The National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is referred to as the ‘Memory of Srajevo’, has reopened its doors to visitors for the first time since it was destroyed by Serb forces in 1992 during the Bosnian war. The library, also known as the Vijecnica national library, will continue to hold Open Days up till July 31 everyday between 10.00-17.00 local time.
The library was once home to over six million books and archives, as well as works from Bosniak, Serb, Croat and Jewish writers and artists. In the fire which burned for three days as of August 25, 1992, which ultimately destroyed the building, over 155,000 handwritten works and almost two million books from the national archives vanished. Restoration was finally complete after 18 years on May 9, 2014.
MUSLIMS FLOCK TO SEE GIANT WOODEN QUR’ĀN IN INDONESIA
Thousands of visitors have been rushing to Indonesia to see the largest Qur’ān carved out on wood in Palembang, South Sumatra. Starting work on the giant wooden Qur’ān in 2002, a team of writers, carvers, carpenters and painters led by Ihsaniyah Islamic boarding school caretaker Syofwatillah Mohzaib began carving timber from the Tembesu tree, which is known to be termite-proof and durable.
Seven years and US$170,976 later, the project, named Al-Quran Al-Akbar (The Biggest Qur’ān) features 15 chapters of the Qur’ān carved on both sides of 315 revolving timber panels measuring 177cm x 140 cm. The structure, which is 5-storey high, will get even bigger as chapters 16 to 30 are currently being carved. Syofwatillah also hoped to build a special 11-storey building to house the wooden Qur’ān, which is currently in his boarding school.
PHOTOGRAPHER HIGHLIGHTS PLIGHT OF ITALIAN MUSLIMS
An Italian award-winning photographer, Nicolo Degiorgis, has demonstrated the contrast of the peace of prayer with the tension of politics in his new book, Hidden Islam, which focuses on how Muslims pray in Italy. The photographer highlights the problem Italian Muslims face in finding a suitable place for worship, leaving them with no choice but to pray in garages, gyms and shops. “In Italy the right to worship, without discrimination, is enshrined within the constitution. There are 1.35 million Muslims in Italy and yet, officially, only eight mosques in the whole country,” Martin Parr wrote in introduction to Nicolo Degiorgis’s book, which received an award at the Rencontres d’Arles photography festival.
ISLAMIC MARRIAGES TO BE OFFICIALLY RECOGNISED IN SOUTH AFRICA
The South African government has taken a historic step and provided the Islamic marriage opportunity to the country’s Muslim population, most of which came from Malia islands and have faced enormous difficulties for nearly 300 years. A hundred Imams were assigned in Cape Town to solemnise Islamic marriage, reports said on 11 July.
Imams go on negotiations with the government to renew former unrecognised marriages to official ones. Muslims’ marriage ceremonies in Cape Town organised in mosques or wedding ceremony halls. The crucial part is vocally expressing approval of the marriage by both sides. Imam confirms the marriage and the Qur’ān is read aloud.
FAR-RIGHT GROUP ‘INVADES’ MOSQUE IN LONDON
Britain First, a far-right group in the UK which on a number of occasions have ‘invaded’ mosques around the country, charged into a mosque in south-east London, where they gave the imam a seven-day warning to remove signs regarding gender segregation. The group’s so-called “Kent battalion activists” stormed into the mosque’s prayer hall with their shoes on, refusing requests from an elderly man to show respect to the place of worship, reports said on 16 July.
The group led by Paul Golding, a former British Nationalist Party councillor, and hardline evangelical Jim Dowson, who was once in charge of the party’s finances, have in the past admitted to pursuing a “holy war” on the streets of Britain on Channel Four News.