Muslims throughout the Balkans have suffered a great loss. At the end of last week, at the height of his activity, 52-year-old Muammar Zukorlic, known to many of our readers, died of a heart attack after recovering from a coronavirus (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=29474).
This person was an informal leader not only of the Muslims of Sandzak — a region in Serbia inhabited by Muslim Slavs, namely Bosniaks (in this region they are rather descendants of Albanians who, as a result of Slavicization, adopted the Bosniak self-identity). And to understand what it meant to be such a leader in the 1990s, when he was the official mufti, one must know and remember that at that time there was a genocidal war in Bosnia between Serbs and Bosniaks, which could have spilled over into Sandzak. And the Mufti managed on the one hand to prevent the Muslims of Sandzak from joining this war, which the Serbian chauvinists were eagerly awaiting to «cleanse» this region of them, and on the other hand to preserve the Islamic identity, the connection with the Bosniak nation and the moral solidarity with it in the region.
As a representative of the Bosniak national minority in Serbia, Mufti Zukorlic was able over time to become a leader of Muslims in that country, regardless of nationality, gaining the trust of both Albanian Muslims and Muslims with Serbian self-identity. After leaving the position of Mufti a few years ago, he focused on socio-political activities, founding and leading the new Party of Truth and Reconciliation. It is at this point that we approach his significance for the entire region. The word «truth» in the party’s name meant that without recognizing and accepting the truth, including about crimes and mistakes (and often crimes by military personnel are the result of mistakes by politicians and ideologues), it is impossible to move forward. That is why he insisted on the recognition of the genocide in Srebrenica, despite the strong aversion to this topic in a significant part of Serbian society. But based on the recognition of this truth, he called for reconciliation, that is, to turn the page of national antagonism between the Balkan peoples and to strive together for the future.
Based on his position, Zukorlic criticized Serbian separatism in Bosnia and Herzegovina and prevented the Muslim Bosniaks of Sandzak in Serbia from pursuing separatism, calling on them to defend their autonomy and interests within the country and to actively participate in its politics. It should also be noted that Zukorlic, starting from total rejection and a notorious reputation in Serbian society, eventually became a figure respected by both the Serbian establishment and the Serbian nationalist opposition.
Thanks to his supporters in Montenegro, Zukorlic was able to help create a new opposition coalition of Montenegrins, Albanians, Bosniak Muslims, and Serbs, which won the recent elections (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=39138). True, this turned the majority of Bosniak nationalists against him, as they consistently support the former Montenegrin ruling party led by Milo Djukanovic, who opposes the «Serbian World» (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=37827). And Zukorlic’s efforts to politically Serbianize the Bosniaks of Sandzak and Serbia caused increasing resentment among them.
Zukorlic’s figure has taken on special significance now, when the smell of a Serb-Bosniak war is in the air again (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=40197). Therefore, the fact that Zukorlic, who called for peace, died on the eve of possible fateful events, was perceived by some as a bad omen, while others doubted that this death could have been «unnatural». However, if Zukorlic’s life, or rather his recent activities, caused disagreements among Bosniaks, his death united the hearts of the overwhelming majority, not only among them, but also among the region’s Muslims of all nationalities, who considered it a tragedy. The Sheikh also left behind two widows and eight children, the eldest of whom have already pledged to continue their father’s work. May Allah strengthen them in goodness and give their father the best destiny…
Finally, a few words should be said about the attempts of some Russian figures, who position themselves as «reformers» and «renewers» of Islam, to associate themselves with Zukorlic. Taking advantage of the fact that many Islamic leaders meet with representatives of Muslims from other countries, guided by the presumption of trust (husnuz-zann), without delving into their activities and views, they now position themselves as his Russian counterpart. The argument used is that Zukorlic was characterized by political openness, implying that if he had open views and they also have «open views,» then they are similar to him.
No, «khazraty». This political and social openness that Zukorlic possessed, first of all, continued the long-standing political tradition of Muslims in the region, including Alija Izetbegovic, the founder of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina and a member of the «Young Muslims» organization — the Bosnian branch of the «Muslim Brotherhood» (banned in your «RF»). And it fully corresponds to what such contemporary scholars as Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Ali Bardakoglu and others teach, while your «reformism» and «modernism» have long since gone beyond it and opposed themselves to it. After all, none of them denies the foundations of the religion of Islam, be it its sources (Quran, Sunnah, and Ijma) and theological schools, or the generally accepted forms of religious worship. And if Zukorlic, with his beard and two wives, found out what views you are trying to associate with him based on a casual acquaintance, he probably wouldn’t like it…
Besides, if we talk about his political openness and activities, they are comparable to gold, while yours are like imitation jewelry. Whatever his views may have been, first and foremost, he was not afraid to stand up to the authorities when it was necessary, be they Serbian, Montenegrin or Bosnian. And in the last few years in Sandzak he became something like an «Islamic Navalny», declaring war on local corruption and mafia, during which one of his associates was killed. And you compare yourselves with him? Fear Allah, if you are able to do so…
Muslims in Russia and throughout the post-Soviet space need leaders like Zukorlic. But they need real leaders made of gold, not imitation jewelry, and originals, not cheap copies. We ask Allah to raise such leaders for the Islamic Ummah and its ranks, and to make Muslims in these countries worthy of them and able to accept and support them.