Emina Mešić, head of the Religious education service of the Mesihat of the Islamic Community in Croatia, stands out because of her various achievements during many years of work. The introduction of Islamic education in preschool institutions, participation in preparing the curriculum for Islamic religious education in primary and secondary schools, and the editing of numerous textbooks and manuals are just some of the projects in which she took part as the head of the religious education service and an external associate of the Education and Teacher Training Agency at the Ministry of Science and Education. Emina was born in Zenica. After completing her education in Sarajevo and starting a family, she moved to Zagreb and found her place within the Islamic community in Croatia. I think that I inherited life energy through my mother’s female line that has roots in Herzegovina, and inner peace from my father, being at the same time deeply aware that these gifts indeed came from the Almighty Lord, for which I am immensely grateful. Although she is sometimes difficult to keep up with, there is nothing my mother would not do for others, nor does she shies away from obligations. My father is quiet and calm, and thanks to the combined upbringing I received, I learned to be persistent, determined, and patient. My husband and I complement each other, continues Mešić, both in our private life and in our work. We build marriage and relationships in our family based on love, mutual respect, trust, understanding, and support, and this harmony is a priceless treasure that we share. The book Islamski enciklopedijski almanah (Islamic Encyclopedic Almanac), which was published to mark the 100th anniversary of the recognition of Islam’s equality with other religions, offers information about persons who are responsible for the development of the Islamic community in Croatia. Here, Mešić found herself alongside those who distinguished themselves through their scientific, cultural, artistic, sports, and other contributions.
Different narratives have been created about religion in the public sphere and the functioning of religious communities in communism and socialism, as well as about the position of women within the framework of socialist ideology. You were born and raised in the former Yugoslavia. What was it like for you to be a young Muslim woman back then and how did it shape you into the person you are today?
I had a wonderful childhood. My sister and brother, alongside many children from our mahallah, grew up under the joint care of our parents and the effendi who guided us with his authority, so thanks to that I enrolled in Gazi Husrev Bey’s Madrasa in Sarajevo. I didn’t feel the lack of religious upbringing and education, our upbringing at home was based on Islam. We attended maktab four times a week (author’s note: a type of elementary school in the Muslim world), and some subtler topics related to identity were not discussed much. I guess the elders knew why and were more aware of what you were asking. In the 7th or 8th grade, instead of the Serbian-Croatian language, we started learning Bosnian, without ever being explained why. When I enrolled in the Madrasa (author’s note: Islamic religious school), some members of my immediate family protested, wondering what I would do in my life with that kind of education. It wasn’t until I put on the hijab at the beginning of my second high school year, which was natural and spontaneous considering my family upbringing and the religious school I attended, that I realized how different I was from other girls my age you meet on the streets. Even in Madrasa, not all girls wore hijab. It was not very common to see a covered woman on the street either. From where I went to the Madrasa, there was only one girl who wore a headscarf, and wherever I appeared I was the only one marked by hijab, and only then did I realize what challenges lay before me. Sometimes I would retreat to a safe zone, other times life situations forced me to push through. Furthermore, the idyllic childhood and early youth were cut off by war events, fear, the loss of close relatives and friends, and the interruption of schooling, all of which contributed to growing up. At the age of 16, I started volunteering and working with refugees, and my biggest fear was that I wouldn’t be able to continue my education because of the war. After the tunnel was dug under the runway in Sarajevo, when everyone who had an opportunity fled from Sarajevo, I returned in 1994 to continue my education. Anyone who has not been in the Sarajevo Tunnel cannot imagine what it looked like. The journey from Zenica to Sarajevo took 29 hours. I lived in a free Bosnian-held territory, so for the first time, I saw the devastation of war, burned villages, destroyed mosques, fresh cemeteries… All of this contributed to me growing up and maturing faster, and shaped me into the person I am today, as well as some additional trials in life, so I immensely appreciate freedom, peace, education, and every possibility to work and contribute to good.
Women in Islam are often portrayed stereotypically, and many are not familiar with examples of emancipated and successful women from the formative period of Islam. To continue this conversation, can you give examples of the most significant female voices in the history of Islam, or important female figures, and briefly explain how the female gender is viewed by Qur’an?
First of all, we must keep in mind that Islam teaches the fundamental equality of men and women. There are numerous ayahs (verses or utterances) in the Qur’an addressed to believers of both sexes. Almighty God, warns both male and female sinners, dishonest men and dishonest women! According to Islamic teaching, members of both sexes have the same rights and obligations in terms of doing good and preventing evil, and equal rewards are promised to those who are worthy regardless of gender. So God, who knows the essence of people best, has given women the highest possible status in Islam. The Qur’an brought women a new position in society and gave them rights that they could only dream of before Islam – it gave them the direct right to inheritance, ownership, the status of witnesses in court, and the right to divorce. It also passed an explicit ban on violence against female children and women, as well as a ban on forced marriage. Everything is subordinated to woman in Islam, because she, not man, is ordained by God to bring new life into the world, which is the most glorious task there is. On the other hand, the Qur’an precisely prescribes her specific duties following her nature. During the time of the prophet Muhammad and the first caliphs (author’s note: regent, the supreme leader of Muslims), when lived the greatest generation of people who ever walked the Earth, women were not excluded from any social activity. Economically independent, like the entrepreneur Khadija, the Prophet’s wife, women could publicly show their skills in different niches of life. The Prophet himself raised the first generations of Muslims in this manner: The most ardent believers among you are those with the best conduct, and the best of you are those who treat their wives accordingly. However, the fact is that some Muslims, with their un-Islamic attitude towards women, are degrading that status and sending the world a completely wrong picture regarding the position of women in Islam. In many Muslim societies, women are not offered adequate education or given the status guaranteed by the Qur’an, so the wrong practice of Muslims is automatically equated with Islam. For good reason, one may ask if the subjugation of women is not the result of Islamic teaching, then where do such gross violations of women’s rights come from in the Muslim world today?
As for the most significant women in the history of Islam, how extensive this subject is, is best illustrated by the example of the ten-year research of Dr. Muhammed Akram Nedwi, a former research scholar at the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies, on female hadith narrators (author’s note: hadith, an individual saying, words, actions, and the silent approval of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) which resulted in a collection of more than 40 volumes and 8,000 biographical records about female scholars, which serves as a testament of the important role of women in the preservation and development of Islamic learning since the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Let’s just remember Khadija, the Prophet’s honorable wife, who was the first to believe him and support him in establishing Islam, which the Prophet often emphasized even after her death. Then Hafsa bint Umar, the daughter of Caliph’Umar ibn al-Khattab, who was entrusted with the first written copy of the Qur’an for safekeeping, which indicates her abilities and character, but also the enormous trust that the Sahabah (Companions) of the Prophet (contemporaries and friends of the Prophet Muhammad) and distinguished scholars had in her without questioning the fact that she is a woman. Let’s just imagine a situation when a woman during the khutbah (a sermon on Fridays and Eid preached by an imam in a mosque) opposes the caliph, asking him: Are you going to deny us what the Prophet left us?, and the righteous caliph answers: The woman is right, ‘Umar was wrong!
Today, in the context of the current world championship in Qatar, I will draw attention to an apt example of a successful woman who, by her very appearance, captures the attention of the whole world, and has succeeded as a Muslim woman in many fields in her own country. We are talking about Moza bint Nasser, who has been a leader in social and educational reforms both in Qatar and abroad for years. She heads the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, and she has launched the Education Above All Foundation intending to educate ten million children around the world. This campaign’s budget is one billion dollars, and half of the budget of her foreign aid foundation is intended for education. I recommend exploring her rich biography and the contribution she makes to her homeland and the world.
Considering all said, the issue of hijab is still one of the most challenging, while the media often describe the fact that women wear it as a phenomenon of constructing and challenging identity. What does the Qur’an say about the hijab and what role does the hijab play in your identity as a Muslim woman?
The essence of the hijab is best illustrated by the Qur’anic verse: O Prophet! Ask your wives, daughters, and believing women to draw their cloaks over their bodies. In this way, it is more likely that they will be recognized “as virtuous” and not be harassed. And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. The followers of Islam have full trust in their Lord and know that he, through his regulations provides them with protection, satisfaction, and the path to ultimate happiness, both in this world and in the next. The same is with the regulation on hijab, which has the role of protecting and underlining that the value of a woman lies in her personality, nobility, religion, beauty of her intellect, and morals. Hijab has its own requirements, which are that it covers the whole body except for the face and hands and that the clothes are not tight, short, or transparent. There are numerous prejudices regarding this, most often based on misunderstanding and non-acceptance of something different. Under these demands, women sometimes adapt their hijab to the extent that it loses its meaning based on the Qur’an. Although the hijab is often portrayed as a symbol of oppression, which is the result of prejudice and the imposition of contemporary trends, the hijab is my identity, a sign of belonging to Islam, my choice, and the right that does not endanger anyone. I’ve been wearing it proudly since I was 16 and it has never been an obstacle, even during education, employment, marriage, the birth of children, travel, hobbies, and social engagement in a predominantly non-Muslim society… In fact, it has always protected me and sent a message about my preferences and values that I cherish.
What inspires you in your daily work and what have you been working on for the last decade?
I am inspired by faith, to do my best, to give my maximum every day, and to take every opportunity for doing good… This is how I try to raise children, to inspire them with noble ideas: If you are given the opportunity to do good, if someone asks you for a favor, be happy that Allah has chosen you to help someone in need. If you are the answer to someone’s prayer, do it with enthusiasm. Allah will not remain indebted, do not look back even if people do not thank you! As for my profession, we have recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of Islamic religious education in the Croatian educational system, so I have done a detailed analysis. For the last decade, I have been at the head of the Religious educational service, and I had the opportunity to continue the processes that were well-established and led by our mufti. It is difficult to describe it all, so I will only list the successfully implemented projects in the field of religious education in the last ten years, such as the inclusion of Islamic religious education competitions in the Timetable of School Competitions and Gatherings, the planning and implementation of numerous competitions, from school level to international ones, the introduction of Islamic education in preschool institutions and the approval of the Program of Islamic education for children of early and preschool age, which I authored, by the Ministry of Science and Education. Next, it is important to highlight my participation in the Comprehensive Curricular Reform, in which I led working groups of experts for curricula, education of religious teachers, recording of lessons for distance learning, writing new textbooks and teachers’ books, and the result of all these activities is the Islamic Religious Education Curriculum for Elementary Schools and High Schools, Islamic Religious Education Curriculum for Secondary Vocational Schools, twelve new textbooks for primary and secondary schools, which I edited, over 500 video lessons for distance learning, and three methodical manuals for teachers of Islamic religious education. In addition to organizing numerous seminars, and participating in symposia and conferences, I proudly highlight the filming of the documentary Islamic Religious Education in Croatia, which I co-organized, produced, and wrote a script, together with my valuable colleague Ernad Pandžić from TV BIR.
And all this as a woman with the hijab. It is not difficult to build a house when it has sound foundations, in good cooperation with colleagues, and with strong support from superiors. I am very grateful to everyone.
In your work as a religious and educational worker, you meet many other women. It is known that women are more successful in creating connections and networking. However, do we use it enough to cooperate, to exchange our knowledge and experience, and also to empower and support one another?
Essentially, I work with male colleagues daily, not female ones. It is unusual, even in the Islamic community, that woman is at the head of the religious educational service. In Croatia we break down stereotypes in this regard as well. I certainly cooperate with female colleagues. Wherever the need arises to contribute through exchanging knowledge and experience, or through my activities and initiatives, I am happy to do so. I am currently leading a team of female religious teachers who are working on the Manual for the Islamic Education of Early and Preschool Children, which will consolidate ideas and give recommendations for working with the younger ones. During the migrant crisis, I organized a group of women who, through their daily activities, helped hundreds of refugees in integration, language learning, and religious studies, as well as in humanitarian activities, solving status issues, helping children to study… Riyasat of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Department of marriage and family is doing great things in terms of women’s networking. Starting next year, we are joining them with our existing activities and we will be developing new ones, so this will be an opportunity for better cooperation and support among women.
What is the ratio of women’s votes in the Parliament of the Islamic Community and in the Mesihat, but also in other institutions operating within it, and how do you comment on the involvement of women in decision-making processes?
The Parliament and Mesihat of the Islamic Community in Croatia are legislative and representative bodies, respectively. If we look quantitatively at the number of members, every 4th member of the Parliament is a woman, and every 5th in Mesihat. From a qualitative point of view, I think it is more important that the voice of women is heard, so it is good that we have representatives who can influence the movements within the Islamic community from women’s perspective of looking at challenges. Most of our majlis (author’s note: local organizational unit of the Islamic community) employ muallimas (author’s note: religious teachers) who refine the activities of the entire congregation with their work. In the entire Islamic community, the number of employed men and women is almost equal. The question is how much women themselves want to be active in certain processes. Can we all do more and better together? We certainly can. I personally appreciate that the Islamic community allows me to contribute in different fields, but also respects my decision to put my family and other personal priorities first. Although I am a workaholic and the type of person who will run through a brick wall to reach a goal, at the interview for this job I said that I cannot keep up with the pace of my male colleagues and that this should not be expected of me. In this manner, I am in favor of respecting the differences between men and women, and these are the reasons why I have a critical attitude toward the emancipation of women as we know it today. The right to equality? Yes. But not at the expense of women where they will compete in endurance with men at the expanse of their nature, preferences, and needs.
Certain rights acquired earlier seem to be taken for granted, and the term feminism often finds a negative echo in the wider Muslim community, pointing out that women’s rights are given in the Qur’an anyway. Do you identify yourself as a feminist and do you think that the concepts of Islam and feminism are (in)compatible?
It depends on how you define feminism. The first feminist demands were related to achieving equal opportunities in education, employment, and public actions. During the 19th century, the emphasis was on the struggle for women’s suffrage, then on the liberation of women from the shackles of the home and the exclusive role of housewives. Today we can read about radical, liberal, modern, gender, social, black, and lesbian feminism… I think that all of these lead in the wrong direction. I am not in favor of any extremes, divisions, or taking opposing sides with men, whether in the family, society or at work. Of course, I will fight for equality and justice, not only mine and not by myself, but I also expect it from my father, brother, husband, sons, colleagues… If you mean that kind of feminism, then it is compatible with Islam and my beliefs. I am against all other interpretations. God’s law is universal, certain rules that benefit us today and harm us tomorrow can certainly not be taken from it and revised.
For centuries, men have dominated the interpretation of sacred texts, sources of Islam, and Islamic heritage in general. In this context, how important is it to have female theologians and why?
If by the term theology, we mean a systematic talk about God and the relationship between God, man, and the world, there is no obstacle for women to engage in this type of science. Venerable Aisha was the best authority on Sharia after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. The first Muslims learned from her and asked her when they were in doubt about Sharia law. One of the Companions said: I have never seen a more learned woman than Aisha, she was the best one in discussions. Her example shows us the importance of women’s education and the Prophet’s support in this regard, and the attitude of the first generations of Muslims who accepted her as a scientist and educator without diminishing her knowledge because she is a woman. Thank God, lately, we have more and more highly educated Muslim women, both in secular and religious sciences. Also, a large number of hafizas, memorizers of the Qur’an, guarantee the development of Islamic thought from the perspective of the female gender.
Which instances do you see as those that could lead to a discussion related to women’s rights and their role in history, and what message would you send to Muslim women?
I see a greater benefit in upbringing and education than the discussion itself, and in addition to educational institutions, the most important role is again played by the mother and the family that raises both male and female children. Raising not only sons and daughters but prospective husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, useful members of society, and the future of the human race. If they do not fail and succeed in raising their children to respect each person with all their differences and distinctions, there will be no problem with anyone’s rights, and not only with those of women. My message would be that a properly raised and educated woman can change the world, and the first step is to empower yourself. Study useful sciences, learn foreign languages, develop skills that are in demand in the labor market, and be financially independent! I would not limit my message to women and girls only, I also want to tell young men and grown men to be responsible towards women, to look at them with the same favor and understanding that they look at their mothers, sisters, and daughters. The Prophet himself, on the Farewell Pilgrimage, as a last part of his inheritance said: Be truthful to God regarding women, you have been entrusted with a huge legacy!
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