The ‘forbidden fruit’: Islam and politics of identity in Kosovo and Macedonia

Abstract

This paper depicts the interplay of religion and politics, as well as of external and internal actors among Albanian communities in Kosovo and Macedonia. It argues that Islam has never been allowed into the political space, despite occasional attempts to politicize it and utilize it for political and nationalist expediency. This relative absence of Islam from the political sphere is due to a specific social and political context, as well as to a specific historical experience. However, one can depict a higher presence of Islam among Albanians in Macedonia, for reasons related to their position as a minority within an Orthodox majority country that is undergoing a process of reaffirmation of religion as an essential pillar of an emerging Macedonian national identity.

Keywords:

• Albanians
• religion
• identity
• nationalism
• Islam
• Kosovo
• Macedonia

Notes

1. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the international workshop ‘After the Wahhabi Mirage: Islam, politics and international networks in the Balkans’ at the European Studies Centre, University of Oxford in June 2010. The research project, on which this paper is based, has been made possible by a Small Research Grant from the British Academy. I would like to thank Kerem Oktem for his invaluable comments on the earlier versions of this paper.

2. Migration and expulsion of Albanians from Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro to Albania and Turkey, which had started already during the Balkan Wars, continued throughout the inter-war period. As far as the numbers are concerned, according to Malcolm (2006), between 90,000 and 150,000 Albanians left Yugoslavia in the inter-war period.

3. Only in 1974, when Kosovo became an autonomous province of Serbia and constitutive element of the Yugoslav federation, an association of dervishes from Kosovo came to surface from the underground. For a detailed analysis of the Sufi orders in Kosovo, see Duijzings (2000).

4. On the other hand, no other Albanian political party showed an Islamic orientation, neither in name or in programme.

5. See the official web page of the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Pristina: <http://www.fsi-ks.org/index_files/themelimi.htm>

6. So-called after its spiritual leader, Muhammad b. ‘Abd al Wahhab (1703–1792), which aimed to invigorate Islam by sweeping away corruptive and sinful practices. See Choueiri (1999) and Blumi (2005).

7. The UN administration in Kosovo even praised the work of the SJCRKC in providing relief assistance to citizens. See Kosovo’s U.N. Administration praises Saudi Relief Committee, 25 May 2004. <http://www.saudinf.com/display_news.php?id=1958> (accessed November 5, 2010).

8. The Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. Available at: <http://www.assembly-kosova.org>

9. See the Political Programme of the Party of Justice, available at: <www.drejtesia.org>

10. Relations between Albanians and Turkey have been seen either through the nationalist romantic point of view (‘five centuries of Ottoman oppression and yoke’) or through a more religious-based perspective that sees Turks as religious fellows and natural allies of Albanians (against the Orthodox neighbours in the Balkans). This is part of a broader and longer debate on Albanian identity.

11. The ‘Gülen Movement’, which has been continuously spreading its educational activities in more than 130 countries in around 20 world languages, began formally in Kosovo on 1 October 2004, through the Foundation for Education and Culture ‘Atmosfera’, initially in Prizren and since 2006 in Pristina. See J. Mehmeti and S. Mehmeti (2009).

12. For more see the official site of TIKA: <http://www.tika.gov.tr>

13. The Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, 17 November 1991. Available at: <http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/mk00000_.html> (accessed June 15, 2010).

14. Even before the dissolution of the SFRY, Macedonian authorities, under the pretext of the threat of assimilation of the non-Albanian Muslims, have urged Slavic Muslims to form separate religious councils. See Clayer as cited in Babuna (2000, 84).

15. This is a continuation of the project of the Macedonian state began in late 1990s – after the coming to power of the right wing party (VMRO) – to place as many landmarks as possible to prove the Macedonian and Orthodox character of the capital city. A case in point is the erection of a 66-metre cross, known as the ‘Millennium Cross’, on the top of Skopje’s surrounding mountains, overlooking the city.

16. As a reaction to Turkey’s increased influence in the Balkans (outlined by the Foreign Minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoglu, in a speech in Sarajevo last year) many Albanian intellectuals from Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania have expressed their suspicion towards Turkey’s new foreign policy and its implications in the case of Albanians. Some view it as a ‘Neo-Ottomanism’. See Xhaferi (2009) and Misha (2010).

17. In recent years, one can observe a (rather slight) increase in the number of young girls who wear hiqab (headscarf), especially in Kosovo. However, contrary to niqab, which is a relatively new occurrence among Albanians, the headscarf has a longer tradition associated with the patriarchal culture dominant especially in rural areas.

18. Title of a book published by Deliso (2007).