Uber die Muslimen aus RO gestern und heute
1. Muslim communities in Romania. Their legal Status
The Muslim community is a historical one in Romania. Actually, there are living in Romania about 150.000 Muslims. Half of them is from the historical community of the Turks and Tatars from Dobrogea (a historical region between the Danube River, Delta and the Black Sea / 14.119 km2),
[1] the other half are immigrants from the Middle East (mostly Arabic countries and Iran).The first Turks immigrated into Dobrogea in the 13th century. From the 15th century, the region was part of the Ottoman Empire and was united with Romania in 1878. After this year, the Muslim community was official recognized in Romania (even in the Communist age, when it was one of the 14 recognized religious communities). Now, after the promulgation of the new Law of Religious (2006) is one of the 18 recognized religious communities.
It must be said, that during the Middle Age, the Romanian principalities of Wallachia and Moldova were under Ottoman suzerainty, but had autonomy (were not Turkish provinces). As a consequence of the treaties between the Romanian princes and the Sultans, no Muslim was allowed to settle down in the Romanian principalities and no mosque was built here, before Dobrogea was united with Romania and the Muslim community was official recognized. So, it is an irony of the history, that the Muslims were accepted in the Romanian society just after Romania gained the independence, in 1878 and united Dobrogea.
After 1878, many Turks left the province and moved to the Ottoman Empire. In 1900 the Muslims were 17% of the population of the province. Now, they are below 3% of the population. In 1900 existed 238 mosques. Now there are in whole Romania 77 mosques.
2. The Muslim organization in Romania
In 1878 the Romanian Government recognized in Dobrogea 4 Muftiyats (something like “Muslim bishoprics”). After years, due of the immigration of the Turkish population, remained just 2 Muftiyats (for each county of Dobrogea), and after 1943 just one Muftiyat, in Constanta, the main town in Dobrogea, on the Black Sea.
The Mufti or the religious leader of the community are elected (by secret vote) every four years by the Consultative Council (Sura-i Islam / Consiliul Sinodal), composed by 25 members, 15 of them imams and 10 representatives of the Turkish Political Party and the Cultural Associations of the Turks in Romania. On the local level, there exists 70 “Islamic communities” (parishes), 67 in Dobrogea and just 3 outside this region, in the towns Bucharest, Galati and Braila. Each community is lead by a committee (5-7 persons).
3. Imam training
In the time when Dobrogea was an Ottoman province, there existed a madrase in the central town of Babadag. The Romanian Government accepted it as an Islamic Theological Seminar in Babadag. In 1891 was moved in Medgidia. In 1967 the Seminar was closed, in the consequence of the lack of the students. In 1993 was opened again, but as a Turkish Middle and High School, with professors mainly from Turkey. The most imams in 1990 were old persons. Just after the revolution, the Romanian state allowed to young Muslims from Romania to complete their theological studies in Turkey or in Arabic countries. 2005 was elected the first Mufti who was trained abroad, in Turkey (Yusuf Muurat).
This Mufti started, without the consultation of the Sura- i Islam, a “war” between what he calls “the Turkish moderate Islam” and “the Arabic radical Islam”. In 23 February 2007, he sent a letter to the Government, asking the Minister not to recognize the diploma given by the Theological Faculties from all Arabic countries and to forbid these theologians to be imams in Romania_. Indeed, the Government gave an order banning the graduates from the Arabic countries to be imams (28.02. 2007). Seven of the graduates (4 from faculties in Jordan, 2 in Saudi Arabia and 1 in Sudan) sent their protests to the Government, Muftiyat, Consultative Council and the Embassies of the Arabic States
[2]. The Ambassadors sent their protest to the Romanian Government. Meetings between the Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs and the Ambassadors of the Arabic counties followed and in the end (in May) the Government changed the position. Even so, the Mufti continued not to accept these graduates as imams. So, five of them Muftiyat before the court, accusing it for discrimination (24 May 2007)
[3].
4. The rivalry between the Turkish and Arabic Islam
There really exists a rivalry between the Turks and the Arabs. Saudi Arabia and the United Arabic Emirates sponsor two main NGO, a
Cultural and Islamic League in Romania, and the other the
Taiba Center.
[4] Both are lead by young Theologians with studies in Arabia, Jordan, Syria. There also exists an
Association of the Muslim Students (mostly from Arabic countries) and the
Islamic Cultural Center Crescent.
[5] All these Centers and Associations translate Islamic propaganda books and give them free of charge in Internet (till now, they published 35 books). There exist in Romanian two official translations of the Quran. One was translated by a Professor from Arabic Literature at the University of Bucharest (George Grigore) and was published in Istanbul. The second version was translated by the Muslim Students and printed in 3 editions.
The Saudi sponsored Islamic Centers built 7 mosques in Bucharest and 2 in Constanta, the most important town of Dobrogea. There were established a school sponsored by the Jordanian Government. More then that, the Arabs established a Turkish Cultural Islamic Association (called The Message), parallel to the Official Associations of the Turkish minority, to be able then to send representatives of this minority in the Romanian Parliament.
Because about half of the Muslims in Romania are immigrants, the Arabian sponsored NGOs contest the right of the Muftiyat to lead the whole Islam in Romania. They asked the Muftiyat to be established a High Superior Islamic Council, for all the Muslims in Romania (Turks, Tatars and Arabic immigrants). The Muftiyat opposed the idea. In the consequence, the Arabs established their own High Islamic Council in Bucharest. They sent to the Mufti Muurat the Statute and even a response of the Muftiyat, with Muurat had just to subscribe. The Muftiyat did not recognize this Council in Bucharest. Nevertheless, it continued the activity even without recognition
[6].
This is why, the Sura-I Islam from March 2007 asked all new Islamic NGOs to send them their statutes and to ask the permission to exist. Also, the Muftiyat asked the National Council of the Mass Media and the Romanian Intelligent Services to monitor the activity of these NGOs.
5. Relation with the Christian Churches. Interreligious Dialogue
It can be said, that the Interreligious Dialogue in Romania was started within the project Healing of Memories, lead by Dieter Brandes. He could bring at the same table, for the first time, the leader of the Orthodox Church in Dobrogea (Bishop Teodosie), the Mufti and the Jewish Rabbi of Constanta. In this town was established a Center for Religious and Legal-Canonical Studies of the three monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam). On 8 June 2006, the Faculty of Law from the University Ovidius from Constanta organized a whole day Symposium about the Liberty of Religion. There participated in the Ambassadors from Turkey, Georgia, Israel, Azerbaijan, then the Chief Rabbi from Israel, representatives of the Churches in Romania. On 27 November 2007 this center organized (in collaboration of the Orthodox Archbishopric of Constanta, the Muftiyat and the Embassy of the USA) the Symposium “The monotheistic religions and their importance in the society from today”. Following persons participated: the Orthodox Bishop Teodosie, Prof. Nicolae Dura from the Orthodox Theological Faculty from Constanta, Sorin Shlomo Rosen, the Chief Rabbi from Romania, Yusuf Muurat, the Mufti from Romania, dr. Yusuf Ziya Kavakci, the Mufti from Dallas Texas USA, Stefan Ghenta from the Roman Catholic Bishopric from Bucharest, Daniel Fodorean (the Baptist pastor from Constanta).
Also, the
Evangelische Akademie Siebenbuergen from Sibiu organized some seminars in Constanta.
In 2-5 November 2007, the Institute INTER from Cluj Napoca organized an Interreligious Conference in Cisnadioara / Michelsberg (near Sibiu). Very interesting was the public session in the Orthodox Theological Faculty from Sibiu.
After the election of the new Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church (Dr. Daniel Ciubotea), the relations with the Muftiyat were intensified. On 20 December 2007, during the Feast of the Sacrifice ( eid ul adha) was brought in the libraries the Romanian translation of the book of Salman Rushdie (Satanic Verses). The Romanian Patriarchy protested and expressed the sympathy with the Muslim Community. The Mufti sent his gratitude to the Patriarch and disapproved of the translation, but also recommended that all Muslims from Romania should read this book.On 29 February 2008, the Patriarch invited all the recognized religious communities from Romania to a meeting about the teaching of religion in the public schools. The Ministry of Education planned to declare the teaching of religion as optionally. All the religious communities protested. From the Muslim community participated in the Mufti Yusuf Muurat
[7].
On 12 March 2008, the Mufti Muurat and the Turkish and Tatar deputies in the Romanian Parliament (Iusein Ibram and Aledin Amet) made an official visit to the Patriarch Daniel. They decided to have a closer collaboration in humanitarian tasks
[8].
[1] Census 2002: 67.566 persons, 0,3% of the population (32.596 Turks and 24.137 Tatars).
http://www.recensamant.ro/
[2] From this protest: “We mention that we did learn the Islamic religion in these Arabic states, far from any radical and extremist ideas. We all know that the Muslims from Romania need prepared Muslim theologians, for in Romania does not exist such a curricula in any university. We think that we are attending a great injustice, because we were sent to study with the permission of the Muslim Muftiyat from Romania, given by the Great Mufti from that time”.
[3]http://cotidianul.ro/index.php?id=11878&art=31343&nr=7&cHash=a36878393a
[4]http://www.islamulazi.ro/main/en.php.
[5]http://www.musulman.ro/.
[6]http://www.ziua.ro/display.php?data=2007-03-27&id=218189.
[7]http://www.patriarhia.ro/Site/Stiri/2008/PDF/Agenda de lucru.pdf.
[8]http://www.Muftiyat.ro/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=65&Itemid=79.
