"We find any kind of aggressiveness unacceptable," Ceric told reporters in Sarajevo while presenting a resolution from the last session of the Islamic community leadership, which warns about the danger of divisions among Bosnian Muslims as a result of attempts by different groups and individuals to question the authority of the Islamic community in the country and its centuries-long tradition of practicing Islam.
The resolution was adopted in light of a conflict among Muslims in Novi Pazar in the southwestern Serbian region of Sandzak, which escalated ten days ago, when one person was killed and several persons were injured in a conflict caused by a dispute over the interpretation of Islam.
Ceric said that there were no persons or groups in Bosnia that would be aggressive to such an extent or willing to use weapons, but he underlined that those who try to impose rules for practicing Islam that are different from the rules used by Bosnian Muslims are causing division among the faithful and questioning "the institutional Islam" that has been practiced in the country since the end of the Ottoman empire.
Ceric would not name any individual or group, saying that this would probably be the next step should the messages of the Islamic community be ignored.
It is not disputable that this criticism was directed at the so-called Wahhabis, who brought their Islamic teachings to Bosnia during the war, mostly through the mujahedeen fighters from countries like the Saudi Arabia.
In an interview with the national TV network BHT 1 two weeks ago, the leader of the mujahedeen fighters who continued to live in Bosnia after the war, Abu Hamza, openly accused Bosnian Muslims of heresy, claiming that they practiced "Communist Islam".
"Those who come to live in Bosnia-Herzegovina should know that the rules of the Islamic community are observed here. Those who understand that are welcome, and those who don't should not stay here," Ceric said in a comment on this statement.
The leadership of the Islamic community in March this year adopted a conclusion underlining its determination to protect the uniqueness of the centuries-long tradition of Bosnian Muslims and called on all imams and religious education teachers to be consistent in relaying the institutional teachings of Islam. His appeal was also directed at Muslims in other countries in the region, including Croatia.
Since the warning did not yield any results, the Islamic leadership adopted the resolution, with Ceric announcing further steps if necessary.
Ceric said that all mosques in Bosnia-Herzegovina were under the control of the Islamic community, and added that those who did not respect traditional Islam were probably meeting in other places to promote their world views.