Mufti hopes for unity among Serbia's Muslims

Mufti hopes for unity among Serbia's Muslims

BELGRADE -- The Islamic Community of Serbia (IZS) wants unity of Muslims to be achieved under its Riyasat in Belgrade, IZS deputy Reis-ul-Ulema Muhamed Jusufspahić says.

“Someone wants to place us, who live in Serbia, under the authority of the Riyasat in other countries. This is contrary to the divine law of Islam. We live in Serbia and speak the Serbian language,” Jusufspahić, who also has the title of the Mufti of Serbia, said in an interview for Tanjug.

Beside the Islamic Community of Serbia, the country also has a rival Muslim organization - the Islamic Community in Serbia, based in Novi Pazar, and subordinate to the Islamic Community of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“The project for the unity of Muslims in Serbia is not a Turkish project or that or Sarajevo, but rather the Islamic Community of Serbia’s,” the mufti said.

“We are united by Allah, our Creator. We are united by the country we live in - Serbia - and the language spoken here. It is our language, it is my language and in Serbia it is called Serbian,” he explained.

“We have no reason to act the way we did at the time of the former Yugoslavia, which is no longer there. This is Serbia and the IZS Riyasat is here as well, without the ‘in Serbia’ part , because we are not intruders here,” said Jusufspahić.

“All Muslims in Serbia should have their own administration and, with all due respect, it should be free of the interference of those coming to us from Ankara or Sarajevo,” said Jusufspahić, who was born in Belgrade and calls himself "a Serbian patriot belonging to Allah."

“As a Muslim, I have to do good to Serbian citizens, be they the...