Erbaş, President of Religious Affairs, is in Montenegro

Montenegro was the last destination of the visits of the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş to the Balkans.

Erbaş, the President of Religious Affairs was welcomed at the Kosovo-Montenegro border crossing by Songül Ozan, the Republic of Turkey’s Ambassador to Podgorica; Rifat Fejziç, the President of the Islamic Community of Montenegro; and a retinue that consisted of the personnel of the Embassy and the Islamic Union.

Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, the President of Religious Affairs, attended the Akova Central Mosque and Cultural Center groundbreaking ceremony in Bijelo Polje (Akova), one of the largest cities of Montenegro.

A great number of people welcomed Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, the President of Religious Affairs, with Plevna Anthem when he entered the ceremony site.

The ceremony started with the recitation of the Holy Qur'an by Hafiz Osman Şahin, the Chairperson of the Board of Inspection and Recitation of the Quran within the body of the Presidency of Religious Affairs, and continued with little children who read poems and sang the Plevna Anthem.

Expressing the importance of mosques for Muslims in his speech at the ceremony, the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş said, “We learn about the importance of mosques from the Holy Qur’an and the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (saw). Because Allah the Almighty (swt) states in the Holy Qur’an, “The mosques of Allah are only to be maintained by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day and establish prayer and give zakah and do not fear except Allah.”

Reminding the hadith of Prophet Muhammad (saw), “Whoever builds a Masjid for (the sake of) Allah, be it small or large, then Allah will build a house for him in Paradise,” Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, the President of Religious Affairs, stated as follows: “All Muslims would love to attain this glad tiding, wouldn’t they? When Prophet Muhammad (saw) emigrated to Medina from Mecca, first of all, he constructed Masjid al-Nabawi. Muslims, who traveled thousands of kilometers away showed the torch lit in Medina by building mosques, masjids and madrasas where they went, to attain the glad tidings of both the Holy Qur'an and the hadith of Prophet Muhammad (saw).”

Expressing that Muslims traveled thousands of kilometers away and told people about Islam, Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, the President of Religious Affairs, said, “Our ancestors who came to these lands constructed mosques, which are the most important need of Muslims.”

Uttering the fact that people from different beliefs live in Montenegro together, Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, the President of Religious Affairs, continued his words as follows:

“I know that Muslims live together with Christians here. When we look at our history, we witness that where a place of worship of any religion is needed, that place of worship was built there. Because our belief requires this. Moreover, our civilization was so meticulous about the protection of the places of worship constructed that commanders gave orders to the soldiers by saying, ‘Even if you are in a place for war, you will never harm the places of worship, religious officials, women, children, and people who do not carry a weapon in their hands.’

When residents of a non-Muslim neighborhood came to a Muslim administrator and said that they needed places of worship, the administrator would make allocation immediately and build the conversation between them.”

“Our objective is to be good, to spread benevolence”

Pointing out that the Ottomans showed the best examples of living together in peace for hundreds of years in the Balkans, President Erbaş expressed the followings, “I became really happy when I saw your unity and solidarity today. Because our objectives are to live in peace, be good people and spread benevolence to the world. The foundations of being a good person and raising good people are laid at places of worship. Because we know that benevolence is going to make the world a beautiful place. When we look at the Holy Qur’an and the hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (saw), it is commanded that we must work until benevolence dominate in the world.”

“This great place of worship is going to be a means of educating many good people.”

Emphasizing that all people should work for benevolence to prevail on earth, Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, the President of Religious Affairs, continued his words:

“Insha’Allah, we all should work together, no matter what faith we are, no matter what sect we are, no matter what language we speak to eliminate evil and make benevolence prevail. Whatever the world suffered was caused by the bad people. Insha’Allah, this great place of worship that is being constructed on the land we are sitting on is going to be a means of educating many good people.”

“Our children will learn about Allah (swt) and Prophet Muhammad (saw) in this mosque”

Drawing attention to the fact that mosques are not built only for establishing prayer and worshipping, President Erbaş said, “In our civilization, our first example is the school built inside the Masjid al-Nabi in Medina, (mosques) are madrasas, they are schools. Just like every mosque has been a school throughout history, we have to make use of every mosque as a school today. Because where there are no knowledge and science, there exists ignorance. And ignorance is the root of evil. We are trying to eliminate evil. For this reason, our children and young people are going to learn about benevolence, Allah (swt) and Prophet Muhammad (saw) at this mosque. They are going to learn about spreading peace among people.”

President Erbaş wished the mosque to be completed soon and concluded his speech with the following words:

“Before I came here, when I told our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that I am going to visit the lands where the children of the conquerors live, he said, ‘Convey my greetings to my brothers and sisters.’ Insha’Allah, I am going to convey your greetings to him, too.”

Uttering that the people of Bjelo Polje needs much the mosque to be constructed in Bjelo Polje, Rifat Fejzic, the President of the Islamic Community of Montenegro, thanked Turkey for supporting the construction of the mosque and the cultural center.

After his speech, Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, the President of Religious Affairs, and the protocol members who were present at the ceremony poured cement to the ground that was broken.

Songül Ozan, the Republic of Turkey’s Ambassador to Podgorica; Osman Tıraşçı, the Vice President of Religious Affairs; Hafiz Osman Şahin, the Chairperson of the Board of Inspection and Recitation of the Qur’an; Mustafa Irmaklı, the Member of High Board of Religious Services; Rifat Fejziç, the President of the Islamic Community of Montenegro; members of parliament from that region, the mayor of Bijelo Polje and a great number of Muslims from Bijelo Polje attended the ceremony.

Erbaş, President of Religious Affairs, visited the city of Rozaje

Visiting the city of Rozaje in Montenegro, Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, the President of Religious Affairs, was welcomed by Ernad Ramoviç, the President of the Islamic Community of Rozaje, and the residents of Rozaje with takbirs.

Paying a visit to the Islamic Community of Rozaje, Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, the President of Religious Affairs, greeted the residents of Rozaje and expressed his happiness to be in Montenegro.

Expressing that he felt peace and happiness when he saw mosques on his way to Rozaje, President Erbaş stated, “The most significant sign that a city is a Muslim city is mosques.

The fact that there are more than 100 mosques in Montenegro is really important for our future. However, new needs are arising and new quarters are being established. There are also villages without one mosque. Turkey does its best for addressing these issues. In cooperation with the Presidency of the Islamic Union, we are doing our best to build mosques at places where there are no mosques.”

Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, the President of Religious Affairs, said that they are going to have negotiations with the Presidency of the Islamic Community regarding the needs for providing religious services and religious education and the services to be given together, during his visits in Montenegro.

Reminding the verses from the Turkish National Anthem that was written by Mehmet Akif Ersoy, “These adhans whose testimony is the ground of the religion / They should be echoed in my land forever”, Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, the President of Religious Affairs, used the following expressions, “We make dua and wish that our adhans whose testimony is the ground of the religion are going to be echoed in these lands, in these regions forever. We, the Muslims, need to work for reaching this aim. We need to raise our young people and children with this spirit.”