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Albanians are recognized as a very tolerant religious people. Despite having more than three basic religious beliefs (Muslim, Catholic, and Orthodox), no religious civil war has been recorded in this nation. Rather, they have co-existed together and have co-operated together for their national and state rights. Religious divisions were only religious diversity (a very important social culture and feature that a nation can have), but no obstacle to the common realization of national goals. Thus, religious tolerance has prevailed even in the Vilayet of Kosovo from the middle of the nineteenth century to the year 1912, when this vilayet was unjustly occupied by Serbs, and unjustly formalized at the Ambassadors Conference in London (December 1912 - August 1913). Known scholar Thomas W. Arnold states: "Albanians, Muslims and Christians speak a language, cultivate the same traditions, have the same attitudes and habits. Their common national cloak is so strong that there is no place for the religious divisions that have separated the people of this people." The religious tolerance of Albanians, built for thousands of years, has influenced today to be present, sustainable and enforceable. Thus, in the Muslim Albanian celebrations (the Greater (Lesser) Bajram), both the priests and the Catholic Albanians go and congratulate them on religious holidays. The same is true of Christian holidays (Christmas and Easter), whereby Muslim imams and Muslims go and congratulate their religious holidays. This is really more than a miracle.
Uludağ Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi
Christianity and Muslim-Christian Relationships in Kosovo (Kosovada Hıristiyanlık ve Müslüman-Hıristiyan İlişkileri)2017 •
A small country of Europe in terms of her surface area and population, Kosovo is a multi-faith country where various religions and religious groups live together. A great majority of her population was Christian at the Roman Empire (and Orthodox at the Byzantine time), and Muslim at the Ottoman time and today. Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Churches, Judaism and some other religious movements as well as Islam still live in the country. This article, after briefly summarizing the history of Christianity in Kosovo, deals with the relations between Muslims and Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical churches past and today. It also evaluates the positive and negative aspects of the Muslim-Christian relations in Kosovo, and gives some observations about the future of these relations.
Balcanica XLV (2014)
Serbia, the Serbo-Albanian Conflict and the First Balkan WarAbstract: After the restoration of Serbia in 1830, the areas of medieval Serbia left out of her borders were dubbed Old Serbia – Kosovo, Metohija, Rascia (the former sanjak of Novi Pazar and the neighbouring areas). Old Serbia (from 1877 onwards the vilayet of Kosovo) was dominated by local Albanian pashas, whereas the Christian Orthodox Serbs and their villages were attacked and pillaged by Muslim Albanian brigands. The religious antagonism between Muslims and Christians expanded into national conflict after the 1878 Albanian League had claimed the entire “Old Serbia for Greater Albania”. The position of Christian Orthodox Serbs, who accounted for a half of the population at the end of the nineteenth century, was dramatically aggravated due to Muslim Albanians' tribal anarchy, Austria-Hungary's pro-Albanian agitation and, after 1908, frequent Albanian rebellions. All efforts of Serbia to reach a peaceful agreement with Muslim Albanian leaders in Old Serbia before the First Balkan War had ended in failure. The First Balkan War was the most popular war in Serbia’s history as it was seen as avenging the 1389 Battle of Kosovo which had sealed the Ottoman penetration into the Serbian lands. In October 1912, Serbia liberated most of Old Serbia, while Montenegro took possesion of half of the Rascia area and the whole of Metohija. While the decimated and discriminated Serb population greeted the Serbian and Montenegrin troops as liberators, most Albanians, who had sided with the Ottomans, saw the establishment of Serbian rule as occupation. Keywords: Serbia, Old Serbia,
The thousand-year long history of Serbia's troublesome province of Kosovo (Kosovo and Metohija) is a case study of conflicting narratives and opposing versions of history.The case of Kosovo became famous worldwide after the Kosovo Albanian minority in Serbia, within the wider federal, communist Yugoslavia, organized separatist movements, fully backed by communist Albania, openly demanding, since 1981, secession from Serbia, and claiming the status of a constituent nation. It was an announcement of the coming collapse of Titoist Yugoslavia in 1991 .The violent dismemberment of communist Yugoslavia, followed by the series of wars for Yugoslav succession (1992-1995), had its last chapter with the NATO bombing campaign against Serbia and FR of Yugoslavia in 1999,followed by the UN protectorate over Kosovo, administered by UNMIK under UN SC Resolution 1244 of June 1999, and militarily protected by the NATO-led KFOR. The following study, covering the period from the medieval times to unilateral proclamation of independence of Kosovo by the Kosovo Albanians in 2008, illustrated by a series of lesser known Kosovo-related documents, provides relevant historic insight into important elements of the Kosovo drama, in particular from Serbian, rarely quoted or deliberately neglected sources.
XV ve XVI. YÜZYILLARDA ERKEN OSMANLI IDARESINDEKI KOSOVA OZET: Kosova, Antik asirlardan Orta cagina kadar ceogradafi birimi bakimindan Dardania olarak adlandirilmaktadir. Dardania Krallığı 4-1. yüzyıllarında kendi devletine, idari sistemine askeri kuvvetlerine ve para birimine sahipti. Bu tarihten sonra, M.Ö. 168 yılında Dardania Roma İmperatorluğu'ndan işgal edilir. M.S. 395 yılında Roma İmperatorluğu ikiye bölünür. Dardania, Doğu Roma'nın hakimiyetine girer. Orta çağda, 850 - 1018 yıllar arasında Kosova, Bulgar Krallığı tarafından hükm edilir. 150 yıllık Bulgar hakimiyetinden sonra, Bizans Imperlatorlugu, 13. yüzyılın ortasina kadar Kosova üzerinde tekrar kendi hakimiyetini kurdu. 13. yüzyılın yarisinda Kosova Rashka (Raşka) Devletinden (Ortaçağ Sırbistan) işgal edilir ve 1389 yılına kadar onun hakimiyetinde kalır. 1389 Kosova Muharebesinden sonra 1454/55 yılında kadar paralel iki hakimiyetin olmasına rağmen Kosova Osmanlı Devleti'nin vasalı olur. Kosova, 1455 yılından 1912 yılına kadar Omanlı İmperatorluğu'ndan idare edilir. Osmanlı İdaresinde kendi nahiyeleriyle Vulçiterin (Vushtrri), Prizren, Üsküp (Shkup), Kalkandelen, Priştine (Prishtine) ve Dukagin sancakları oluşturulur. Kosova'da Osmanlı İdaresinin yerleşmesiyle, Orataçağ Sırb hakimiyeti boyunca pravoslav-ortodoks dinine zorla dönüştürülen Arnavutlar üzerinde islavlaşma süreci kademeli olarak sonlandırıldı. Arnavut halkı, Osmanlı toplumuna ve idari tımar sistemine entegre olmaya başlamasıyla, ekonomik ve kültürel müesseselerinin genel gelişimlerine ve cami, medrese, hamam, köprü, kale gibi laik ve dini nitelikli birçok eserin inşaasına katkıda bulunarak İslam dinini benimsemeye devam eder. Osmanlı Hakimiyeti'nin esnasinda, Batı Balkanlarda devamli Osmanlı idaresini İmperatorluğ'un memuru olarak Türk, Arnavutlar, Boşnyaklar ve digerliri, beraber yönetmişlerdir. Bu konu devamında daha ayrıntılı bir şekilde değerlendirip açıklanacak. Anahtar kelimeler: Kosova topraklari, Osmanli idaresi, sancaklar teskilati, timar sistemi, Arnavut halki’nin islamlastirmasi.
1840’lı ve1870’li yıllarda Osmanlılar Fransa’nın resmî eğitim modelini takip etmekteydi. Dolayısyla bazı araştırmacılar, Fransa’da din dersleri konusunda yaşanan ve dinle laiklik arasındaki dengeyle ilgili tartışmaların Tanzimat dönemine de özgü oldukları görüşünü ileri sürdüler. Bazıları ise Osmanlı ortamında bütün Batı Avrupa modellerinin belli değişmelere uğrayıp dinî özellikler de kazandıklarını vurguladılar. Makalenin amacı bu görüşlerisavunmak ya da reddetmek değildir. Fransız eğitim modelini, Osmanlı mekteplerini geliştiren girişimleri, Tunavilayeti mekteplerinde kullanılan din ve ahlak risalelerinin yardımıyla aşılanan liberal görüşleri tanıttıktan sonradin ve ahlak eğitimi hakkında en ilginç verileri değerlendirmektedir. TunaVilayeti mektepleri üzerinde odaklanılması Midhat Paşa’nın ilk eğitime katkısıyla ilgili çelişkili görüşlerinden kaynaklanmaktadır. Kaynaklardan bir kısmı Bulgaristan Millî Kütüphanesi’ne bağlı Oryantal bölümden, diğerleri aynı kütüphanenin dijital veritabanından faydalanılarak tespit edildi. Bir kısmı da İstanbul’daki Osmanlı arşivinden ve Ankara Üniversitesi gazeteler veritabanından elde edildi. Tuna Vilayeti mektepleriyle ilgili kaynaklar ise sadece bölgedeki ilk eğitim hakkında çok enteresan sonuçları da tespit ettirmektedir. Tuna Vilayetinde ilk eğitim reformları 1873’ün son baharında başlatılmıştır. Sonraki üç yıl içinde bazı şehirlerle kasabalarda hem yazı alıştırmalarına, hem de çağdaşlaştırılmış din ve ahlak görüşlerine önem veren büyük mektepler kurulmuştur. Ama 1877-1878 Rus-Osmanlı Savaşı’ndan önce öğrencilerin Vilayet Maarif Komisyonu’nun seçtiği din ve ahlak risalelerini okuyup okumadıkları belli değildir. Bu risalelerin yardımıyla çocuklara iman ve ibadetle birlikte toplumun yaşadığı çevre, vatan, mezhepler ve milletler hakkında bilgiler verilmiş, sultana sadakat ve Bab-ı Âli’nin emirlerine itaat aşılanmıştır. Bu yaklaşım, François Guizot’un görüşlerinin Tanzimat ortamında gerçekleştirilmesine ve Émile Durkheim’in betimlediği laik ve dinî ahlakın başarıyla uzlaştırılmasına bir örnektir. Yerli Müslüman topluluğunda ilk eğitime yönelik pragmatik bir yaklaşım Tuna vilayetinin kurulmasından önce ortadadır. Bab-ı Âli’nin buyruklarını tamamıyla yerine getiren ve özel girişimlere hakkı olmayan ilk valisi Midhat Paşa, istediyse de, ilk eğitimi geliştiren belli tedbirler alamamıştır. Çocukların çoğu Amme cüzünü okuduktan ya da elifba, ebced ve beş vakit namaz için gerekli duaları ezberledikten hemen sonra mektepleri terk etmektedir. Böylece başka derslerden haberdar olamamış, genel ahlak değerlerini ise gündelik yaşamdan öğrenmişlerdir.
Here I utilize the diverse body of historical and ethnographic materials as well as observations from ongoing research on religious practice and understandings in Albania. The study acknowledges that there is an ongoing return of religion in the public sphere under way in a post-communist setting. The implications of the observed revival draw our attention to the nature of religion in communist Albania. It is the latter theme that is explored here in more detail, with the support of ethnohistorical and ethnographic fieldwork data that inform our understanding of the extent to which religion may have survived in communist Albania as an underground expression of social life that was limited to the private domain.
International Conference Ottoman Legacy and Muslim Communities in Today's Balkans. Conference Proceedings. 2. edition. H. Eren (ed.), Istanbul. Balmed Yayınları
Surviving Elements of Ottoman legacy in the Balkans in Non-Muslim Communities and Cultures2011 •
This chapter (1.4.) provides historical examples of how different Albanian identities were moulded out of a complex cultural material. It also describes the emergence of an increasingly homogenising national identity in which religion was subordinated and eventually completely dispelled. With the demise of Communism and revival of religion in Albania, alternative identity discourses have resurfaced. The historical conceptualisations of religion and nation constitute the backdrop to contemporary Albanian debates on religion or nation. From the constructions of an Albanian national identity in the 19th century to the corroboration of a dominant one in the independent Albanian state, entirely different answers have been given to the question of who and what the Albanian nation has been, is, and should be. The purpose of this chapter is to present a range of identity constructions from the 19th century until today. Albanian identities have in different contexts been conceived as overlapping, commensurable, or mutually exclusive with other collective identities. The imagination of sameness, similarities, differences, and contrasts have mainly been conceived along religious, political, and linguistic lines. This includes both collective identities which have arisen among ethnic Albanians themselves, as well as group characterisations by outsiders, and the dynamic relationship among them. While some constructions have gained political influence and become official and even constitutional, others have been more peculiar and disappeared on the way. Others again have been marginalised, forced underground or held alive in subcultures. Book excerpt from Is the Albanian’s religion really «Albanianism»? Religion and nation according to Muslim and Christian leaders in Albania. Albanische Forschungen Series, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2012. (Draft copy) http://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/title_4092.ahtml
Raudvere C. (eds) Nostalgia, Loss and Creativity in South-East Europe. Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Battles of Nostalgic Proportion: The Transformations of Islam-as-Historical- Force in Western Balkan Reconstitutions of the Past2018 •
ULUDAĞ ÜNİVERSİTESİ İLAHİYAT FAKÜLTESİ DERGİSİ Cilt: 26 Sayı: 2 Yıl: 2017 ISSN: 1301-33-94 (Hakemli Bir Dergidir.)
Necrân'da Hıristiyanlık ve Hz. Muhammed'in Necrân Hıristiyan Din Adamlarıyla2017 •
Islam and Tolerance in Wider Europe (ed. Pamela Kilpadi)
Lessons from the Post-War BalkansPolitics, Religion & Ideology
In Hoc Signo Vinces: The politics of religion as a source of power and conflict2019 •
THE NATIONAL GALLERY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
THE NATIONAL GALLERY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT/ GALERIA KOMBËTARE PROJEKTI I HISTORISË GOJORE2018 •
Eastern Europe unmapped: Beyond borders and peripheries
Unmapping Islam in Eastern Europe Periodization and Muslim Subjectivities in the Balkans2017 •
Ekphrasis Studio
Public Arts Tirana/ Artistic Expressions of Past and Present2018 •
The Turkish Yearbook of International Relations
The Curious Case of Albanian Nationalism: the Crooked Line from a Scattered Array of Clans to a Nation-StateIn: “These were hard times for Skanderbeg, but he had an ally, the Hungarian Hunyadi”. Episodes in Albanian–Hungarian Historical Contacts. Ed. by Krisztián Csaplár-Degovics. Budapest, MTA BTK TTI, 2019. (Acta Balcano-Hungarica, 1.) 67–91.
The Catholic Missions and the Origins of Albanian Nation-Building at the Beginning of the 17th Century.Palgrave Macmillan
Faith and Politics in Kosovo: The Status of Religious Communities in a Secular Country2015 •
International Journal of Middle East Studies
CONTESTING THE EDGES OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: RETHINKING ETHNIC AND SECTARIAN BOUNDARIES IN THE MALËSORE, 1878–19122003 •