Do Not Create People With Hostile Feelings

The lack of law that would define the judicial status of religious communities in Kosovo could bring dangerous challenges to all of them, including the Islamic Community of Kosovo, says Kosovo's chief imam, Sabri Bajgora.

In an interview for Radio Free Europe, the Prime Minister Bajgora says BIK, in co-operation with Kosovo institutions, is involved in the redeployment of persons serving criminal acts dealing with religious radicalism and violent extremism. Resocializing these people he sees of special importance.

Prime Minister Bajgora, are you satisfied with the legal accommodation of religious communities in Kosovo, including the Islamic Community of Kosovo?

Bigora: Unfortunately, even after 19 years of the war ended, religious communities in Kosovo act without any law defining their judicial status. Therefore, in this midst even the Islamic Community of Kosovo does not have any legal status, and it is surprising that the neglect of our organs, the Assembly of Kosovo and the Government of Kosovo, which are not doing more, when even from international factors and from our international friends has been often prompted to accelerate the adoption of this law, with which religious communities would freely organize their religious life, in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo and all international regulations and acts to determine religious rights and freedoms around the world.

The absence of a law, as you mentioned, what challenges can it bring to religious communities and are they dangerous?

Bigora: The absence of this law lies before us in many and varied challenges, which we face during our daily, both in administrative terms, even in organizational terms. Without this law, it offers the opportunity for many to propagan in the name of religion, without dependence on religious communities, whether Islam, Christianity (Catholic), or Orthodox.

Therefore, I think that adopting a law is necessary as soon as possible, although we are not satisfied with this law, we as the Islamic Community, because it is not a law that meets our needs or requirements. It's rather a law called hockey, it's a copy by some European states, and in different forms it doesn't conceive of the mentality of this population that is in Kosovo.

However, it would be better to be a weak law than without law at all. So I think that by this law we have to be extremely careful, so that we don't give space to different religious groups to finance or provide parallels to current religious communities. This, because, very simply, with this law to be approved and which I already said we are not satisfied, space is given that with 50 signatures every community form a religious community at its head. The only condition is to have a headquarters, have a constitutional body of 50, and that's enough.

Therefore, I think we should be very attentive, so that even our government and our parliamentarians, very detailedly analyze this law that will be approved perhaps in the near future, so that we do not allow different groups, targeted in Kosovo to surface and endanger the well-being or tolerance that we have cultivated for centuries through religious communities.

The Islamic Community of Kosovo has earlier demanded that the country's institutions be included in the process of debliance of persons who are serving the penalty for specific acts linking violent extremism and radicalism leading to terrorism. What is BIK's role in this process?

Bigora: Viewing the role and influence of the imams or religious communities across Europe and mainly in the West, the Kosovo Islamic Community has called on the Government to engage in the process of doorworking in prisons. Not only for the redeployment, but rather as a form or a form of counsel for inmates who will eventually get out of prison and of course they have to resocialize, to be worthy and equal members of society in the future. Fortunately, we have encountered consensus by the Government and recently last month, we have signed a memorandum of understanding, in which it stipulates that the imams who will be elected by the Islamic Community of Kosovo will legalise in prisons, on the part of Kosovo.

In this process, too, the matter of spoken - of practice. But it depends largely on the will of prisoners or convicts who are in this area, and we will be willing even in this segment that together with our colleagues who are in the fields of psychology and sociology, let's take the matter of talking to them so that we can at least penetrate these people to see what has led them to radicalize. In line with that, we've also prepared our software, how we approach these people.

I think that by mutual will, we will achieve that we will by little alter their radical thinking, which has led them, unfortunately, to the going of some of our young people to the crisis grounds, not knowing that their going there is one direction and the possibility of coming back alive is very small.

Can and how much BIK have an impact on the process of resocializing people, following the suffering of punishment for acts connected with violent extremism and religious radicalism?

Bigora: I think that, as the Islamic Community of Kosovo and here I mean the imams who are on the ground, they have a huge role in their resocialisation, because first, after their release from prison, we will try to resocialize. It is our duty that, along with Kosovo's entire institutions, to do our utmost not to be stigmatized, not lonely, but to engage in the normal societies, given their repentance for the past they had.

I think we need the support of the state in this regard, so that they may be provided with some adequate employment, so that their family will be allowed schooling, because many of their families are at that end of poverty. We need to be careful not to create people who may be hostile to us, but people who will feel the hand of state aid, including the Islamic Community.

I think the imams have a moral but also a great duty to God and to them, so that these people advise and continue to advise them. Given that even the almighty God forgives, forgives sins, so those people must continue their lives normally, without any stigmatization. Their past can be thrown back and carried on with the future, trying to be useful people, just as it does in many Western and world lands.

There are people who have suffered the sentence and are already at large. Have you contacted people like that?

Bigora: To be honest, we have not yet contacted directly, but we have suggested to our imams that they be attentive and contact them through their families to see to what extent their attitude toward the Islamic Community and to Islam religion in general has softened. This, given that the ideas they've been feeding on, were highly contaminated, unsubmissioned ideas, ideas that don't even match human, human nature, that should have a Muslim.

Feeding feelings of hatred toward a group is not Islam. We'll try to make any hatred, any division, minimize, get rid of it. So our imams need to be careful and talk to them in a calm manner, to find out how far their doorwork has been reached and then, slowly let us get into the streams of normality, which we also intend to have with our programs.

Have the arrests and court processes affected the image of the Islamic Community of Kosovo, who are accused of criminal acts that link with religious radicalism and violent extremism?

Bigora: Our proposals, in the early days of the arrest of some imams, have been very clear that they are innocent of us unless their guilt is proven through the judicial process. Fortunately, the two processes that were against some of our imams ended and the imams were acquitted and acquitted. Therefore, we are pleased that the image of the Islamic Community has been preserved, the image of Islam in general. There have been processes and there have been some doubts, but they have proved to be baseless doubts and we rejoice that these imams continue their work and continue with their counseling.

Normally, by being careful not to hurt people during their discourses, do not hurt the feelings of others. After all, religion is everyone's free belief, and there is no need to impose on anyone. Anyone who wants to take religious counsel receives it. Whoever doesn't want it, doesn't get it. We live in a democratic society where each individual has his own rights.

He has the right to be atheist, he has the right to be whatever he wants, but in no way do we have the right to impose religion on issues involving interreligious hatred, international or interethnic hatred, even in the shadow of a democracy today, they enjoy their rights. It's their personal matter. We must look forward, to educate the people in the spirit of a peaceful religion, such as Islam, given that the very appointment of this society in peace and security.

However, have these processes created undesirable effects from the Islamic Community?

Bigora: Fortunately not. The Islamic Community of Kosovo, given even its xemat on the ground, have been convinced that there have been processes that our imams will come clean. Except for an imam, who's suffering the sentence, we have nothing to say about it. They have been his personal beliefs, and he is already in torment. While others have proved themselves clean.

Cemreat, she's always had this feeling that the imams are clean and fortunately that this came out. I can even say that the population's confidence in the Islamic Community has only been strengthened, which is true of recent surveys released by polling associations for the contribution and position of religious communities. It turns out that the Islamic Community of Kosovo is over 70 per cent the most reliable institution in Kosovo, in relation to other Kosovo institutions.

Does BIK have control over all mosques on Kosovo territory?

Bigora: Yeah. I say with full competence that we have full control over all of our religious objects, which today are over 800 in Kosovo. In addition to the two places of prayer that are in the Dragas municipality, in which Muslim members of the Gorani defil. For these locations, security organs and state bodies are announced and are under surveillance. So there are these two private religious objects, these are private houses, in which the Islamic Community has no access.

But I think because our security bodies are informed of this issue, I believe they will do their job and monitor them if they can get off the tracks of what we propaganda as religious communities. Otherwise, all mosques in Kosovo are under control. There may be some disappointment here and there from the imams, but the glass is primarily the one belonging to the Islamic Community.

How does BIK view the fact that religious rituals are organized in some homes?

Bigora: Religious activities have been held in some private homes in the past. But we've already eliminated it, largely, not to say 100 percent, because there is extremely productive co-operation between the Islamic Community of Kosovo and the law bodies.

We, wherever we arrive and have knowledge that a house is being maintained or held by some unlicensed or unlawed religious activity by the Islamic Community, take our precautions and prevent such gatherings. So, at the moment, we had no announcement that any such activity was held without the knowledge of the Islamic Community of Kosovo. That happened in the past, seven or eight years ago, but, for now, it never happens again. /rel/