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From: josip@eng.umd.edu (Josip Loncaric)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.croatia,soc.culture.arabic,soc.culture.bosna-herzgvna,soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.iranian,soc.culture.jewish,soc.culture.pakistan,soc.culture.turkish,soc.culture.yugoslavia,talk.politics.mideast,soc.culture.african
Subject: Re: Europe vs. Muslim Bosnians
Date: 13 May 1993 18:55:18 GMT
Organization: Project GLUE, University of Maryland, College Park
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Message-ID: <1su5imINNnap@mojo.eng.umd.edu>
References: <1993May12.111030@IASTATE.EDU> <1srhj2INNlm@mojo.eng.umd.edu> <13MAY93.02285380@edison.usask.ca>
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In article <13MAY93.02285380@edison.usask.ca> f54oguocha@edison.usask.ca writes:
>
>please, don't be offended at this question: Who are the "Muslims" in the
>Bosnian context? 

Bosnian Muslims are citizens od Bosnia-Herzegovina who identify themselves
with Bosnian Muslim cultural and religious tradition.

>i know that a moslem/muslim is a believer in Islam. Islam 
>is a religion and it is practised in many parts of the world. But it is not
>, yes definitely not, an ethinic group. ok! so, these Bosnian Muslims, who
>are they? to which ethnic group do they belong? what language(s) do they
>speak? do they have a different language from that of the Serbs or Croats? 

In Bosnia, "Muslim" is not merely a religious category, but an ethnic
one as well.  Actually, here are the two contradictory arguments
made by people on this subject:

(1) There is only Serbian and Croatian nationality, and Bosnian Muslims
    are simply Croats and Serbs of Islamic faith.

(2) Bosnian Muslims are a separate nationality since they do not feel
    themselves to be Croats nor Serbs.

In 1968, argument (2) was accepted by former Yugoslavia as valid,
and (1) was soundly rejected.  The reasons are pragmatic: even if
Bosnian Muslims are Croats and Serbs who converted to Islam under
Turkish rule centuries ago, none of the present generation has any
clue what was their ancestor's actual nationality.  In fact, although
Bosnian Muslims have felt drawn to Croatian or Serbian national
allegiance, most of them feel they have a separate cultural and
historic identity.  So, arguments like "yes, but your ancestors were
Croats or Serbs" carry very little weight.  Regardless of what
their ancestors might have been, as long as Bosnian Muslims feel
that they are a separate national group, that ends the debate.
What outsiders say is simply not relevant.

>the way the western press use the word 'muslim' in this Bosnian debacle has 
>kept me wondering when the meaning of muslim/moslem i knew from childhood was 
>changed in the dictionary. this is just a question. no flames intended!

In the case of former Yugoslavia, the date is 1971, when "Muslim nationality"
appeared as a census category for the first time.  This was the result
of a sequence of decisions over the past decade, from recognizing
"Bosniaks" as an ethnic group (1961) to February 1968 resolution (in B-H)
declaring that Muslims are a separate nation, to formal endorsement 
of this in January 1969, and eventually to the 1971 inclusion of
"Muslim nationality" choice in census forms.

For comparison, in 1948 census there were three national categories
available to Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina:

Serb-Muslims:                        71,991
Croat-Muslims:                       25,295
Muslims, ethnically undeclared:     788,403

This clearly demonstrates that Muslims feel themselves to be their own
nationality.  Only a tiny minority felt able to choose Serb or Croat
nationality.  Census results show that Bosnian Muslims have
consistently opted for a third category: in 1948 they chose "undeclared",
in 1953 they chose "Yugoslavs", in 1961 both "Yugoslavs" and "Bosniak 
ethnic group", and in 1971, 1981 and 1991 they chose "Muslim nationality".

Perhaps the term "Bosnian Muslim nationality" is too confusing for
the rest of the world.  But, in the present context, we ARE talking
about Muslims as nationality; not as a religous group within some
separate national identity.  The reasons are mostly historical and
cultural.  Religion plays a smaller role, as a part of culture in general,
because the area is simply not known for religious fanaticism.  Political
fanaticism, yes; religious fanaticism, no.  Group security and survival
dominate people's thinking; not fine points of theology.  In fact,
Bosnia-Herzegovina is as well known for religious tolerance in peacetime
as it is known for terrible carnage in wartime.

Sincerely,
-Josip



