Commentary for novini.bg by Prof. Vladimir Chukov, a well-known Arabist, university professor and scholar in the field of Middle East politics and Islam.

The visit of the delegation of the World Council of Muslim Minorities (WCMM) at the beginning of this month to the predominantly Muslim Chinese province of Xinjiang, /which we have already written about/, caused heated comments in specialized circles.

This is happening in Bosnia, the only country in the Balkans where fierce disputes among Islamic theologians in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and other Islamic countries find a great resonance.

The second reason is that the delegation included the former Chief Mufti of the country /1999-2012/, one of the most prominent European ulema, Mustafa Cerich.

After returning home, he spoke of China's "growing global role" as well as China's "policy to fight terrorism and extremism to achieve peace and harmony in Xinjiang." His critics argued that "the position of Cheric is an attempt to use the clergy to justify the mistreatment of Uyghurs and other Islamic communities in Xinjiang."

His position is completely in line with that of the leaders of the Islamic faiths in countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Bahrain and others.

The biography of the prominent Bosnian theologian and activist, who in 2014 was a candidate for the country's tripartite presidency, meanders between the two main trends in the Sunni theological body, namely pro-Muslim Brotherhood and anti-Muslim Brotherhood.

Born in 1952, the theologian graduated from the prestigious al-Azhar University, but received his doctorate from the University of Chicago.

His active work as joining the initiative "A common world between us and you" from Muslims to Christian leaders since 2007, to the committee fighting Holocaust denial, to the Mecca Document /2019/, initiated by the World Islamic League /SIL/, calling for a fight against terrorism, oppression and oppression, make him very popular especially among European Islamic theological circles.

At the same time, his membership in the European Council for Fatwas and Studies, a structure of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood World Union of Islamic Ulemas (WUI), brings him somewhat closer to the ideas of the Islamist movement.

In 2014, it was even rumored that Cerich might succeed Yusuf Qaradawi as president of the SSIU (it is not clear if he has formal membership there) and that his authority could turn him into a leader of European Islam.

In 2010, he was invited by Erdogan to take part in a several-day conference in the Turkish city of Mardin, which ended with the so-called

Declaration from Mardin.

The Bosnian is one of the most prominent ulema who signed the document in question.

The latter aims to give new interpretations of the so-called

Fatwa from Mardin, the author of which is considered by many experts to be the main ideologist of Salafism, the Sunni ulema, follower of Hanbalism, the Syrian Ibn Taymiyyah /1263-1328/.

The forum is convened in Mardin, since that is where the fatwa in question was issued.

It is about reinterpreting and giving contemporary meaning to the basic concepts in Islamic international relations such as the "house of Islam", "the house of war", "the house of the treaty", "loyalty and enmity", jihad, citizenship, civil war and others.

Cerich is currently an active member of the Supreme Council of the largest Islamic NGO, the pro-Saudi World Islamic League.

On November 15, 2021, he was granted Saudi citizenship by royal decree, a very rare act of its nature.

Islam

Prof. Vladimir Chukov

Bosnia