Bosnia Blog

This blog has a collection of mosques in different shapes and conditions all over Bosnia.

However, be aware of the hyper-religious Islamic theme. Though the majority of Bosnians are Muslim including 80% of them settling in Sarajevo, I’ve never considered Bosnia as an Islamic country.

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Unlike Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic whose names were mentioned often during one of those popcorn political interrogations I had for the Bosniaks, I never heard of Arkan. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t talk politics all the time, when I have time I listened to Turbo folk. But don’t tell the Bosniaks since they will make fun of my choice of music. For many Bosniaks, Turbo folk associated with those Serbians who once raped, them, figuratively and literally.

“You know why we hate Turbo folk?” One kid tried to explain to me. “The most famous Turbo folk singer, Ceca was the wife of a Serb general who murdered us.” From her wiki page, I discovered “Arkan.” I am not going to discuss details about his life since such information is everywhere on the internet. What more interested to me is how skewed and strange human perception and interpretation can be. For many Serbians, this world-recognized war criminal was a national hero.

I had no doubt in my mind he inspired his followers and gained their supports for his ill-fated mission to defend his country which he claimed he “loved”. Ignore the undiplomatic and uncivilized language in his speech; one can feel a lot of charisma from this man. I believe this guy truly loved Serbia and Orthodox faith, albeit in a twisted way. Too bad, by loving his own, he turned into a bigot: “…all Muslims are WILD DOGS. This is the war between us and the WILD DOG…”

What a waste! These radical Serbians could have done a lot of good for Serbia instead of dragging their country’s name to the mud and ravaging neighboring ones at the same time. But what is more utterly incomprehensible? Arkan can not exist and flourish WITHOUT the support of the people–a lot of them.

Technorati Tags: balkan, bosnia, politics, radical, serbia, video, war

My Croatian friend, V. once said that among the ex-Yugoslavia, the Bosnians are most famous for their humors. I cannot comment on that since I have little command of the Bosnian language. "If I wasn’t Muslim" is a sarcastic song about being Bosnian Muslims in Europe, surrounded by Christian European neighbors (*). Again, I cannot comment on the validity of the song’ message because I only have a vague understanding of European politics and the century-old clash between two of the world’s religious Titans: Christianity and Islam

(*) I’m not too sure about branding Europe with the Christian-continent label. It is true that in Europe Christianity blossomed and provided the framework for its prior civilizations. It’s also true we can find more Christian traces in Europe than anywhere else. However, Europe has gotten less and less religious or Christian, whichever way you want to call it. Even the moral-lacking, selfish-individualistic, exploiting-capitalistic western counterpart, the Americans, are more religious or Christian. If not, why do Europe laugh their heads off and criticize many of American conservative, religious-based thinking, habits, laws, policies, etc. To many moderate and conservative Americans, Europe is a "godless" continent.

I asked a fairly independent-thinking, open-minded, non-nationalist friend of mine whether she thought the European Muslims were misunderstood and mistreated by Christian Europeans. After a brief moment hesitation, she nodded her head: YES. She is Bosnian Croat, by the way, and thus free from subjective judgment. The problem does not stay exclusively in Europe. I tried so hard to show my friends why their prior conception of Muslims might have been misguided. After all, what else do they really know about Muslims beside watching and reading all those horrible clips about radical Muslims/Islamic extremist from the Middle East. Still, Muslims have a really connotation among myAsian community, even among very liberal, educated and open-minded people. Some closed-minded individual even said flat out they wouldstay away from the Muslims if they can. How about Americans? Read this article "Poll shows U.S. views on Muslim-Americans" and tell me what you think.

IF I WASN’T MUSLIM

If I wasn’t Muslim Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum. If I wasn’t born Mohammedan Life for me would have been fun. I could live and prosper On my land and I could even build a bigger house I wouldn’t have to, every now and then, Run and hide like a mouse. If I wasn’t Muslim Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum. My neighbors wouldn’t set my home on fire And surround me with barbed wire I wouldn’t live in terror Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum. Books wouldn’t teach you that I was an error In European history. Ref: I would not have to prove that I am not stupid A backward and primitive villain An alien threat to your way of life to be hunted down. I wouldn’t be so ashamed of The names of my relatives and mine Of the Semitic language I speak to my God That no one here understands My tradition wouldn’t insult My Christian neighbors and friends My diet, my cap, the Ramadan fast the crescent and the star. Bayram, I know, will never be famous like Christmas or Easter Sunday so modern and cool, so western, and - oh so "secular". If I wasn’t Muslim If I had an ordinary Slavic Christian name If I wasn’t circumcised If I could eat my eggs with ham I would be accepted Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum. I’d blend in to Europe and enjoy I wouldn’t be its whipping boy. – oh boy – If I were a Christian I wouldn’t have to prove that I am human too. ‘Cause when you’re Christian you’re always civilized no matter what you wear or do. But when you are a Muslim It is really hard to find some sympathy for you No one really likes you, no one really cares No one wants to know your point of view. If I wasn’t Muslim Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum. If I was a part of Christendom Europe would be my sweet home. I wouldn’t have to worry Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum. What will happen in a year or two Will I have to leave or stay and die Drop my pants to be identified and put aside Just ’cause I’m a Mussulman? …

Built in 1530/1 modeled after early Istanbul style. Is the most significant Islamic building in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The architect was a Persian, Adzem Esir Sli, the main architect of the Ottoman Empire at the time. This mosque was destroyed and restored a few times in the past. It includes the fountain (ssadravan), Moslem primary school (mekteb), the room for ritual washing (abdesthana), domed burial sites (turbeti), Gazi Husrev-beg’s and Murad-beg Tardic’s harem, abode for the prayer caller (muvekithana), minaret 45 m high and tower clock, dominating the surrounding street and wards (mahala).