God Willing, There will be Good Jihad
by Ahmed Buric
Dani, Sarajevo, Federation Bosnia-Hercegovina, B-H, February 4 2000
On Thursday January 27, the Great Hall of the Stari Grad Municipality was too small to receive all those interested in the topic "Chechnya - road to independence". The gathering was attended by about 350 people, most of whom were young bearded males, usually referred to as "Wahabis", or whatever is their real name, and several women, some of whom were in nikab [body length black robe and veil]. The lecturer: Muderis. The goal: Ummet, Ummet above all
After reading a prayer for the peace of all shehids [martyrs fallen for Islam] fallen in the just struggle of Chechens against the Russian Army, the "star" of this gathering, Nezim effendi Halilovic embarked on a detailed report of the situation on the front. Halilovic, one of the former commanders of the defense of Konjic, better known as Muderis, thanked for his knowledge of the situation on the front in Chechnya to Allah dz.s., who "allowed Muslims to use the Internet so that they can correctly inform themselves, instead of being forced to use Bosnian media, which are on the side of the aggressor".
At the entrance to the hall, a man with an amputated leg and long thick beard greeted the Dani team: Esselamu alejkum. The journalist went down to the first row to listen, while the photographer remained in the back of the hall to photograph the visitors.
Citizens Ask, Muderis Replies
The public lecture entitled "Chechnya - road to independence", organized by the Council for Coordination of Islamic Youth Organizations on January 27 in the Great Hall of the Stari Grad Municipality [in Sarajevo], was probably not envisaged as a one-man-show, since Izetbegovic's media advisor, the "youth" Ademir Jerkovic was also supposed to speak. Totally full, the Hall was too small to receive all those interested in this subject. Out of about 350 visitors, the majority were young bearded men and covered women, some of them in nikab [wearing black full-length robes and veils]. The visitors asked questions using the "citizens ask, Muderis replies" system. The following is not an exact transcript of the public interview, since it is based on this journalist's notes, but since the camera's of the NTV 99 and the Bosniak television recorded almost all of the gathering, the truthfulness of this article should not be doubted."How should we help Chechens today and is that farz?"
"We have collected aid that has, according to our information, arrived to Chechnya. We should help Chechens in every conceivable way, and if we are not able to get there, since serious references are required for that, then we should help in some different manner. To help by sacrificing one's own life is to get nassr or sehadet, which is a desire of every believer. Those who want to help can stay after the discussion to talk about that."
"When will something finally be done to the Russian embassy in Sarajevo?"
No answer. Laughter in the hall.
"Is Samil Basajev alive, and where is he?"
"According to my information, he is in Chechnya, although he is not in Grozny. One should not take Russian disinformation seriously. All figures published by Russian media, about their casualties, should be multiplied tenfold. Even some of our media are on their side. They are working against us. For example, today I tuned to Radio FERN and was amazed at how, only four years after the terrible experience through which they went, Bosniaks are spitting on themselves. If they won't vote for Bogicevic [a non-nationalist Bosnian Serb politician] or Komsic [a non-nationalist Bosnian Croat politician], then they will for Tokic or Lagumdzija [Bosniak Social-Democrats]. Our media are much more concerned when a young man wears a beard or short trousers, then when a Bosniak woman murders her baby of puts her grand-child on fire."
"What is the situation in neighboring Dagestan?"
"So far the front is quiet. But, Allah willing, there will be a good Jihad there as well."
"Why is the Islamic world insufficiently assisting Chechnya?"
"Because the rulers in Islamic countries are afraid of, if they support their brethren, loosing power. The Islamic world is disunited and that can be seen in many examples. For example, consider Yassir Arafat, who has been trying to solve his problem all these years, failing to understand that that is not his problem, but the problem of the whole Ummet."
"Why hasn't Qur'an regulated the unification of all Muslims, who would defend Islam wherever it is endangered, anywhere in the world?"
"That is not a problem of Islam, let alone of Qur'an. That is the problem of Muslims who live in countries where sultans and pashas are afraid of the West, i.e. big powers, which conditionally speaking, make all main decisions"
And so forth...
This Land Will not be Turkey
In the continuation of the program, we were shown a domestic film, which had very little to do with the independence struggle of Chechens. Main roles in the film were those of a bearded young man and a girl with hidzab. A voice-over droned:(...) Turkey is trying with its aggressive secularism to win favor of the Western world(...) young people wear jeans and are fascinated by the western life-style, which is based on consumer mentality (...) a bearded young man and a girl with hidzab can be seen with increasing frequency in Turkey. They are an ever better example of rediscovered Islamic identity.On the way out, the photographer retells a small drama. While he had been taking photos of the visitors he turned the lens of his camera towards the women. Two men approached him and asked: "Who gave you the right to photograph sisters? Take the film out of your camera!" Applying diplomatic experience the colleague managed to save his film and hide the identity of "the one who writes" since "we know that you are not here on your own, there is a journalist in the Hall".
Before leaving the City Hall and disappearing in the silent Sarajevo night which does not offer a lot to the young, yours truly thought about an urge he had throughout the discussion. What would have happened had he asked a few questions at the discussion? Perhaps the one that it is silly, to say the least, to urge a small European nation after suffering in which it lost almost ten percent of its population, while almost forty percent scattered all over the world, to defend and unite Islam which "is not doing well" in the much more numerous Arabic world? On the other hand, it is absolutely clear that with a bit of ideology and some funding it is quite possible to recruit here fighters on the way of Allah, since this environment does not offer much to either the young or the older generations. Or, is the answer in hypocrisy of "sultans and pashas", as Muderis calls authorities in most of countries where Muslims live, which knows no bounds. They are prepared to lie both to themselves and those they bring up, in order to stay in power. And their pupils have obviously forgotten one of the oldest laws on which all systems based on collective spirit are based: the bigger the lie on which the system is based, the more rigid the instruments used for its perpetuation. Let me mention another, quite personal emotion: it is good that the missionary streak did not win; that night, it was simply not very healthy to investigate the limits of tolerance.
Translated on 3/15/2000
