The Bosnian media on Saturday quoted the Islamic dignitary as saying at the central Friday prayer in Sarajevo that "it is really ugly what kind of messages are being sent these days to Muslims in Europe."
Europe's attitude towards the highest values of Muslims, expressed through a minor newspaper in Denmark, would hardly be worth mentioning if it had not concealed something more dangerous, namely hatred against Islam and Muslims, Ceric said in the Begova mosque yesterday.
This is dangerous for Europe and Europe should be treated for this illness, the illness called Islamophobia, he added.
The leader of the Islamic community in Croatia, Sevko Efendi Omerbasic, has said that Muslims in Croatia together with Muslims all over the world should raise their voice against those who insult their Islamic values, including Prophet Muhammad.
The Jutarnji List daily on Saturday quoted Omerbasic as saying at the Friday prayer that Muslims should also be prudent, according to the tenets of the Qur'an.
Commenting on the offensive cartoon from the Danish paper which has angered Muslims worldwide, Omerbasic spoke about some historical events from the period when Islam was established.
In this context, he said that Muslims are allowed to defend themselves but that they should never be attackers, regardless of reasons.
He said that it was absurd to depict God's prophet as a warrior, and added that the latest events, unfortunately, had shown that the West where Islam was very frequently presented as a dangerous religion, still held many prejudices.
A Croatian Catholic dignitary, Hvar Bishop Slobodan Stambuk, has urged Catholics to follow the example set by Muslims who stood up for their religious values. During his sermon in the Adriatic resort of Dubrovnik on the occasion of the city's patron saint, the bishop supported Muslims' position.
We can see these days how our brothers in Abraham respond to insults levelled against their sacrosanct principles, the dignitary said praising their move to defend their values through diplomatic and state activities.