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DAMASCUS OF NORTHERN EUROPE

This article was published on January 29,1992 in the daily News Islamabad, Pakistan.

Way backing 1890 an Hungarian parliamentarian wrote about Sarajevo, capital city of the republic of Bosnia and Herzsagovina in present day Yugoslavia “Golden Sarajevo with its hundred and eighteen (118) mosques that rear their minarets to heaven is essentially a Mohammedan town, ‘the Damascus of the Northern Europe’ and Islam’s second European town”. Today once again this very city has emerged into limelight because of the secession of Croatia and Slovenia from the federation. The mid January 1992 decision on the part of European community to recognize the breakaway republics has further alarmed many a renowned historians about the fate of Bosnia for its capabilities of acquiring a Muslim statehood in the heart of the continent. The current fast changes and developments do suggest that due to very history of area and its people such speculation may prove true. The land lost its character after the collapse of Ottoman empire when this region was a cradle of Islamic civilization for five centuries, but the Bosnian Muslims are once again faced with the dilemma of their traditional rivalries with neighboring Christians .To many observers Bosnia can proved to be a huge nuisance in present day European affairs particularly due to the secessionism based on narrow nationalism. Though during Tito’s era not a single person could have ever thought about such a possibility, but after his death, his very cherished dream of self-managed socialized system under a rotating leadership by the federating republics has proved useless and irrelevant The fall of Berlin wall, withering away of Warsaw pact and now the demise of Soviet Union has further left Tito’s Yugoslavia as a mere relic of the past. In such a background of the contemporary European history, the question of the future of Muslim Bosnia with its 4.2 million strong population looms large, with the distinct possibility of its becoming a free zone.

Traditionally the peculiar geography of this special area situated in the center of Yugoslavia bordering with Croatia on the north, Serbia in the east, Macedonia in the south and just a strip of Dalmatian land away from Adriatic Sea in the west, is interesting. History of the area is known for it’s shaping the pace of international developments since pre-Turk- Balkan days. The ancient history of the Bosnians can briefly be described as consisting of insurrections and revolts, of the suppressed creeds called Bogomiles, who were forced to embrace Islam after continued persecution by the Christian clergy. The God fearing Bogomiles were the followers of Christ but were still observing no denominations including Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Church. Historically they were responsible for inviting the Turks to invade Balkan where after as Muslim citizens of the Ottoman Empire they could attain high standards of modern civilization and know-how. Their invitation helped the Turks to consolidate their power in the entire peninsula of Balkan and sooner the rest of the European monarchies were under their direct threat.

The strategic situation had then revived the atmosphere of Saladin’s crusades and thus the worried Europeans could not but join hands to erect a powerful defense line against the invading Turks on the river Danube. This very act on the part of European powers resulted in an ethnic mosaic of multi-cultural feudal families who were settled in the defensive areas. Even today the villages across Danube, Rumania can be found with multi-lingual people speaking German, Serbian, Hungarian and the Rumanian languages. Though after conquering Balkan, the Turkish war missions against the rest of Europe proved unsuccessful till their final disappearance from Balkan in1908, yet the people in the areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina remained Muslim to this day. The survival of the Bosnian s till now has cost them a lot. They are the front-runners in any political development in the continent.

In the era after the withdrawal of Turks, both the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were brought under the free ecclesiastical provincial status by the Catholic priesthood. This step though administrative in nature was yet o great consequences for the economy of Muslims as they were deprived of big endowments. At this stage in1882 the suzerainty of Austro-Hungarian Empire was not yet established on the entire Muslim lands as local Ulema or Muslim clergy recognized the King in Budapest to be the sole authority. In fact the Hungarians themselves were under pressure from Roman Catholic clergy to press the Muslim subjects and bring them to book for their role during the Ottoman Empire when they used to be the front-runners and champions of ‘Jannisaris’, the Turkish administration corps. However the court in Budapest wanted to display non-partisan and non-aligned attitude towards its Muslim subjects, which annoyed Pope in Rome. The King’s continued display of sympathetic attitude towards Muslim population made Imam Mohammad Zahoorish Afandi of the central Sarajevo mosque recognize the authority of the Monarch in 1882 as on the eve of King’s birthday he read his first “Khuttba” in the Friday prayers in the name of Austo-Hungarian King, which was till then exclusively read in the name of Turkish Khalifa. The king returning the gesture declared the pious Mufti Mustafa Haleemi of Sarajevo as Raisul Ulema and Sheikh ul Islam and administered him the oath in his royal court at Budapest.

Thereafter reforms were introduced in Muslim areas, legalizing and modifying the special Turkish laws that were imposed with the law of Quran. In 1883 organized paid officials of the empire ruled the entire Muslim area. In the same year a number of 7557 students were taught by 1761 teachers in631 schools and 42 higher schools. In 1908 the gradual Turkish withdrawal was officially said to have completed and the Austrian government declared the full merger of the Muslim areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina in their empire. The period after that annexation was still have Islamic character, Muslim cultural values flourished in these lands.

In 1914 it was again an event in this area which fanned the flames of the first world war as a visiting Royal Duke was killed on June 28,1914 at Sarajevo during a royal procession. This incidence annoyed the King in Budapest who declared war on Serbia, which was later, joined by other European states. After the First World War, Bosnia was included in a new empire of the southern Slavic nationalities. It was later named Yugoslavia. The area remained prosperous till the Second World War was declared, in which German forces marched on Yugoslavia conquering it once for all. However it was again Bosnian mountains where the restless youth could come forward to be organized by Tito as the partisan guerilla army. Sooner Bosnia emerged as the starting point for a long armed struggle against the Nazi occupation and finally the very force founded in Bosnia was successful in liberating Yugoslavia from Germans.

The communist regime that emerged under Marshal Tito after the Second World War did include the Bosnia Herzegovina in the new federation and even the Muslim nationality was constitutionally guaranteed to the people of this land. Thus officially the new federation was comprised of the nationalities of Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Serna Gorians and Muslims. In fact during his longer contacts with Muslim volunteers, Tito had acquired first hand knowledge of Islam and the Muslims. Despite his being a communist leader, Muslim nationalism was not only recognized but was guaranteed by his regime.

Here it would be interesting to recall the observation made by Charles Bohlen in his book, ”Witness to History”, saying that the Yalta conference held after the end of second world war was faced with crisis over the future role of Yugoslavia in the new global order. However accordingly to him it was Churchill’s last minute 50:50 deal made Stalin agree so that Marshall Tito could maintain a non-aligned status and take the so-called unique pathway to socialism while staying independent from the control of both America and Soviet Union. This tacitly implied arrangement continued till Tito’s death where after his successors had hard time to cope with his unique way of collective socialist leadership. However, in 1991 with the fall of Berlin wall, leading to the collapse of Soviet Union in Jan1992, the Yugoslavian system had reached the verge of collapse. This situation could be attractive for the future of the Muslims in Europe, as the Muslims of Albanians in the southern Yugoslavia had earlier initiated secession moves. Briefly it could be said that the number of 118 mosques in Sarajevo that used to exist a century ago and have since then gradually been declining may soon be rebuilt amid a new era of Islamic renaissance and pan-Islamism? At this very crucial turn of the Muslim history in Europe our people must be responsible for helping them morally, so that this very cradle of Islamic civilization can restored?

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