The Council of the Religious Leaders: taking no actions against Prosecutor Popova is detrimental not only to the Muslims

The Council of the Religious Leaders (CRL), members in which are the grand muftis and the chairmen of the Supreme Muslim Council (SMC) of the Muslim Denomination in the Republic of Bulgaria since the years of transition, met at the request of the SMC. The Council, headed according to the rulesby the present Grand Mufti, is one of the most authoritative bodies of the Denomination and is convened for extremely cases. In the meeting which took place on June 28 this year in the central office of the Muslim Denomination in Sofia participated the Grand Mufti Dr. Mustafa Hadzhi, the SMC Chairman Vedat S. Ahmed, the former grand muftis Fikri Sali and Selim Mehmed, the former SMC chairmen Hyusein Karamolla and Ridvan Kadyov.

The reason for convening the CRL were extremely important problems on the agenda of the Muslim Denomination, and namely the Islamophobic statement of Prosecutor Nedyalka Popova related to the so called case against the 13 imams which remained without an adequate response by the relevant institutions, and the proposals for amendments to the Law on the Religious Denominations submitted to the National Assembly. There was also made an overview of the work of the Muslim Denomination during the past holy month of Ramadan.

With regard to the main topics on the agenda of the meeting the Council of the Religious Leaders stated that it meets with concern the words of Prosecutor Nedyalka Popova who is empowered by the state to protect the interests of the Bulgarian state, fully-fledged citizens of which are the Bulgarian Muslims. This one and other similar statements are met with opposition and disappointment by the entire Muslim community in our country. With regard to this the CRL supports the position of the Supreme Muslim Council and the legal actions undertaken by the Grand Mufti’s Office. But at the same time it expresses its and that of the Muslims in Bulgaria concern that the relevant state institutions which were seised, and they should have been self-seised, have not taken actions against the words of the prosecutorregarding the national security of Bulgaria so far, which is detrimental not only to the Muslims but also to the entire Bulgarian society.

In connection with the amendments to the Law on the Religious Denominations, the Council of the Religious Leaders beliefs that the legal arrangements of the work of the religious denominations is a very important moment for the public life. In the transition period of our country the Muslim Denomination gained a bitter experience on this issue the consequences of which we are witnessing also today. The religious leaders of the Bulgarian Muslims from the recent almost thirty years consider that the present Law on the Religious Denominations is in principle discriminatory towards all religious denominations outside the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. At the same time during the recent fifteen years there have appeared very serious changes in the social life. All this shows that there is also a need of serious changes to the Law. But the changes have to aim solving the problems according to the internationally established norms, guaranteeing the freedom of religion. This requires provision of opportunities for full functioning of the religious denominations and non-interference of the state in their internal affairs when respecting the established legal norms.

After the debates on the main topics on the agenda the Council of the Religious Leaders stated that it highly appreciates the work of the Muslim Denomination done during the past month of Ramadan. The organization for the performance of the religious duties in the mosques and the plenty of events such as iftar dinners, Ramadan programs, Eid celebrations and other similar events contribute to uniting the Muslim community, raising its spiritual level and giving an opportunity to the entire Bulgarian nation to get acquainted with the beliefs and the traditions of the Muslims who are an important component of the Bulgarian society.

The Council of the Religious Leaders welcomes with a pleasure the efforts of the Grand Mufti’s Office and its subordinated structures for utilizing the summer holiday of the children by organizing summer Qur’an courses in the mosques. There can also be seen a trend towards their more effective organization which will contribute to building a full Muslim identity, and this will help to prevent extremes of and to create an atmosphere of religious tolerance.