Articles-Essays Lectures Summaries Islam in the Balkans | Islam in the Balkans |
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Islam in the Balkans. History, Present, Perspectives of Dialogue and Coexistence with the Orthodox
(Abstract of Presentation to the Academy of Theological Studies, Saturday 3 March 2007)
Mariyan Stoyadinov
The subject of Islam and Europe is not solely historical, but contemporary as well. Moreover, the discourse about Islam and Europe is not solely a discourse about inter-religious coexistence, but a discourse about intercultural coexistence. Lately the subject of Islam in Europe has become a field of conflict of values and ideologies. The main question for us today is: can we as inhabitants of the Balkans and Europeans, make use of our Orthodox tradition sources in a real way, in order to process a kind of contemporary and particular perspective of dialogue and coexistence with the Muslims of our region and Europe as a whole?
Today, after the end of the process of Balkanisation of the Balkans – which I believe has now concluded – the Balkans are more fragmented then ever. There are eleven independent states, four of which are member of the European Union, and the rest are planning to begin accession procedures in the near future. Hence it would be fair to say that the peaceful and tolerable coexistence of Christians and Muslims in the Balkans is guaranteed by European standards. This is an optimistic vision, given that these standards have been unable to stop tensions between local Muslim communities and public institutions in France and Great Britain. All the while, the life of Orthodox Christians and Muslims in countries such as Bosnia is aggravated by remaining open wounds from the recent civil war in the former Yugoslavia. The issue of Kosovo also remains open and moreover connected to the stability of FYROM (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).
However, Islam is not such a singular phenomenon in Balkans. There are in effect, four main Muslim sub-communities in the wider Balkan region: Albanians, Bosnians, Turks and gypsies. There are also great differences between the mainly Turkish-speaking Muslims in the eastern Balkans, on the one hand, and the Albanian or Slav speaking Muslims who live in the western Balkans (former Yugoslavia), on the other – with different political and cultural claims. In addition, final but significant – with different sources of dependence – there is the “Global” Islam of America and Turkey.
Based on this material we can presuppose at least three levels of future dialogue and coexistence between Orthodox Christians and Muslims in the Balkans: political dialogue (as states), religious (as Churches) and genial (as citizens). Every level has a history in the Balkans, from which we can learn and benefit.
* Mariyan Stoyadinov was born in 1964 in Biala Slatina, Bulgaria. He received his postgraduate diploma in Theology from the “St. Climent Ochridski” Theological Academy of Sofia and his doctorate on Systematic Theology from the University of Sofia, Department of Theology. In 2002-03 he attended post-doctorate studies at the Aristotelion University of Thessaloniki. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Veliko Tarnovo since 1996, and for 2003-2007 he was Assistant Director of the Department of Theology. He teaches “Dogmatic Theology” and “Theology of Icons”. He is ex-President of Balkan Orthodox Youth Association (1994-2006) and since 2004 he is a member of Saint Irenaeus Joint Orthodox-Catholic Working Group. He speaks and writes in English, Greek, Russian and Serbo-Croatian. |
