Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is an oasis and seedbed of systemic political Islam in Europe, wrote the advisor to the President of Republika Srpska, Milan Tegeltija, in his column.
We bring you Milan Tegeltija’s column in full:
BiH is an oasis and seedbed of systemic political Islam in Europe.
Political Islam – Islamism is essentially the greatest globalism of today. No corner of the world, no country, and no nation is immune to it. It settles in the hearts of people, and once it takes root, it cannot be driven out with bombs or any other kind of force. The force applied against it actually nourishes it further.
If we look at the European continent, Islamism is ubiquitous.
However, the presence of Islamism in Europe is confined to closed Islamist circles and is far from systemic. It is not institutionalized, not systemic, and as such does not represent a systemic threat.
However, unlike the rest of Europe, BiH is different in the part of the Federation of BiH predominantly inhabited by Bosniaks – Muslims.
Namely, the Islamic Community of BiH is the bearer of systemic political Islam, and BiH as such is the only country in Europe developing political Islam at a systemic level.
Alija Izetbegović, the publicly recognized “father of the Bosniak nation,” is an example to be followed in all Bosniak political parties, even though Alija Izetbegović was undoubtedly an Islamist, and one of the greatest European Islamists of the 20th century.
Alija Izetbegović introduced political Islam prominently into BiH, and since then, political Islam has not only been the official policy of the SDA but also a political heritage accepted by all Bosniak parties in the Federation of BiH.
Alija is, therefore, an example, a path to be followed in the development of political life among Bosniaks in BiH.
It is rare to find a Bosniak politician who rejects this political axiom.
Thus, inheriting Alija Izetbegović’s policies, Bosniaks, some consciously, some not, inherit political Islam, or Islamism, as a model for their political life.
The Islamic Community of BiH today, led by Reis Kavazović, is a clear indicator that political Islam is accepted as a modus operandi of the Islamic Community.
Reis Kavazović is omnipresent and interferes in all areas of political and social life in the Bosniak-majority part of BiH. He has direct interference in political processes in that part of BiH, openly stepping out of the role of a religious leader into the role of a religious-political leader, which is one of the fundamental characteristics of Islamism – political Islam.
Reis Kavazović openly sets political goals for Bosniaks and determines political priorities, playing the role of the highest Bosniak religious-political authority, facing no opposition and allowing no one to oppose him without being politically disqualified on the Bosniak political scene.
This is nothing other than political Islam.
Thus, today, BiH in the part where Bosniaks are the majority is essentially an oasis of systemic political Islam in Europe. BiH is the only country in Europe where political Islam is directly incorporated into political processes and plays a decisive role.
Europe is still unaware of how dangerous this is, not only for BiH but also for Europe, because through BiH, political Islam has gained the right to political life in Europe. Given the increasing Muslim population in Europe and the world (today there are 1.57 billion Muslims in the world), we can freely say that Islamism – political Islam, through BiH, has gained its legalization in Europe, which is a seed that will inevitably spread its fruits across Europe over time, unless Europe realizes this in time.
Source: RTRS
