International

Polish Muslims will not pray for president

17.06.2009 08:39

Mosque in Bohoniki, east Poland

Poles belonging to Muslim community are calling for changes to a law dating back to 1936, obliging them to pray for the President and the Republic of Poland.

The law regulates the relationship between the state and the Muslim Religious Association and stipulates that Polish Muslims are obliged to pray for the Republic of Poland and its President every week during Friday service, while on national holidays they are bound to say a solemn service for the Republic of Poland, Poland’s President, Government and Army.

The Foreign Ministry, along with representatives of Polish Muslims, are working on a draft bill which will abolish the inter-war law and introduce profound changes to the legal status of Muslims in Poland.

Polish Muslims will be granted the right to take days off on Muslim holidays, Muslim marriages contracted in a mosque will have equal status to civil marriages and Muslim clergymen will be able to issue “halal” certificates, confirming that a product is permissible according to Islamic custom.

“In the light of the current law, Muslims in Poland are discriminated against,” says D. Pawel Borecki from the Religious Law Faculty at the University of Warsaw.

It is currently estimated that there are around 30,000 Muslims resident in Poland. (mg/pg)

Source: TVPinfo

Comments: 27 Add new comment

Munir Ahmad

17/06/2009 12:59:05

I must say as a Muslim that every Polish Muslim should love Poland as his motherland and to display his love he sould pray for the State of Poland regularly.His prayers should not be limited to Fridays only. He should also remain abiding the law of the land.According to the Koranic injunctions this is a sacred duty of every Muslim to try his best to serve the nation in every field of life.So I declare as the president and Imam of Ahmadiyya Muslim Association that we do not demand the change in the law as for as the prayer for the state is concerned.Other changes in the law may be done to avoid any discriminations of Muslims in Poland.
Munir Ahmad,
Imam and President
Stowarzyszenie Muzulmanskie AHMADIYYA
Dymna 17
02-411 Warsaw.
tel:022-8638892

Brad Zimmerman

17/06/2009 15:45:40

I do not have Polish citizenship (yet!) nor am I Muslim... but this change in the law sounds very positive. It is also good to hear Imam Munir Ahmad's comments, though personally I think that no one should have to pray for anything or anyone that they didn't wish to pray for.

True loyalty is earned. Any loyalty that is by law isn't loyalty at all.

anon

17/06/2009 16:39:15

this was a silly and archaic law that needed to be changed because the state can't regulate what a person prays for... polish muslims can still pray for poland or for who they like, even without this law... and seeing as our president is kaczynski, poland needs all the prayers she can get ; )

anon

17/06/2009 16:53:49

oh, and i'm no expert, but i thought islam forbade nationalism and called for a unity of believers under god, regardless of race, history, ethnicity and everything else that normally constitutes 'nation.' isn't this why arabs, turks, christians and jews lived under the ottoman caliphate, until the world war and the breaking up of the middle east into pieces to reward allies and import the european sense of nationalism?

Maciej Skiba

17/06/2009 18:02:24

First I must say I love your patriotism Munir Ahmad, any country with a loyal citizen like yourself should be considered honored... but I also agree with Brad, you should not be forced to pray to anything you don't want to. But if you like to continue I commend you for it. So many countries have citizens that should be considered traitors. (Like some people who shout death to the UK) or I have met several Americans hoping for America to fail. What is wrong with people these days. I am not a nationalist but some love for your home country should be given.

Ronald K. Westkovinski

18/06/2009 07:08:42

Do you not remember what King Sobieski did to save Europe from the Muslim invasion? The law should not be changed for individuals who are not even of Polish heritage living and enjoying the opportunity extended to them in this great land. They should follow the law, and if they don't like it they can catch the next LOT flight leaving for Baghdad. Being fully able to express their religious beliefs freely and enjoying their Mosques should be enough and they should appreciate this with gratitude and respect for the host country.

M. Zurawski

18/06/2009 07:45:17

@ R.K. Westkovinski.
You seem to remember what King Sobieski did as readily as you forget the hospitality and support of the Ottoman court to our thousands of political exiles after the partitions of our country. Or the Muslim light Calvary that fought under our banners at Grunwald. Or a dozen other examples.

Jasiek w japonii

18/06/2009 09:18:52

Rufus MacDonald and Ronald K. Westkovinski,

You cannot be careful enough about the religious culture of Poland. The Muslim Poles that are mentioned above are Lipka Tatars, some of whom were aristocrats of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and along with Christians and Jews traditionally comprised crucial part of the liberal Polish nation.

Henryk Siekiewicz, a Nobel Prize-winning novelist world famous for his novel “Quo Vadis” was of Lipka Tatar ancestry. One good point as to Lipka Tatars is that, unlike some of the other Muslims, they have NEVER been fanatics or extremists, never since they joined the Polish-Lithuanian nations in the Middle Ages until today. They only once revolted to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the early 17th century because the then it was Catholic Poles who were fanatic and extremist, and in two years they reconciled with the Commonwealth and pledged their allegiance to King Jan III Sobieski who secured the freedom of belief and to the nation. Then, as all the Polish aristocrats had the right of revolt, or Rokosz, Lipka Tatars' was not a treasonable act - it was utterly legal.

The Muslim Poles or Lipka Tatars have long been indivisible part of the Polish nation and heritage. You two are getting as extremist as the 17th century Jesuits were, who led to the completely unfruitful wars with Sweden and Moscow and eventually the Partition of Poland.

I am only against this part: "Muslim clergymen will be able to issue 'halal' certificates, confirming that a product is permissible according to Islamic custom." Lipka Tatars only respected haral and did not stick to the tenet, because they knew they should avoid religious extremism.

anna

18/06/2009 09:38:42

Ronald K. Westkovinski

I agree with you, and its not like muslims are forced to stay in Poland. If any section of the Polish law is too painful for them to tolerate, they most welcome to leave. No Islam country changes their laws to suit other religions!! So why do muslims expect other countries to change to their wishes ??

infidel

18/06/2009 10:51:26

Wake up and ship those muzzies back

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