{"id":3088,"date":"2013-10-29T07:32:17","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T07:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wp3\/?p=3088"},"modified":"2013-10-29T07:32:17","modified_gmt":"2013-10-29T07:32:17","slug":"slovak-muslims-dreams-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/29\/3088\/","title":{"rendered":"Slovak Muslims: Dreams & Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Surrounded by a relatively small Muslim community, Jozef Len\u010d, a Slovak political science teacher at university, was able to discover his own road towards Islam.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve found belief by myself,\u201d said Len\u010d, 34, who converted to Islam when he was 25, told The Slovak Spectator on Monday, October 28.<\/span>
\u201cWhen I was visiting my grandmother, I used to go to a Catholic church, but I missed something, especially from the historical point of view. Christian dogmas were accepted later, step by step, with the strong involvement of politics and other interests.\u201d<\/span>
Finding a book about Islam, Len\u010d tried to study more about the faith.<\/span>
\u201cI knew a lot about Islam, I already tried fasting during Ramadan, so it was just a small step to become a Muslim,\u201d said Len\u010d, mentioning that his family and friends did not have a problem accepting it.<\/span>
\u201cMy mother even stopped cooking pork when I come for lunch.\u201d<\/span>
After years of finding Islam, Len\u010d admits that the general opinion of Muslims is largely negative in Slovakia.<\/span>
\u201cPeople can\u2019t understand how Islam has freed me,\u201d Len\u010d said.<\/span>
\u201cI really don\u2019t have any addictions. I don\u2019t drink.\u201d<\/span>
In Slovakia, the relatively 4000-5000 Muslim community was basically from immigrants who came to study in the European country in the 1990s and decided to settle.<\/span>
Mohamad Safwan Hasna, 43, the head of the Islamic Foundation in Slovakia and a translator, first came from Syria in 1991 for study.<\/span>
\u201cWe finished studies here and were not members of General Union of Muslim Students in Slovakia anymore, so we decided to establish a new organization,\u201d he said.<\/span>
With increasing numbers of Muslims, the community formed the foundation in 1999 to be the first representative for Muslims.<\/span>
Later in 2009, the Cordoba Centre for Intercultural Dialogue \u2013 generally considered to be the central Islamic institution in Slovakia \u2013 opened in Bratislava.<\/span>
The foundation\u2019s activities include common prayers, exhibitions and educational courses about Islam. It publishes a newsletter, hosts programs for children and takes collections for the poor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Problems<\/strong><\/span>
Despite integrating well in the community, Slovak Muslims have complained from the state\u2019s failure to recognize Islam as an official religion.<\/span>
In 2007, the Slovak parliament changed the law so that at least 20,000 members are required for recognition, making it impossible for a Muslim community of 5,000 people.<\/span>
\u201cThe law has begun to be misused by various speculative organizations,\u201d J\u00e1n Podmanick\u00fd, an MP for the Smer party and one of submitters of the new law, told The Slovak Spectator.<\/span>
The case was very much different in the neighboring Czech Republic, where just 300 members are enough to constitute a religious community.<\/span>
There are 34 registered religious communities, as compared to 18 in Slovakia.<\/span>
Some of these 18 religious communities were automatically registered after the formation of independent Slovakia, but 13 of them would not meet the new rules since they have fewer than 20,000 members, according to the 2011 census.<\/span>
Podmanick\u00fd is convinced that since freedom of religion is guaranteed in the constitution, no one can prevent Muslims from practicing their faith.<\/span>
\u201cBut it\u2019s not the role of the Slovak Republic to provide state support and funding of religion which has no mass support of the population and is also not a traditional religion in Slovakia,\u201d Podmanick\u00fd said.<\/span>
Hasna is convinced that the law was targeting Muslims.<\/span>
For them, state recognition can help promote their activities and ensure legal protection.<\/span>
\u201cWe will survive, but it could improve our position in the eyes of Slovaks,\u201d Hasna said.<\/span>
\u201cI suppose that we are well integrated, so I don\u2019t see the point of this rejection.\u201d<\/span>
The absence of mosques constituted another problem for Slovakia Muslims who found no place for their prayers and gatherings.<\/span>
Living in the only European country without a single mosque, officials at the Islamic Foundation have tried to obtain a permit to build a mosque in Bratislava, but had its application rejected.<\/span>
\u201cIt would be nice if there was one mosque in Bratislava,\u201d said Azim Farhadi, a 39-year-old native of Afghanistan.<\/span>
\u201cIt is fine to have three places to pray, but I would prefer unity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Inciting Media<\/strong> <\/span>
Media coverage for Muslims, associating them with terrorists, was also spreading anti-Muslim concerns.<\/span>
\u201cOlder people are not as informed as younger ones; they acquire information mostly from the media,\u201d he said.<\/span>
\u201cSometimes it\u2019s a shame what the Slovak media is doing.\u201d<\/span>
Farhadi has produced a program about the integration of foreigners for Slovak television. He cited his fellow journalists\u2019 choice of the word Islamist to refer to religious extremists.<\/span>
In the eyes of the public, the word becomes closely associated with Islam itself.<\/span>
Elena Gallov\u00e1 Kriglerov\u00e1, director of the Centre for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture (CVEK) in Bratislava, agreed with Farhadi\u2019s criticism of the media.<\/span>
\u201cThe media is creating a sense of fear out of Islam,\u201d she said.<\/span>
\u201cUsually they don\u2019t do it consciously, but the prejudice of journalists plays a significant role here.\u201d<\/span>
Conducting several surveys about the opinion of Slovaks on minorities and religions, CVEK found that nearly 70 percent of respondents disapproved of the state allowing Muslims to practice their faith.<\/span>
Half agreed that Islamic religious and cultural centers in Slovakia should not be permitted.<\/span>
\u201cPeople are afraid that if we\u2019ll allow a mosque here, Muslims will start to move here in droves, then they will try to turn us to Islam and they will dominate here,\u201d Kriglerov\u00e1 said.<\/span>
Kriglerov\u00e1 attributes some of the prejudice to history or strong Christian conservatism.<\/span>
\u201cOne hundred years ago, under the Bratislava Castle, you could find the Catholic St Martin\u2019s Cathedral, a Jewish synagogue, the Orthodox Church and there was a mosque as well \u2013 next to each other,\u201d she said.<\/span>
\u201cToday only Catholic and Orthodox churches remain on that place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: OnIslam<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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