Finally, the mosque! (memoir of a Greek Muslim)
May 3, 2010
Source: Protagon.gr
© Translation: Muslim Association of Greece
by Gerasimos Loukatos
As a Greek, I learned to be proud for the country I was born and raised in, the cradle of democracy and of a great civilization that our ancestors established. As a Muslim, I met another great civilization whose achievements benefit humanity but are known only by a few.
When joining the team of the Muslim Association of Greece, on the road to our meetings with officials of the Ministry of Education, I had doubts about the outcome. The mosque should have stood upright since 2004 so what could change after six years?
To my great surprise, I met people there that showed a sincere interest for the thousands of Muslims that have no official place to pray and they feel isolated. For all those who do not find the guidance of an acknowledged imam when they need it, and for those who cannot be buried to the country that they were born in, raised or spent most of their lives in.
With great joy, I read about the announcement of the Minister of Education for the immediate construction of the Islamic mosque, not only because there will be an official place for me to pray but for the guidance I need as a new Muslim. I am also happy because this is an action in the right direction that is in harmony with the ideals of democracy. An action that I do not read in a history book but in articles that talk about tomorrow!
I am as much Greek as a Muslim and those who know Islam in depth know that this is the middle way. It is no more than the famous saying ‘Metron Ariston’ [free translation all in good measure], applied in every aspect of Muslim’s life.
In the middle of this crisis, maybe the necessary changes shall succeed that will lead to a harmonious coexistence and equal rights and obligations, no matter what religion, beliefs or other factors. The only negative point is the inadequate capacity that comes from the statements of the officials for the mosque and the future problems they might occur.
The steps to the right direction could be more correct if the ‘future’ factor was considered into the equation.
*Gerasimos Loukatos is member of the Muslim Association of Greece
Translated by Anna Stamou
Some say freedom, some say acceptance
June 28, 2009
I’ve been watching this poll on our site closely and I find it interesting to see that there is a major split between two answers:
My guess (and this is just a guess) is that many Muslims chose “religious freedom” and many non-Muslims chose “acceptance into Greek society”.
But this could be problematic.
I mean, how can we solve this problem if we don’t even see eye-to-eye on what the problem is exactly?
Muslims know that the constitution of the European Union guarantees the right of religious freedom, which includes a right to pray in a mosque and be buried in a local cemetery. And the world knows that Muslims are being withheld their basic human rights.
Why are non-Muslim Greeks not able to understand this?
Muslims want what everyone else wants:
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safety
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a place to pray
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a place to be buried
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a job to sustain their families
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peacefulness with their neighbours
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proper education for their children
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to contribute to society
If ‘acceptance into Greek society’ was our end goal, then we would leave our Islam (that we embraced as an intellectual choice) and just assimilate or revert back to the Greek Christian Orthodox identity.
But that’s not what we want.
So, the answer here is not ‘acceptance into Greek society’.
Rather, it’s mutual respect.
I am a Greek Muslim and I respect you for the freedom of your choice. You are a Greek Christian, Buddhist, Agnostic, Atheist, Pantheist and you respect me for the freedom of my choice. We are both humans, both equal, both free to choose our religion and live peacefully together.
The day that people in Greek society realise that the issue is religious freedom and mutual respect is the day that Greeks of all religions can coexist in harmony and enrich its civilisation together.
Greek Parliament Member: Glory of Islam
May 29, 2009
Source: Enet.gr
by Pericles Korovesis, PM SYRIZA to the Greek Parliament.
(Διαβάστε στα Ελληνικά. قراءة العربية)
“It needs one thousand sages to find a stone once thrown to the sea by an idiot.” Old Chinese proverb.
But, it needs thousands of responsible citizens to protest in a much louder way than Greek Muslims have been doing for the last couple of weeks, after an idiot police officer in Athens, Greece had torn and stepped on a copy of the Noble Quraan.
At the end of the story, it seems convenient that we must stop the link of the Quraan with immigration: it’s time to accept that the truth of Islam embraces Greek citizens’ beliefs.
That poor cop didn’t know that Jesus and the Virgin Mary are venerated in the Muslim world with the same honour as the Christians do so. How could he know that they are mentioned so many times in the Quranic text?
How might he explain to his parents that he had spat on Jesus and Virgin Mary? Islam is a religion and one of the great civilisations in the history of humanity. Thanks to the great philosophers and wise men of Islam, we have today important texts from the literature and science from the classic antiquity saved. In plain words, no chance for modern science to exist without the Islamic contribution in mathematics (algebra), physics, medicine, geometry and astronomy.
Islam means submission to God: not so far from “obey to God” in Christian terms. Islam is one of the three monotheistic (Abrahamic)religions – Judaism and Christianity the other two.
The Noble Quraan appears during the 7th century as a text revealed from God to the Prophet Muhammad doesn’t bring any innovation; it reasserts what already existed as monotheistic values.
But it is focused on the issue of poverty, emphasizes on our responsibility to the poor and social solidarity, speaking the present tongue; this is a sine qua non for the Islamic faith.
Now we can understand why Islam had such a triumphant course in Pakistan and Indonesia, still on the move forward.
Islamic moral code includes these commandments: do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not tell lies. Everybody knows their origin in religion.
There are about 15 million Muslims in Europe (2002 statistics). Today, roughly estimated they approach 20 million. But what does it mean to us? Perhaps the person next door may be a Muslim and feeling Greek as we do.
Today the campaign against Islam is much the same as happened against communism at the cold war time. Let us recall what G.W. Bush said about the war of the good against the evil or Berlusconi’s statement about the superiority of Christianity over Islam, the theory about the clash of civilisations by S.Huddington since 2000, meaning the clash of the Christian vs. the Islamic world.
It is the Imperialism hidden behind anti-Islamism. This does not mean that corrupted and authoritarian governments and regimes do not exist on the name of the Prophet. But, G.W. Bush wasn’t speaking on behalf of God? Or our Jesus Christ blocked black business in Vatopaidi monastery or bribes to come from Siemens?
Therefore, we as Greeks, have more reasons to come closer to our Muslim brothers.
Pericles Korovesis is an accomplished writer and journalist. His books are published in many languages and he is a regular columnist at various newspapers. He struggles for environmental, human rights, education, and immigrant causes. He is member of the Greek Parliament at Syriza party (left). perikliskorovesis.wordpress.com
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Photo credits: perikliskorovesis.wordpress.com,
Πολιτισμός της πίστης – Civilization of faith
April 21, 2009
Some of you might have seen this book before. Translated into Greek by Anna Stamou, now it is available in the mainstream and available for purchase at phigita.net bookstore.
Synopsis
[...] Ο “Πολιτισμός της πίστης” είναι μία φιλότιμη προσπάθεια. Παρουσιάζει τον τρόπο με τον οποίο το Ισλαμικό κράτος και οι Μουσουλμάνοι πολίτες του όλων των τάξεων απολάμβαναν έναν μεγάλο πολιτισμό και μία άνετη ζωή όταν η αφοσίωση στην Πίστη κυριαρχούσε: Πίστη στο Θεό τον Ύψιστο, το Βιβλίο Του και την Παράδοση του τελευταίου Του προφήτη και απεσταλμένου (του ευλογημένου εν ειρήνη από το Θεό). [...]
(από τη σημείωση της αραβικής έκδοσης)
Bibliographic information
Title: Πολιτισμός της πίστης
ISBN: 9789608910768
Publisher: Etra; 1st edition (2006)
Prototype: Civilization of Faith, a Journey Through Islamic History
Author(s): {Μουσταφά Αλ Σιμπαάι} {Άννα Στάμου}
Format: Paperback
Subject: Ισλαμισμός
Πίστη
Dimensions: 21 x 14 cm
Pages: 285
Order now.
The #1 secret to enjoying life to the fullest
February 15, 2009
Being a Christian for so long, you quickly realize how flimsy your life can be. I mean, after believing that Jesus has died for your salvation, who really needs to do any good after that?
As former Christians, we always believed that it was a nice gesture to give someone a ride, take care of the poor, give our seat to the elderly, buy a gift for our moms, but there’s nothing that really pushed us to do it.
And on the flip side, if we committed some sins or did bad things, really, so what if at the end of the day, we are already saved?
1 Million Flimsy People
This is what I mean by flimsy. And you put 1 million flimsy people together in a society and what do you have? Major societal problems.
My favourite saying back in the day was ‘go with the flow’. If no one knew why we were here and why we die, well, at least we might as well enjoy life to the fullest. At the end of the day, really, who cares if we do something good or bad, useful, or even useless?
Live a life of meaning
Well, in Islam, it’s completely opposite.
Everything we do has benefit to it. Worship is not limited to prayer on Sundays or Fridays. Our scripture is not limited to ancient tales that have no meaning in our present life.
Everything is relevant, with the times and dynamic in Islam and the puzzle pieces all fit perfectly to harmonize our mind, body and soul, giving us internal peace.
We enjoy life to the fullest through ‘ibadah’, sometimes translated as worship but actually means anything that Allah loves and is pleased with, whether it’s a statement of the tongue or an action, outwardly or inwardly.
So if I give someone a ride, take care of the poor, give my seat to the elderly, or buy a gift for my mom, I’m doing it first and foremost to seek the pleasure of Allah, and by doing that I not only feel full of life, but I feel useful in society and I hope that this deed will be weighed in on the Day of Judgement for my salvation.
The Model society
To become an ideal Muslim is to become the model citizen in society. Now, put 1 million ideal Muslims together in a society and what do you have? Matchless civilization.
Would you like your life to have meaning? Would you like to feel useful in society?
Defending Hellenism in Thrace – Why?!
December 3, 2008
From the title alone, you can see that this blog post I came across below has been filtered through nationalistic eyes, but nonetheless, a different perspective. Decide for yourself. Here’s an excerpt:
SOURCE: Defending Hellenism in Thrace
PUBLISHED DATE: December 1, 2008
photo credit: latyak
Of course, the threat to Thrace comes not only from the Slavs but also from the Turks, who are explicitly using their co-religionists in Thrace in a blatant attempt to detach the region from Greece, in the same way Muslims in Cyprus were used to partition the island.
This article – in Greek – draws attention to how Turkey is openly manipulating Muslims in Thrace and encouraging them to resist Greek law and the Greek state; a Greek state that is shamefully refusing to support the heroic efforts of schoolteacher Hara Nikopoulou to uphold Hellenism in Thrace.
I say Nikopoulou is trying to uphold Hellenism in Thrace, but in fact all she’s doing at the Muslim village school she’s been appointed to is her job – teaching Greek language, commemorating Greek national holidays, raising the Greek flag on the school grounds and so on – for which she’s been subjected to a campaign of harassment, sometimes violent, organised by the Turkish consulate in Komotini.
(And here is another excerpt…)
Bulgarian propaganda
In recent years, Bulgaria has begun to open its eyes and hearts to the ancient civilization that is Thrace. We have witnessed a growing support within the Bulgarian establishment to learn more about this ancient culture and people that once flourished within the Balkans. However, as this wonderful thirst for knowledge is beginning, there are those within the Bulgarian establishment, which hope to twist history to help their country’s current status. What we are witnessing is the Slavization of the ancient Thracian civilization to help benefit the current Slavo-Turkic nation of Bulgaria.
Is Turkey openly manipulating Muslims in Thrace as the author suggests?
