Balkan Muslims counter extremists

Youth in the Balkans has been an easy target for extremists seeking to radicalise them and convince them to fight abroad, but now parents, activists and official Islamic organisations are opposing.

I knew very little about religion”, the 31-year-old Muslim man from Sarajevo told BIRN, remembering his presentation with radical Islam.

In high school, we did everything but study. Concert, bar and alcohol”, recall to mind.

After high school, I took a break before going to college and started working as a waiter because I couldn't afford one or two dollars from my parents. There I met a girl who brought me into the world of Islam”, he said.

He joined the Salafi movement and soon became, as he said “very radical”.

I started fasting every day because I thought I had to catch a pace. I grew my beard, went to Fahd Mosque in Saudi Arabia. Going to Brijesce (Sarath area), in dzema (unregistered) for their lessons”, he said.

Most of his radical “brothers in the woods ended up joining the Islamic State in the Middle East, he said, but he, on the other hand, began to focus again on his studies and left Islamic circles after four years.

Had he not done so, he could have ended up as the son of Esad Kundakovic, who was killed four years ago when Syrian President Bashar Al Assad's forces launched an offensive against the town of Alepos.

Eldar Kundakovic, a psychology student who came from the Serbian town of Novi Pazar in Sandzak's majority Muslim area, decided to go to Syria “to help his Muslim brothers”, explained his father, Esad Kundakovic.

Esad Kundakovic was aware of his son Eldar's intention to go to war and tried to prevent him, but Eldari was convinced that his mission was right.

He told his father he was going to Istanbul to study, but ended up in Alepo.

The last time Esad Kundakovic heard about his son was in the spring of 2013. In May, he was killed.

Since his son's death, Kundakovic has been trying to prevent young people from going to join the wars in the Middle East.

According to Serbian police, about 50 Sandzak people have gone to fight for the Islamic cause.

Kunakovic, the tailor, said he is now dedicated to educating young people in Sandzak for religion and life.

I want to contribute with my authority and my experience, because my son died there, to help these young people”, he told BIRN.

They must understand there will be wars until Judgment Day, but they must contribute to them”, he said.

Kunakovic works for free. It does not have an organisation or people working with them, but it joins various panels and debates and goes to mosques in Novi Pazar, where it speaks to young people who have already started to view it as a moral authority that gives clever advice.

He also talks with young people online about the information they find on the internet or from radical preachers.

“read with young people and then interpret them together so that they can create a clearer idea. But if a young man reads them only at night and knows nothing about the war, he will most likely be affected”, he said.

Imams Fight for New Hearts and Minds

In Balkan countries, the radicalism of young people has been even more problematic, as is the case of Albania, where almost 150 people have travelled to the Middle East.

In Albania, people are targeted by self-declared mothers preaching extreme versions of Islam, promoting violence against non-believers.

“In Albania's case, self-declared imams have had a very negative role in promoting youth towards radicalism through extreme political Islam ideology”, the head of the Albanian Intellectual Muslim Forum and founder of the Youth Development Centre and Professional Education.

Abdiaj said he believes the best way to keep young people away from radicalism is by offering them non-violent interpretations of Islam and keeping them involved in Muslim society.

We have to give them another alternative and make them part of our” communities, he said.

Abdaj recalled the case of a 25-year-old man from Elbasan who, with very little effort from the community, left extremist ideas.

“We identified him as a person who had respect and admiration for I ideology SIS. The first step was to organise a meeting between him and the local imam, while we invited him through discussions on issues concerning Islam and peace”, he explained.

According to Abdiaj, the young man gradually began to change his beliefs as he realized that the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject extremist ideology.

He is now engaged and leads a good life, while there are more ideas he had in the past”, he said.

However, convincing people to give up extremist ideology is always so easy.

Obadiah believes that lack of opportunities in life, as well as geographical and personal isolation, have helped the process of radicalism. Family problems are another factor in promoting people to extremism, he added.

These young adults often come from families with social problems caused by migration, divorce and traumatic events”, he said.

Official Islamic organs in Albania have also begun searching for different ways to influence believers positively, in particular young people.

Although they were traditionally oriented towards communication in the mosque, many of them are now online, trying to mix with younger Muslims who may be vulnerable to radicalism.

Star Gurra, a mufti in Tirana and representative of the official Muslim Albanian Community, said the imams have particularly advised their followers to stay away from informal mosques not recognised by the Islamic Community and where radical clergymen preach extremist interpretations of Islam.

The stone once spoke only face - to - face with Muslims, but it now speaks online, especially with young people.

The majority of imams believe that preaching and consulting through social networks is not necessary all the time. I personally use more to give an anti-narrative in cases that are preached on the internet incorrectly forms of Islam”, he told BIRN.

Poverty provides fertile ground for extremists

A report by the Albanian Institute for International Studies from 2015 concluded that the country's Islamic radicalism has socioeconomic roots and that most Islamic extremists came from distant and religious areas.

Some Balkan-based NGOs have conducted several polls exploring why young people have turned to violent extremism, with answers suggesting most of them have often felt isolated and felt that they had prospects for the future.

A report by the Albanian Institute for International Studies from 2015 concluded that the country's Islamic radicalism has socioeconomic roots and that most Islamic extremists came from distant and religious areas.

Poverty and the lack of efficient state institutions in these areas has created a lack of development and opportunity that has facilitated the appearance of influential forces such as Islamist foundations with radical ideas.

Albania's unemployment rate during 2010-2015 was about 18-21% of the total labour force. Even higher in regions where most Albanian extremists went to fight in Syria and Iraq, such as Pogradec, Elbasan, Librazd, Bulqiza, Burreli and Dibra.

The unemployment rate for people aged 17 to 35, who are even more vulnerable to radicalism, was even higher in some areas over 40-45 percent.

Pedrag Petrovic from the Centre for Security Studies in Belgrade told BIRN that there is no specific factor encouraging people to embrace extremism, even though he cited unemployment as one of the main problems.

The “Balkan countries are in poor economic position, which is deteriorating. Thus, the expectations of young people are not met,” he said.

Petrovic said the Radicals have benefited from young people seeking online information.

“Internet offers young people information of all kinds and they need quick answers. So they return to those who offer their answers”, he said.

“They are an easy target, because they want to feel safe and want to have the feeling that someone cares about them”, he added.

Addressing this online threat is part of a strategy adopted by the Muslim Community in Serbia to fight extremism and other problems affecting young people in Novi Pazar.

The strategy envisions the education of representatives of religious and municipal institutions, increased communication skills of members of the Islamic Community, improved computer knowledge and internet use, and working with the media to develop better and more positive relations.

The Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina has become more involved in educating young people and other forms of engagement in recent years, or through lectures regarding Islamic values or through meetings throughout Bosnia where young people come to play sports.

The Islamic Community also tries to explain moderate Islam through the Faculty of Islamic Science in Sarajevo, which co-operates with other institutions in the country to promote what it calls “true values of Islam and his science”.

According to Zuhdija Hasanovic, the faculty's dean, the best response to abuse of religious values is to work with those who have turned to violent ideology and promote the true values of Islam.

“This is a long process that immediately fails results, but I see no other solution”, Hasanovic said. / BIRN/