Preface

• author: Scharbrodt, Oliver
• publishing date: 2018-11-22
• type: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
• publication status: published
• subject: Religious Studies
• host publication: Yearbook of Muslims in Europe
• series title: Yearbook of Muslims in Europe
• volume: 10
• external identifiers: scopus:85171790277
• ISSN: 1877-1432
• ISBN: 978-90-04-38690-7
• language: English
• LU publication?: no
• additional info: Funding Information: The year 2017 was marked by the celebration of the 620th anniversary of Tatar settlement on the lands of today’s Belarus. The first commemorative events took place in Navahrudak, the first capital of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. There, one of the three preserved historical mosques is located; the city is also home to the third-largest Muslim community in Belarus.17 The second wave of commemorative events was organised on 4 November 2017 in Iŭje, the town typically referred to as “the capital of Belarusian Tatars”. The celebration was attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey, Kezban Nilvana Darama, and the Ambassador of Palestine, Khaled Arikat.18 On the same day, the renovated mosque in Iŭje was reopened. The renovation works on the mosque were started by Belarusian Tatars, with financial support from the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı). The final commemorative events took place in December 2017 in Minsk.19 Opened in November 2016, the Minsk Grand Mosque has become a centre of cultural, religious and educational life for the Muslim community in the Belarusian capital, hosting various events, meetings and courses. Inter alia, the Grand Mosque organises courses for children on the foundations of Islam, master classes on floristry, and events for children connected to Islamic holidays. Funding Information: Bulgarian mosques. For more than three months the Bulgarian authorities did not inform the representatives of the Muslim Denomination about the cancellation of the two decades-old treaty, even after being officially asked to do so. At the same time, nearly 630 imams did not receive their salaries for several months, because of annulled money transfers from Turkey.34 In the last few years, the Chief Muftiate has repeatedly been criticised by the media and certain politicians for receiving financial and staff support from the Diyanet. Besides the funds for imams’ salaries, Turkey’s financial support also includes the sponsorship of three religious high schools and funding for the Higher Islamic Institute in Sofia. Funding Information: economic networks. Its president, Imam Yahya Pallavicini, is one of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) ambassadors, and is also a member of the European Council of Religious Leaders (ECRL).23 He takes part in symposia and conferences debating the role of religious communities in integrating migrants. Moreover COREIS, through its president, has links with Malaysia, in order to promote training programmes on interreligious dialogue, and sustainable development in both Italy and Malaysia. In Malaysia and the Gulf region, COREIS is involved in halal market networks through its halal agency, Halal Italia.24 Three of the main Moroccan organisations in Italy maintain links to their home country. The Istituto culturale islamico d’Italia (Islamic Cultural Institute of Italy), the only Islamic organisation that has been legally recognised by the Italian state,25 is led by Abdallah Redouane,26 who was directly nominated by Morocco. The Confederazione islamica italiana (Italian Islamic Confederation– CII), a network of Moroccan mosques, is funded by Morocco. Moroccan Qur’an reciters, imams and even singers, were invited to several Italian mosques, both under the patronage of the U.Co.I.I. and of other associations. The majority Moroccan Confederazione islamica Italiana (Italian Islamic Federation–C.I.I.) has relationships with other European Muslim confederations of Moroccans. Members of the Partecipazione e spiritualità musulmana (Muslim Participation and Spirituality–PSM) share the same religious opinions as the group Al-Adl wal-Ihsan. Funding Information: (friendship and hostility), bid’a (innovation in religion) etc.24 As part of the “Days of waqf” which are organised annually by the waqf Directorate of the IC, on 22 April 2017 the foundation stone was officially laid as part of the rebuilding of the Arnaudija mosque in Banja Luka (the capital of the RS). The event was attended, among others guests, by Haldun Koç, Turkish ambassador to B&H, and Adnan Ertem, director of the General Directorate of waqfs of Turkey. In his speech, Osman Kozlić, the mufti of Banja Luka, said that Aranudija, like the Ferhad Pasha mosque, is part of the spiritual and cultural heritage that belongs not only to Bosniak Muslims, but also to other peoples in B&H, as well as to the Turkish people.25 On 23 April 2017 the renovated building of Derviš-hanuma madrasa in Bosanska Gradiška was opened. Several hundred citizens attended the opening ceremony, including many officials of the Municipality of Bosanska Gradiška. The building is intended to be used for educational and cultural programmes. Its construction was funded by the General Directorate of waqfs of Turkey.26 On 12 May 2017, a ceremony was held on the occasion of the reconstruction of the Emperor’s mosque in Foča, which was demolished during the 1990s war. The mosque was established by the Ottoman Sultan Bayazid II in 1501. The event was attended by Husein Kavazović, the ra’is al-‘ulama’, Bakir Izetbegović, a member of the Presidency of B&H, and Veysi Kaynak, the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister. The reconstruction of the Emperor’s mosque was partially funded by the Turkish Agency for Cooperation and Coordination (TİKA).27 The Faculty of Islamic Studies in Sarajevo marked its 40th anniversary in September 2017. The Faculty, as the leading institution of higher Islamic education in the Balkans, was established on 29 September 1977. The main ceremony took place on 29 September 2017 in Sarajevo in the presence of numerous guests from the country and abroad. One of the other main events for Funding Information: – Alsar Foundation (Alsar, Fondacion Arsimor Kulturor Humanitar, Rr. E Bogdanëve, P.Eurocol, Kati 1 Tirana, Albania, tel.: [phone], email: [e-mail], http://www.alsar.al). A foundation funded by the Turkish government and Turkish NGOs. It carries out major charitable, po-litical and historical activities on behalf of the Turkish government and in-stitutions in Albania. Funding Information: The situation is different in Turkish mosques funded and supported by the Belgian-based branch of the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Belçika Diyanet Vakfi). Turkish officials are present at mosque openings and, when officially recognised, these mosques prefer to employ imams sent by the Diyanet (who usually hold four-year tenures), instead of imams who receive their salaries from the Belgian authorities. Their theological training is not questioned, while their knowledge of Belgian languages and customs is. The Diyanet tries to address this problem by providing imam training in Turkey to young Belgian and French Muslims of Turkish background. It has also been reported that the Diyanet’s imams acted as informants for the Turkish authorities after the failed coup attempt in Turkey on 15 July 2016, gathering information on suspected supporters of the Gülen movement in Belgium.29 There were eruptions of tension and violence between various Turkish groups in Belgium in the aftermath of this coup attempt, and in the context of the presidential referendum of April 2017.30 These clashes took place between AKP supporters and Kurdish31 and Gülen organisations. Funding Information: 1 Esztella Csiszár is a PhD candidate in International Relations at Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary. Her research interests include contemporary social and political dis-courses on Islam. Her dissertation focuses on the political identity of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This report was funded by a scholarship from the Bosnian Centre of Advanced Studies (CNS). Funding Information: The Qatar Charity Foundation has provided €25 million to build several U.Co.I.I. affiliated mosques and Islamic centres over the last three years. The Foundation has funded 43 mosques, including those in Ravenna, Catania, Piacenza, Colle Val d’Elsa, Vicenza, Saronno, and Mirandola.13 This financial support has been endorsed by the Ministry of the Interior as part of article 10 of the Patto nazionale per un islam Italiano14 (National Pact for an Italian Islam).
• id: 46e6e03d-963f-441d-a157-08668bee0e65
• date added to LUP: 2023-12-13 14:46:24
• date last changed: 2023-12-18 09:42:29