BOSNIAN MUSLIMS IN SAREJEVO ENTER 2015 WITH QURAN RECITALS

Sarajevo, 11 Rabi’ul Awwal 1436/2 January 2015(MINA) –In Sarajevo the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a Quran recital was held as part of the traditional “Ode to the Prophet” event.

The United Islamic Assembly organised a Quran recital at the Cekrekci Muslihudin Mosque and great interest was shown by the Sarajevo Muslim community.

The mosque muezzin Bilal Efendic said that each year a Quran recital night was organised for the last night of the year and that the youth came together at the mosque in celebration of this, ABNA quoted Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting on Friday.

Efendic said that during the event 30 youths who are hafiz – those who have committed the entire Quran to memory – read from the Quran until late night. Many hymns were also sung as part of the event.

Organised each year, the programme opened with a ceremony at the Bascarsi Mosque. Mevlud programmes, where hymns and poetry are recited in honour of the Prophet Muhammad, book launches and Islamic song concerts are also part of the programme, which will continue until the 23rd January.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is home to three ethnic “constituent peoples”: Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. According to the 1991 census, Bosnia and Herzegovina had a population of 4,377,000, while the 1996 UNHCR unofficial census showed a decrease to 3,920,000.

Large population migrations during the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s have caused demographic shifts in the country. Between 1991 and 2013, political disagreements made it impossible to organize a census. A census has been planned for 2012., but that date has been delayed until 2013; this was delayed until October 2013. The 2013 census found a total population of 3,791,622 people in 1.16 million households; this is 585,411 fewer people than the 1991 census.

Ethnically, according to data from 2000 cited by the Central Intelligence Agency, Bosniaks constitute 48% of the population, Serbs 37.1%, Croats 14.3%, and others form 0.6%.

According to unofficial estimates from the Bosnian State Statistics Agency cited by the US Department of State in 2008, 45 percent of the population identify religiously as Muslim, 36 percent as Serb Orthodox, 15 percent as Roman Catholic, 1 percent as Protestant, and 3 percent other (mostly atheists, Jews, and others). Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian are official languages, but all three are mutually intelligible. 54% of Muslims are non-denominational Muslims.(T/P009/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)