Struggle of Bulgarian Muslims

Struggle of Bulgarian Muslims

Bulgarian Muslims are struggling to defend their religious identity and culture amid nationalist campaigns against mosques.

By Yusuf Korkmaz

Our first stop in Bulgaria was Samokov, a town in Sofia Province. We first went shopping to get some stuff for fast-breaking dinner with Bulgarian citizens called Rom. We also purchased foodstuff for 30 elderly people, widows and homeless people and distributed the packages. A man named Hasan and his wife helped us with distribution. We gave stationery materials to 30 students as well.

After fast-breaking dinner we went to drink cold water from Ottoman fountains in the town center.

For terawih prayers we went to Seyfullah Efendi Mosque, also called Banya Bashi after the bath adjacent to it, the only functioning mosque out of total 86 Ottoman mosques. Basri Hodja, one of the 20 imams sent by Turkey's religious department for the month of Ramadan, led the prayers and took us to his lodge after the terawih.

Our host Sofia mufti Necati Ali told an interesting anecdote during our stay. The nationalist party of Bulgaria initiated a campaign against mosques two months ago. Whenever call to prayer was recited from mosques at noon, in the afternoon and evening, members of the party would ring bells. However, they could not do it early during morning prayer and late during the night prayer. Finally, they gave up the campaign after two months, saying "we cannot fight Muslims this way."

The following day we visited Boutunets neighborhood, where Turkish gypsies live. They speak an accent of Turkish that is spoken in western Turkey. Necati Ali had arranged a house for them to perform their prayers at. We organized a fast-breaking dinner for about 70 people here.

Our next stop was Galiche village in the town of Byala Slatina. We were pleased to see the minaret of the mosque funded by a charitable man named Mehdi. There are few mosques in the area and the existing ones have no minarets. Mr. Mehdi decided to build a mosque in honor of his father and grandfather and applied for permit, but the authorities did not allow construction of the mosque.

Mr. Mehdi did not give up his fight. He applied for a house permit and noted he would add a minaret to his house. He received a permit in this way. Mehdi built the mosque in eight years without receiving help from anyone. He built the walls and window frames thick to give the mosque a classical appearance. We organized fast-breaking dinner for 50 people, distributed 30 food packages and stationery materials to 20 children in the village.

We visited Mrs. Halide, the only ethnic Turkish in Dolni Sibar, and gave her foodstuff to use in Ramadan. We later headed for the house of Mr. Davut, who would organize fast-breaking dinner and foodstuff delivery in the village.

We met Mrs. Müfide, head of the Muslim council in the city of Lom, in Montana Province. She told us about old days. The pictures of mosques that existed before the arrival of the communist administration saddened us. The IHH has recently restored Lom Masjid. If a permit could be received, the masjid will be added a minaret. We left the city after organizing a fast-breaking dinner and distributing food packages to needy people and stationery materials to children.

The Ottoman mosque in Arcar is in a desolate condition. Its roof and minaret has collapsed.

After paying a visit to an old Turkish lady and giving her a food package for Ramadan, we left for northeastern Bulgarian city of Vidin. We performed afternoon prayers at Osman Pazvantoğlu Mosque. The library adjacent to the mosque, which has a number of madrasah course books written in the Ottoman language, is in need of restoration.

We had the fast-breaking dinner with 80 people from Arcar and Belogradcik neighborhoods and downtown Vidin. We were surprised to learn that Vidin Bishop Dometian was admirer of Turkey. His father had worked as a carpenter apprentice in Istanbul.

The following day we went to Belogradcik to see that Haci Hüseyin Pasha Mosque was being restored. We learnt that the restoration was funded by the municipality.

Kutlovitsa Mosque in Montana is in a bad condition and need restoring.

We returned to Vidin and toured visited Baba Vida Fortress, originally built by Romans and later rebuilt by the Ottomans in the 17th century. Dungeons and torture tools inside the fortress are appalling. We had the fast-breaking dinner in one of the crowded neighborhoods of Vidin.

We bid farewell to mufti of Sofia Necati Ali, who accompanied us throughout our stay in Bulgaria, and headed for Turkey.http://www.worldbulletin.net