Ramadan Bairam is the Turkish name for the holiday also known as Eid Al-Fitr, which the Muslims celebrate for three days marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. This year, Ramadan Bairam is observed on 3, 4 and 5 November in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Addressing the gathered in the mosque in the Croatian capital, Omerbasic expressed satisfaction with a growing number of Muslims who decide to fast during Ramadan.
Omerbasic, however criticised some media in Croatia, particularly some newspapers, over what he said were a large number of attacks they recently levelled against Islam and Islamic values.
He also expressed his disapproval of a growing number of attempts to politicise Islam and its organisations.
"There are many who would like to make the Muslim religious rights and freedoms conditional on rights and freedoms in the Near East or somewhere else, forgetting at the same time that Muslims together with others fought for the reached standards in the overall human rights and freedoms as well as for democracy and made great sacrifices for their homeland," he said.
According to him, it is very important that the Islamic community in Croatia is committed to cherishing good and cordial relations with other religious communities, primarily with those stemming from Christianity and Judaism.
This is our Islamic characteristic, no matter what reactions could come from the other sides, Omerbasic said.
He recalled that at the start of this month of Ramadan, Croatia began accession negotiations with the European Union. In light of the well-known standpoints of Europe towards religions and religious institutions, including the Islam, Omerbasic stressed that the forthcoming period would be also a great challenge to the Islamic community in Croatia.
New obligations and duties would be bigger as Croatian Muslims are part of the indigenous European Muslims who are expected to accept the European approach to the religion and its institutions, he added.
The dignitary recalled that Croatian authorities and the Islamic leadership in the country had recently signed a protocol on spiritual guidance for Muslim believers serving with the Croatian Armed Forces.
Now the two sides are to define a protocol on spiritual guidance for Muslims in hospitals and similar institutions.
The head of the Islamic community in neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mustafa Ceric, who held the service in Begova Mosque in Sarajevo, called for moral revival and restoration of dialogue with an aim to redress obvious injustices and lessen growing differences in the society as well as to combat crime and corruption in the country.
During his sermon on the occasion of Ramadan Bairam, Ceric said that the society in Bosnia-Herzegovina needed a comprehensive moral revival and more justice. He also put an emphasis on the family as a pillar of the society.