A Moderate voice on Islam from Eastern Europe

Fire of Liberty
While we see various clerics in Western European countries like the UK and Denmark calling for the imposition of Shari'a law or offering support to jihadis in the Middle East, their are other clerics from Eastern Europe who offer great voices of moderation. One individual that has expressed such a view is Mustafa Ceric, the chief Muslim scholar of Bosnia-Hercegovina. According to this piece by Stephen Schwartz, Ceric presented a Declaration of European Muslims that urged his fellow Muslims to make a better effort of interrgrating into European society and accept the fact that they need to accept their fellow citizen's right to live in peace beside their neighbor. Here's a look at what Schwartz had to say about Ceric's wise words:

Ceric defines Europe as "the house of contract" -- a place where differing religions have equal rights and protections. But Ceric calls European Muslims to "realize that freedom is not a gift given by anyone. Muslim freedom in Europe must be earned... Muslims who live in Europe should be more concerned now about their responsibilities than about their freedoms because by assuming their responsibility in European economic, political and cultural life, Muslims who live in Europe will earn their right to freedom... Muslims who live in Europe should present Islam to the western audience as a universal Weltanschauung, and not as a tribal, ethnic, or national culture."

Some elements of Ceric's Declaration may come under the fire of misunderstanding. The Bosnian cleric calls for recognition of Islam by European governments as one of the established religions, and for an opening to voluntary Islamic law in family matters. Bosnian Islam has followed the highly rational and adaptable Hanafi form of Islamic law, which is mainly concerned with purely spiritual matters and has accepted parity with Western secular law in numerous countries.

Instead of a clash of civilizations, a dialogue across borderlands could take place, with the historic eastern Mediterranean frontier of Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina serving as the point of mediation. Ceric's Declaration embodies an authentic, European Islam greatly influenced by Sufi spirituality. Since its circulation by the Center for Islamic Pluralism, the text has chiefly attracted support from foreign Muslims, including Turkish and Indonesian intellectuals, because most American Muslims -- even moderates -- are caught up in the noise surrounding the "cartoon jihad" and other media frenzies. But the intelligent actor in history is capable of predicting, rather than of merely reacting, to events. Will Ceric's offer of a solution to the problem of European Islam be considered before much more time is wasted?

European Muslims deserve to hear from more people like Ceric then the current lot of Wahhabi firebrands.