ANALYSIS: Bosnian Grand Mufti Argues For Single Muslim Authority In Europe

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In January 2008, Bosnian Grand Mufti and global Muslim Brotherhood figure Mustafa Ceric wrote an article arguing for the creation of “a single Muslim authority in Europe.” According to the article’s conclusion:

To sum up, this article has argued that the ontological justification for a single Muslim authority in Europe can be found in the idea of covenant, and it is the responsibility of Muslims to further elaborate on this notion. The historical vindication for a single Muslim authority in Europe can be found in the notion of contract, the responsibility of Europe or the State of Europe ‘‘to satisfy the requirements of the human conscience, and to prove itself the guide, the counselor, the friend of man’’. The recent move of the Republic of Germany towards ‘organising’ Muslims into the Islamic Conference has shown how important it is that Muslims in Europe feel that they are also hosts here, not only guests. Hence, despite the fact that both the Muslim community and European society feel the need for a single Muslim authority, it is still unrealistic to imagine that such an idea will be realized soon. The reason is that the Muslim community is not yet mature enough to undertake such a project because of the lack of inter-Muslim trust and the fear of losing its cultural autonomy. As for European society, it is also still too immature to comprehend the significance of a single Muslim authority for the sake of overall European peace and security. Nevertheless, the process towards the creation of a single Muslim authority in Europe is already underway, moving forward slowly but surely despite those Muslims who do not like the strong social discipline that would come with the regulation of the Muslim community outside of the main lands of Islam.

As an earlier post discussed, Dr. Ceric has already suggested in the past that his organization could serve as a model for a European wide organization to control mosques and Islamic schools. The article apparently raised alarms in some quarters in Germany related to its references to Sharia (Islamic Law) as “perpetual, non-negotiable and not terminable..”

It is interesting to note that Dr. Ceric has recently been involved in the inauguration of two Bosnian Islamic Cultural Centers in St. Gallen Switzerland and in Cologne, Germany. In Cologne, the ceremony involving over 1,000 guests was also attended by Ayyub Dr. A. Koehler, president of the Islamic Council and close to the German Muslim Brotherhood. Dr. Ceric has also been recently involved with several interfaith projects in Germany suggesting that he may be viewing Germany as a base for his European operations. Dr. Ceric is tied to the global Muslim Brotherhood through his membership in the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), headed by Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi and by his participation in the U.K.-based “Radical Middle Way” consisting of a wide range of associated scholars representing the global Muslim Brotherhood.

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