Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ate—imagine the inefficiency. (For example, nobody knows how many people live in Bos-
nia, because there's no agreement on how to conduct a national census.) On top of all this,
Bosnia is still navigating the complex transition from communism to capitalism, and re-
building from a devastating war. It's a miracle that things here work as well as they do.
Fundamentalist Islam in Bosnia?
Islamisahottopicintoday'sEurope,wheresomecitizensblameMuslimimmigrants
for society's woes. And even though Bosnia's Muslims are indigenous, they're not
immunetothecriticism—especiallyfromtheirSerbandCroatrivals.WhileBosniaks
have a long history as a peace-loving people, critics allege that elements of the popu-
lation are experimenting with some alarming fundamentalist Islamic ideologies.
These allegations do have some basis in fact. During the war and genocide of the
1990s, many Bosniaks felt abandoned by their western allies in Europe and the US,
who were too timid to step in and “take sides” to end the violence. In his people's
darkesthour,desperate BosnianPresident Alija Izetbegovi
ć
recruited assistance from
the only group willing to offer help: Muslim fundamentalists from the Middle East
and North Africa. Several hundred mujahideen (Islamic jihadists) came to Bosnia to
train Bosniak soldiers—and participated in bloody massacres of Serbs and Croats.
They brought with them the dangerous ideas of Wahhabism, an ultraconservative
movement bent on “purifying” Islam, often through violent means. According to re-
ports,Izetbegovi
ć
wasevenincontactwithOsamabinLaden.Insomecases,themu-
jahideen offered donations to widows of šehids (Bosniak martyrs).
Today, while waning, these groups' influence persists. Muslim countries have
helped to fund the postwar reconstruction of Bosnia, especially the building and re-
building of mosques and madrassas. Just as the end of atheistic, communist Yugoslav
rule kick-started a passion for Catholicism in Croatia and the Orthodox faith in Ser-
bia, many Muslims in Bosnia are today actively pursuing their faith. You may even
see women wearing traditional Muslim headscarves—a rare sight before the war,
when most Bosniaks dressed just like their Serb and Croat neighbors. (But note that
some women yousee wearing headscarves arelikely Muslim tourists fromelsewhere
in the world.)
Meanwhile, some of the fundamentalist Muslims who came to fight in the war are
still here (although they were supposed to leave the country under the Dayton Peace
Accords). Mujahideen who fought were initially rewarded with Bosnian citizenship
(thesepassportswererevokedin2007).Somemarriedlocalwomen,however,andare
