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THE MUSLIM FORUM OF ALBANIA PRESS RELEASE
The Muslim Forum of Albania rejects the agreement made between the Muslim Community of Albania and the Council of Ministers
First; The Muslim Forum of Albania notes that the agreement has not been made out of any general consensus of the Muslims in Albania and it is not consulted by all interested groups affected directly thereof. The agreement has not passed through competent forums of the Muslim Community of Albania and no ideas or opinions have been drawn by them. The agreement has been drafted and controlled exclusively by the leadership of the Muslim Community of Albania, without consulting other bodies of Islam in the country. Therefore, this action attacks directly its legitimacy, for as long as the affected interested groups have been ignored permanently without asking their opinions or having their approval. The Muslim Forum of Albania emphasizes that an agreement should not be binding for as long as the subjected parties haven’t been included in the process of its drafting and approval. Secondly; The Muslim Forum of Albania notes that the agreement’s wording in many points is ambiguous and evasive, thus leaving room for misinterpretation and abuse. In this context the agreement doesn’t offer the proper conditions for regulating the relations between the wider Muslim community and the Albanian government. Third; the agreement risks extending Albanian government’s power beyond the borders stipulated by the Albanian Constitution. Thus, the government according to the agreement’s formula allows the state to interfere onto religious and spiritual affairs of the Muslims of Albania, a thing that goes against the laic nature of the Albanian state, in which religion and state are separated by law, and the interested parties cannot interfere in each others bussiness. Forth; the agreement threatens the inner consensus of the Muslim Community of Albania as it underpins the absolute power of its leadership. Fifth; the agreement violates in many of its points the fundamental human rights of freedom of religion in Albania, by making the state and MCA the only bodies which will enforce and certify the correct version of Islam in the country. In this way the agreement creates the precedent for future violations of religious freedoms in Albania, and in particular the freedoms of Muslims in practicing their faith.
In this
respect The Muslim Forum of Albania calls that the approval of this
agreement be postponed and approved only after a wide consensus among the
Muslim Community of Albania’s forums, scholars, and a wider circle of
Albanian Muslim practitioners. In contrary, the approval of this agreement
will negatively reflect the relations between the Muslims community in
Albania and will harm the principles upon which the agreement was based.
Furthermore, this form of approval would make many Muslims in Albania
perceive themselves as being dismissed or being considered not being
represented by the Muslim Community of Albania. MUSLIM FORUM OF
ALBANIA _____________________________________________________________ Note for Editors: The Muslim Forum of Albania is an NGO, part of the Albanian Civil Society whose aim is the fight against racism, discrimination and Islamophobia. For having more information on us please visit: www.forumimusliman.org |
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