BiH Islamic Community condemns ISIL supporters

BiH Islamic Community condemns ISIL supporters

Bosnia is working to overcome "a wall of distrust between Muslims and non-Muslims."

Condemnation of Islam harms ordinary Muslims, experts said. [AFP]

Recent public displays of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) flags or logos in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) have raised concerns about how the state and the BiH Islamic Community should respond to people openly supporting the terror group.

Two recent incidents are also causing trouble for Islamic believers in the country.

The first incident occurred earlier this year at a Sarajevo mosque. Three ISIL supporters came to the mosque during prayer and insulted the imam. Allegedly, they were dissatisfied with the manner in which the believers were praying. One of the men had an ISIL insignia on his T-shirt, and had allegedly returned from Syria where he fought with the terrorist group.

The second incident took place in Gornja Maoca, a village inhabited by members of the Salafi movement. A foreign correspondent visited the village and noticed ISIL insignia on the wall of a house. Next day, police officers from the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) investigated, but no one was arrested.

Ahmet Alibasic, a professor at the Faculty of Islamic Science in Sarajevo, told SETimes it is necessary to wait for the details of the incidents.

"It is not possible to link all incidents like these two with ideological and theological extremism, since the perpetrators are persons with police records, and their religious practices are unknown," Alibasic said. "In cases where it is clear that incidents are motivated by militaristic interpretations of Islam, condemnation is the only answer, regardless of...