Why did Ivanic, Covic, and Dodik push the agreement of the Islamic Community (IC) with the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) from the drawer into the jaws of politics, which was not the case when the same agreements were signed with the Catholic Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church. Dodik, an interpreter of religious rights, sees discrimination in the IC contract because believers do not have the same rights. At one time, Covic was bothered by the business of the IC, employment, waqf property, and the Friday (Jummah) prayer.
There are contents and occasions that are not of a religious character.
“It is difficult to recognize the reason of a legal nature, it does not exist. Now the question of the political domain raises the legal question of whether there is conscious discrimination of a group or people belonging to the Islamic religion,” statedJasminka Dzumhur.
“Unfortunately, on the stage there are contents and those occasions that are not of a religious character, it is a matter of daily politics,” explained Miodrag Zivanovic, a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Banja Luka.
The Islamic religious community, which would like to regulate the relationship with the country in which its members are most numerous, was not spared from daily politics. Maybe that’s exactly the problem.
“Here in BiH, it is obvious that the minority, for example, discriminates against the majority,” said the reis-ul-ulema of the IC BiH.
International or inter-state agreement
International or inter-state agreement – this is exactly the disagreement in the three-member Presidency. Apart from the specifics within the Agreement itself, the manner of its adoption according to the interpretation of Dzaferovic and Komsic is specific. They claim that, unlike the agreement with the Catholic Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church, this one with the ICdoes not have to pass through the hands of state parliamentarians, the signature of the three of them is enough.
Dodik: I have nothing against Jummah
Dodik ignores the laws of the state, more precisely Article 15 of the Law on Freedom of Religion and the Legal Status of Churches and Religious Communities, which obliges the BiH authorities to sign agreements that will regulate the relationship between the state and religious communities. But much more important than putting an end to the story about the activities of the IC of BiH outside the system, radical Islam, and paradigms, Dodik has a problem with Jummah.
“I have nothing against the Jummah, I have nothing against the religious rites of Muslims in BiH, but it is unacceptable and would do great damage to allow Muslim believers to leave their jobs freely on Fridays at 12 and go to the Jummah, while the employer is obliged to include that period for them as working hours. “
“The Islamic religion demands that from Muslim believers, and we are not the ones who will disable that right. It is our job to accept what is the manifestation of religion as we accept when it comes to the Catholic and Orthodox churches,” Komsic added.
The next session of the Presidency of BiH is a new test, but also an opportunity for the contract of the IC of BiH to be on the agenda. The outcome is known in advance. In a state where everything is divided into three, there is no place for the IC and its legal status.
