cosmos. If I have the Quran and faith in my heart I am a Muslim and it does not matter where I live whether it is in the West or the East. Because Allah speaks to us through the Quran so we don't feel lonely and He teaches us to speak to others, so we have no alternative but to speak to others who are different from us and that is the exact meaning of dialogue.
9/11 is just an episode in history and that should not prevent us from thinking positively and to prevent such events from happening in the future.
Name
Anissa
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Profession
Question
Many Muslims use the term Civilizational dialogue to qualify interfaith dialogue. In reality, where is the Muslim civilization nowadays? Could it be a civilizational dialogue in an era where Muslims are divided and don't have any civilization since the Ottomans?
Answer
In fact Muslims to have a living civilization. Also the Muslims are the most united religious group on the planet and do feel that they belong to the Islamic civilizational circle in the sense of their knowledge of their orientation in time and space; The time being their prayer and the space being the Kaabah. But Muslims have political problems and do not have a global leadership in the form of an institution like Khilafah. But they do have what other religions/civilizations do not have which is the sense of unity in the belief of the oness of Allah, the reading of the same text of the Quran, and the same feeling about salvation that comes from within rather then from without. That means that Muslims are saviors of themselves by their deeds and the judgment of their deeds is not from within but is from without i.e. from Allah. I don't understand civilization from the material sense but rather from a spiritual sense. So the ottoman is just an atom of time and space of the Islamic civilization of Adam, Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, Issa, and Muhammed(pbut).
Name
Hava Bosnian
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Profession
engineer
Question
Eselamu Alaikum dear Dr.Ceric,
Insha'Allah you and your family are well. As you know that many of us, Bosnians have been scattered through the world during/after the war. But now, most of us who've come and finished our education here, are struggling to define our role, as Muslims, Bosnian and American. How is it that we can best contribute to our country as hardly any have any hope in returning due to various reasons, mostly being the country's poor economic conditions. Please advise and may Allah swt reward you insha'Allah.
wa'salam
your sister in deen
Answer
My dear sister Hava:
The best help you can give to Bosnia is to be a good student if you are a student and behave yourself so that we in Bosnia can be proud of you as I hope you will be proud of us as we are trying to reconstruct our country morally, economically, and politically. Dear Sister Hava I wish you all the best and don’t forget you are muslim and that you are from Bosnia and we love you.
Name
Raed
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Profession
Engineer
Question
Salmu alykhom Dr Mustapha,
What is the role of the Muslim communities in the West espeically in US to bridge the gap between the Western and Muslim Civilization?
Answer
The best contribution of the Muslim community in the West is hard work that will give personal and collective success and Allah will reward us for what we do. I believe that some Muslims in the West are better Muslim then in the east, but Allah knows best.
Name
Nordin
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Profession
student
Question
Can we consider the European democratic and secular regimes as Islamically acceptable?
Answer
This question is not well phrased because it counter poses Islam with democracy and secularism. As I said in the previous answers, the real enemy of Islam is ignorance (Jahl).
Name
Mouna
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Profession
Question
Following the Islamic Awakening, Muslims everywhere are starting to call for the implementation of the sharia, or Divine Law. Should we as Muslims living in the West call for its implementation too, at least for those matters concerning us (family law, etc)?
Answer
Yes we should implement Islam in our lives whether we live in the north or south or west or east. There are some aspects of Shari’ah that can be implemented in the west more effectively then in the East. As the prophet (pbuh) once said to his companions there will come a people after you who if they maintain ten percent of the Islam that you are maintaining now, they will be saved. So I think we living in the West can hope for salvation because we can implement more then ten percent of the Shari’ah. The Shari’ah is not only in the court, but is in our hearts and our family, on our streets, in our schools, in our work, in our airplanes, and everywhere we live and go. May Allah bless you.
Name
Yassine
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Profession
Question
With what is going on to Muslims worlwide after 9-11, what is your assesment to future of Islam in the West and particularly in the U.S.?
Answer
I have great hopes for the Muslims in the US and I believe the Muslims in the US may be the best Muslim group in the world. 9/11 is a big trial not only for the Muslims but also for all Americans in the sense of seeing the difference between right and wrong, good from evil, and to come together to defend freedom of speech and freedom of faith.
Name
Yunes
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Profession
Question
After what happened to Muslims in Bosnia and the Balkan, is there any possibility to accept Islam as a component of European and Western Civilization?
Answer
Islam is a part of the European civilization both historically and factually from Andalusia-Iberian peninsula to Bosnia-Balkan peninsula. Because Christianity came to Europe from the same place Islam came to Europe; that is from the East. All religions came from the East and today the sun rises from the East and not from the West whether we like it or not. And in sha Allah that is how it will be tomorrow as well. So we in the
West pray, that sun returns to the East and comes back again to the West hoping that some people will not capture the sun and prevent us from its light.
Name
Muhammed
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Profession
Question
I heard that there is a new European Council for Fatwa and Research who wants to guide Muslims in Europe. I think sheikh Ceric is a member. With all respect, I would like to ask what is the need for a new Council for Fatwa? Muslims in Europe are acting according to their own conscience; the Muslims here are struggling with the big question of God in a modern age. Those muslims who are truly sincere, care about the spirit of Islam and know that Islam is not only a set of rules to follow, but rather a way of being and treating others. They are not worrying about whether they can wear a wedding ring or if their state marriage is valid in the eyes of the local imam. If we in the West were depending on permission and fatawa from the shuyukh, our women would still be waiting to get basic education in schools, because in the west classes are mixed!! Assalamu aleikum
Answer
Thank you for your comment and hope for a global leadership for the Muslims so we will not need local fatwas that will break the sense of the universality of our faith.
Name
Samir
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Profession
Question
We are being accused of provoking a war of civilisations. But we as Muslims have always recognised other religions. Why doesn't the West recognise Islam and let us live according to the sharia?
Answer
A good question has half of the answer and this is a good question so i don't need to comment on it any further.
Name
Mustafa
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Profession
Question
Assalamu aleikum Sheikh Ceric
I would like to ask this question:
How can a Muslim live, take up the nationality, and pay taxes in the West, given the situation all around the world?
Answer
I don't see the difficult you pose for Muslims to live in the West. Islam does not wipe out nationality. On the contrary we are told in the Quran that each and every previous nation has received revelation in their languages. I don't see why it is a problem for Muslims to pay taxes to a country that provides freedom and security for both Muslims and others.
