Vehabism in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Death of Bosnian Vehabities Leader

The controversial "leader" of vehabities in Bosnia and Herzegovina has died. The man who didn't respect traffic rules and regulations, and practiced so-called original Islam was a persona non grata among followers of the traditional religion in this country, but the problem of vehabism is not ended. There were more than 3,000 vehabities on Barčić's funeral!


By BELMA BULJUBAŠIĆ
from Sarajevo, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA


Jusuf Barčić, the "leader" of Bosnian vehabities (that's how he named himself) died on 30th of March after a scary car accident. Even his funeral couldn't be peaceful, the followers of vehabism chased the journalists and photographers. They banned photo-shooting or raising questions or anything else. There were more than 3,000 vehabities from Sarajevo, Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Sandžak, the part of Serbia.

Jusuf Barčić came back from Saudi Arabia eight years ago. He had been studying there, and after his coming back he had disagreements and problems with people from Islamic community of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Barčić claimed that Bosnian Muslims were not really Muslims and they didn't respect original/primary Islam. "They practice traditional Islam, and it is not good. It is infidel. Followers of traditional Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina are unbelievers!", Barčić repeated. He was very radical and the rules that he was respecting were bizarre. Neighbours didn't like him, and he was making lots of trouble to them. People who lived near his house claimed that they had been affraid of his behaviour and arrangement.

Crazy Doctor of Sciences

"Leader of vehabities" was a very educated man. He was a doctor of sciences, worked on the translation of Qur'an (the holy book of all muslims) to the Bosnian language, as well as the translation of Mesnevia (it was wrote by Mevlana Celaluddin Mehm et Rumi and it is the basic of sufism). Barčić knew by heart the whole Qur'an (over 600 pages). Recently, he said that he relieved all tracts of Islamic community of B&H and all followers of vehabism would pray there every day. They organized a loud reading of Qur'an (24 hours every day) which were banned bz the inhabitans because they claimed they couldn't sleep at night.

However, the most bizzare thing was the attempt to enter the Czar`s mosque which compound on old part in Sarajevo. Barčić wanted to conserve lectures about original Islam there every week. But people who came to pray in this mosque rebelled, and the results were disturbances between local people and vehabities that lasted for days.

For the laste several years, many people who knew Barčić personally claimed that he had had a psychic status problem. He was doing the revision of the translation of Qur'an (claiming the previous one was not good and original). He was a well-known face in the police office. Particularly, Barčić branished to kill his own wife, because she wanted to abandon him and live with her parents. When she at last did it, he tried to knife her and wounded her seriously. After that accident he ran away. But in 1999 he wrote a harbinger message to his ex-wife Lutvija, and some time before that he had been aggressive. Policemen say they have twelve notifications about his violation. Barčić said he had slaughtered his wife and children, trying to kidnap the wife, he destroyed the door on the house and bradished that he sent a bomb...

His wife Lutvija graduated from an islamic religious school, and she stayed with Jusuf in Saudi Arabia for six years. After her education, he forbade her to work, because it was derogatory in Islam. After the divorce, Barčić brandished the director of the school where Lutvija was working. He repeated his ex-wife that she had to be with him because Allah (God in Arabian language) wanted that! After many notifications, Jusuf Barčić was imprisoned on seven months. But, his bad behaviour repeated during his stay in prison, and policemen abridged him all rights.

He named himself the spiritual leader, and the other prisoners didn't want to respect his verdict, because they prayed traditional Islam. It resulted in affray. The second time policeman said that the time for phone calling was finished and Barčić wanted to rap a policeman. He was a religious fanatic, said the psychologists and psychiatrists. He was a very impulsive, lonely and antisocial man who didn`t like to make acquaintances. He didn't have many friends.

People can't understand me!

He was repeating that people didn't understand him and his behaviour and they could not know why he was agressive, ribald and why he harassed his family and took a knife... A very good friend of his was Karray Kamel bin Ali a.k.a Abu Hamza. They met in prison. After seven years spent there, they became trusty companions. He was speaking to journalists and other people on behalf of Jusuf. Abu Hamza was born in Tunis and came to Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war in 1992. He wanted to help to "brothers muslims". He is married and a father of six children. During the prison days other prisoners deemed him a very dangerous person, and Abu Hamza was an actor of many incidents. Afterwards, he killed a man in 1997, Abu Hamza ran from Bosnia and came back in 2000 when he was detained. People who know him say he is a very sociable person (not like Barčić) and he also very communicative. He always advantaged other prisoners for the purpose his own aim.

Jusuf Barčić had a lot of quaint affidavits. For example, he was driving five years without the driving licence! He said: Allah knows that I know to do that, and I don`t want license". He derogated all traffic regulation and he said that red light on traffic lights was unnecessary because only Allah could say - stop! Because he didn't respect the rules he crashed on a stanchion. Doctors couldn't help him and judicial inquiry still lasts.

Problem of vehabism is a very serious problem in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it seems not only here because the last month the same thing appeared in Serbia, close to the Bosnian border, where a group of vehabities was arrested. They have followers worldwide and an increasing number of calls is received every day for taking care of this problem.