Islam does not preach violence in any form: Bulgarian chief mufti

Tuesday 29 Mar 2016 - 12:15 Makkah mean time-20-6-1437

Chief Mufti of Bulgaria Mustafa Hadji. Image from The Sofia Globe

Sofia, Bulgaria (IINA) - Mustafa Hadji, chief Mufti of Bulgaria, said on Monday that his office would do everything in its power to work with the Muslim community not to allow “radically-minded elements” to gain a foothold in the country, The Sofia Globe News reported.
Speaking at a conference entitled “the Muslim religion, 2016-2021,” he said that the spread of such elements was harmful both to Muslims and to the society. “We as Muslims are obliged to show the real face of Islam, and that is that we, as Muslims, followers of this religion, do not wish it to anyone,” Hadji said.
Hadji, recently re-elected as chief Mufti, said that other countries could benefit from the Bulgarian experience when it comes to peace and understanding among religions.
At the conference, reporters asked Hadji about reported plans for a second mosque in Sofia. He said that the issue had been raised a long time ago and there was no sense on commenting on it repeatedly.
In Sofia, Muslims had only the Banya Bashi Mosque, which was insufficient to the needs of the community and every Friday most worshippers had to say their prayers on the pavements outside, which was extremely inconvenient and unpleasant, Hadji said.
Finding far-sighted politicians to solve this would benefit everyone, he said. The number of mosques should be determined by a proportion to the number of Muslims, the chief Mufti said.
After the terrorist attacks in Belgium’s capital Brussels on March 22, the office of the Chief Mufti of Bulgaria was among the first in the country to issue an official statement condemning the attacks.
The statement offered condolences to the entire Belgian people and the bereaved families, as well as its wishes for strong patience to the families of those who were killed.
The Chief Mufti’s office said that it strongly condemns terrorist acts causing incurable wounds to human civilization, acutely compromising the world balance and the striving to peaceful co-existence.
“Unacceptable and deeply reproachful are the acts of violence towards humanity, regardless of the religious, ethnic and geographical differences. The infringement of the rights of innocent people turning them into helpless targets of death is inconceivable,” the statement said.
“The unprecedented violation of the supreme virtues of Islam and its disparaging to a mean for achieving mercantile interests strongly distresses us. The Islamic religion does not preach violence in any form and it condemns the destruction of human life no matter what is the reason for such an act,” the Chief Mufti’s office said.
In Bulgaria’s 2011 census, the country’s most recent, about 577 000 people – or about eight per cent – of the population of 7.1 million declared themselves to be Muslims.
SM/IINA

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