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This lecture commemorates Mosque Day in Bosnia and Herzegovina, reflecting on the systematic destruction of mosques, such as the Ferhadija Mosque, as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign against Muslims. The speaker emphasizes the importance of preserving Islamic heritage and the moral obligations of Muslims towards the sacred sites of other religions, referencing the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) regarding the protection of churches and synagogues. The contrast between the respect shown by Muslims towards other faiths and the aggression exhibited by some against Islamic sites is highlighted, alongside historical examples of both preservation and destruction.
Transcript (English)
0:00 Dear friends, peace be upon you.
0:03 Yesterday was May 7th, the day of mosques.
0:06 which is commemorated in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
0:09 A day that marks the
0:11 destruction
0:12 of Ferhadija,
0:14 a national
0:15 monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Yugoslavia,
0:18 a mosque under UNESCO protection
0:20 etc.
0:23 Why is it important to commemorate the day of mosques?
0:27 For many reasons.
0:28 Not just because of the 6
0:31 14 mosques that were deliberately destroyed,
0:35 mostly outside of any military
0:38 conflicts in that area,
0:40 but rather internationally,
0:42 deliberately, systematically,
0:44 to erase every trace of the existence of Islam and Muslims,
0:50 if you will, and Bosniaks in a certain
0:53 in the area.
0:54 It is necessary for those 200 or so mosques,
0:58 which have also been destroyed. It is necessary for those 69
1:02 madrasas, which have also been destroyed.
1:05 We need to remember the day of the mosques
1:08 for the hundreds of other
1:10 religious endowments,
1:12 institutions,
1:14 that are deliberately destroyed to erase the trace of Islam and Muslims
1:20 in a certain area.
1:22 So, to carry out an ethnic cleansing
1:25 people
1:26 specifically Muslims from certain areas, but also all tags that associate
1:32 with Islam and Muslims.
1:34 Of course,
1:35 the most visible traces are the mosques
1:37 which were deliberately,
1:39 systematically
1:40 destroyed. However, what interested me
1:43 and what I actually wanted to say today are actually two approaches.
1:49 the approach of Muslims
1:51 and their attitude towards others,
1:54 sacred places such as churches, like Harvard, synagogues, and so on,
1:59 and where this comes from,
2:01 thus that aggressive,
2:03 animalistic,
2:04 inhuman,
2:06 thus aggressive,
2:08 criminal
2:09 behavior,
2:13 mosque, community center,
2:14 school and other charitable buildings
2:17 Now I will read a few quotes that will clarify for us where one comes from and where
2:24 the other comes from.
2:26 The Prophet (peace be upon him)
2:28 In his covenant
2:31 with the Christians and other Christians,
2:39 Their churches will not be occupied,
2:42 will not be destroyed,
2:44 nor will their number be diminished.
2:48 their churches and crosses
2:51 will not be desecrated,
2:53 nor anything of their property
2:57 will be forced
2:59 to abandon
3:00 their faith.
3:01 And none of them
3:03 will be harmed. Thus,
3:06 these are
3:08 the principles that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
3:11 strictly
3:12 it states,
3:13 in the treaty with the Christians of Neđuran, you have other treaties,
3:20 from the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
3:22 which the early Muslims upheld,
3:26 from Hazrat Umar, may Allah be pleased with him,
3:29 to others, the companions who protect,
3:32 the places of worship of others,
3:34 they do not enter them, nor desecrate them,
3:38 and especially, they do not do anything that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
3:41 He explicitly stated that it must not be done.
3:46 This part of the contract you have in Ibn Qayyim, in Abu Yusuf, Kabal Karaj.
3:53 at
3:54 numerous historians,
3:56 Islamic authors,
3:57 who actually say that the fundamental principle of Islam
4:01 and Muslims, towards other places of worship,
4:04 was the matter,
4:06 not causing
4:07 harm,
4:08 prohibition of destruction, desecration
4:11 etc.
4:12 What we could witness,
4:14 not only during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina,
4:24 but also in many other places in the world, where they were preserved,
4:28 religious sites of other religions and
4:29 other affiliations.
4:34 However, on the other hand, we have some other quotes,
4:38 so I will read you two quotes from our region.
4:42 It says, our struggle will not end
4:44 But ours, or ours therefore.
4:47 That is, the struggle will continue until it ends.
4:51 Turks, meaning not just Turks, but Muslims.
4:55 Or them. Therefore, of course,
4:58 it refers to the Gorazde wreath, or Petar
5:02 Njegoš,
5:03 as they call him.
5:06 Listen to the second
5:08 quote. It says, brothers Turks,
5:10 which tells us he means Muslims, as Turks are another nation.
5:15 different, but it actually speaks about Muslims who have embraced Islam,
5:20 he says, brothers Turks
5:22 when it struck,
5:24 then it goes, No accept
5:27 the faith of our ancestors
5:30 We must defend
5:31 the heritage of our homeland
5:34 But break
5:36 inside the mosque
5:38 and the Serbian Christmas logs
5:41 struggle
5:43 And color the Easter
5:44 eggs
5:46 In the blood, our faith will swim
5:49 It would be better if it doesn't sink,
5:52 Eid does not coincide with Christmas
5:55 So,
5:56 these verses
5:58 from the Mountain Wreath, by Njegoš, directly call
6:02 for destruction
6:04 everything related to Islam and Muslims,
6:07 to killing,
6:09 and the so-called
6:10 investigation of the Poturica.
6:12 So, investigation here does not mean
6:14 police
6:15 interrogation,
6:17 research
6:18 of something, no, investigation here means ethnic cleansing.
6:21 So, destruction
6:23 the entire villages, regions, and cities where Muslims lived. Thus,
6:35 this is a historical truth from the beginning of the 18th century,
6:37 where there were actually hundreds, if not thousands, of Muslims killed,
6:38 settled.
6:39 Muslims.
6:41 precisely.
6:42 in the context of
6:43 this investigation.
6:44 Thus, this investigation of Poturica, as it is called,
6:50 which has somehow been glorified in former Yugoslavia.
6:51 from numerous malicious individuals
6:54 and those who hate Islam and Muslims. For them, this text is
7:05 fascists,
7:07 criminals,
7:08 to kill the innocent and destroy places of worship,
7:12 therefore,
7:13 Muslim places of worship, namely mosques,
7:16 schools,
7:17 Other
7:18 properties.
7:19 So, here we have two approaches. One approach advocates for the preservation
7:24 of that,
7:26 namely foreign objects,
7:28 sacred properties, and so on, as we saw from the speech of the Prophet Satu,
7:34 or what the late President Izetbegović said
7:38 when he stated
7:39 preserved
7:40 the Assembly Church in Sarajevo
7:43 and the demolished Ferhadija in Banja Luka
7:46 speak about us, or rather about them.
7:50 You know, on May 7, 1993.
7:54 The year they wanted to destroy Tarhadio.
7:58 So, they stopped the traffic.
8:01 They stopped the traffic in that wider area, planted explosives inside the mosque.
8:06 And after that, they blew the mosque up. Imagine how wicked they were. Imagine.
8:12 What was the awareness of those people that they came with excavators afterwards,
8:18 digging
8:19 the foundations of that mosque. It doesn't matter that it's UNESCO, it doesn't matter that it's protected, it doesn't matter that it's a cultural monument, it doesn't matter... No, and then after that, they threw it into the Vrbas, from vehicles from
8:32 far places, just to destroy
8:34 any trace of Islam and Muslims. On the other hand, we have the cathedral, alhamdulillah preserved in Sarajevo.
8:41 We have the imam's guidance.
8:42 Preserved in Sarajevo, we have where the Bosniak Muslims were mostly safe.
8:47 Religious sites,
8:49 which our police protected so that, God forbid, no one would harm these sacred sites. Thus, on the other hand, we see that this was a systematic approach,
9:02 planned, and in fact it was implemented
9:05 of this mountain wreath, the idea of the mountain wreath or these modern investigations.
9:10 where we see that something called literature,
9:13 directly inspires criminals
9:15 to commit crimes, and they do so in the name of some ideal,
9:21 in the name of some imagined things, etc.
9:24 So, these are indeed things we should remember,
9:28 things we need to
9:30 talk about. Do you know that many mosques in Bosnia and Herzegovina
9:35 were destroyed
9:36 after the Dayton Agreement? So there were no more military activities,
9:42 there were no more conflicts.
9:44 Do you know that mosques were destroyed even until 199
9:47 1998.
9:49 Years
9:50 Do you know that, for example, in Tomislavgrad or Hlivno, the last mosque destroyed in Stepanići was, I believe, destroyed in 1997.