Welcoming speech by Prime Minister Edi Rama at the iftar dinner, hosted at the Palace of Congresses, with politicians, ministers, artists, doctors, teachers and professors, journalists, representatives of the Muslim community, as well as representatives of other religious communities:

Dear friends,
Sisters and brothers of the Islamic faith, and especially all of you who graciously accepted the invitation of mine and Linda’s to witness the spirit of brotherhood that fills the iftar table, welcome!

Today is a special iftar, also because on one hand, the image of this iftar is the image of the beautiful Ballie Mosque in Elbasan, which was also awarded an international prize for architecture. Meanwhile, today in Tirana, after many years of waiting, the great Namazgjas Mosque has finally opened its doors.

This traditional table, in all honesty, always gives me a nearly childlike sense of joy, and I can say that with a kind of naivety that I do not reproach myself for, I enjoy this moment of the renGlorious Month of Ramadan, when we are given the opportunity to feel good in our belief in the goodness of humanity, in the triumph of kindness, and in the positive flow of life.

In other words, on a day like this, life seems more beautiful and easier, while the injustices and ugliness of the times appear very surmountable and insignificant. But on days like this, I, as a non-Muslim, always think about the goodness of living in a country where the rituals of different faiths appear throughout the year as beautiful parts of the same necklace in the cloak of our nation.

You should know that in every booty you gather, one-fifth belongs to Allah, His Messenger, the relatives, orphans, the poor, and travelers in need. This one-fifth is the spoil of the great war, not of those jihadist farces of wars whose ghosts even some intellectuals tremble at, whether here among us or in Europe and elsewhere.

They are the kind of people who, as an Albanian Muslim scholar wrote more than 80 years ago, do not want to distinguish between the religion and those who practice it, things that sometimes agree but other times do not.

The system might be good, but sometimes the one who accepts this system does not act as the accepted system advises, and therefore becomes bad. Likewise, sometimes the opposite happens.

Meanwhile, in Europe, since Europe is today the most important key topic of this moment in Albanian life, when the doors of the European Union have opened as a golden opportunity for us to cross their threshold, we often hear that they don’t know what to say about the religion of Muslims, while we in Albania know very well what we are talking about.

One-fifth is the hostage of the pure soul to which we owe the creative and life-giving power; it is the sacrifice dedicated to that power, precisely at the moment when we take the first bite of iftar, after a day devoted to people, to family, to community, and to the homeland.

This is better understood through the words of the exegesis of the Qur’an, as written by the great Haki Sharofi. The holy war dedicated to the defense of the homeland and the ideal of the nation, which is freedom and sovereignty, places no personal goal or interest before it, nor any ideology or party, but only the common goal of the entire nation. With this approach, the holy freedom is gained, to follow the path of God without hindrance, to practice the high faith.

One-fifth, the spiritual, the truth, the sacrifice, the conscious action in service to the community and above its superior interests, is precisely the spoil earned with effort and sweat from this holy war, in the trenches of which, for our brothers, for our children, for our Albania, we must stand united and undivided.

It is the superior interest of this country to claim what it has been entitled to for centuries, the right to dwell under the roof of the house where this nation has its foundations, as part of the European community, and which for decades has been identified with the name European Union. Although in a few years, the European Union will have around 60 million Muslims as its citizens, although in France, Germany, and the UK, and even more in Switzerland and some other countries, the Muslim population is several times higher than the total number of Albanian Muslims in the Balkans, and although for us, Albania, this Muslim majority does not seem to be a problem, I want to share with you tonight my conviction that the Muslims of Albania are not only not a problem, but they are an added value to our existence, a country worthy of being the newest members of the European Union.

And today, Europe needs as many loyal citizens and partners of the Islamic faith as possible, such as the Albanian Muslims, but also the five pillars of their wisdom. To recover internationally and strengthen its geopolitical security and its faded strategic profile, Europe today needs Turkey and other Middle Eastern allies more than Turkey and its allies need today’s Europe.

For the same reasons, the EU today needs the Balkan states and their partially Muslim peoples, but fundamentally and entirely European, as much as we need the European Union. An ancient people with considerable experience, we Albanians of religious brotherhood, as Pope Francis has baptized us, did not wait for secularism to be written on cards to implement it as part of our genetic code, a privilege also thanks to our centuries-old religious diversity.

Although our state is indeed secular, its secularism seems to me to imply that it is not completely indifferent, but rather that it actively participates in shaping the spiritual and moral education of the people.

Secularism among us should have a different meaning: the state must protect all religions and ensure the harmonization of all different elements, but it should not tolerate the suppression of religious sentiments, as such a thing would lead to undesirable consequences.

Thus, religious brotherhood is an indigenous Albanian product, just as a certain form of secularism was an indigenous French product. It cannot be viewed as an exportable model, either in Europe or elsewhere. However, it is an objective reality: if this religious brotherhood, for which Albanian Muslims have given and continue to give so much, offering lessons in humility and in the construction of a healthy nation, is properly reflected, then Albania offers Europe a different model of relations under the banner of its community, embracing all the religions we practice here, including Islam.

For the Albanian reflection of brotherhood to have the vocation of serving Europe beyond our borders, this is something that will take time to digest, even though it is in everyone’s interest. However, that Islam, despite being seen as fatalism, fanaticism, and a pull towards degradation for a European people like ours, is in fact one of the elements that further justifies the European identity of our people, should leave no doubt for anyone.

Centuries before the West embraced the principles of racial equality and overturned entire caste systems, it was Islam that, in theory and in practice, taught the East, including Europe, that whether white or of color, born into poverty or obscurity, before God you are an equal to your peers. Long before the words ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’ were engraved in marble, it was Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who engraved in the believer’s heart the command to brotherhood.

In tradition, writes another Albanian Muslim scholar from a century ago, it is noteworthy that the great Prophet used the word ‘brotherhood,’ not ‘unity.’ This means to be brothers, not to be united. The word ‘brotherhood’ is broader than the word ‘unity.’ Where there is brotherhood, it is not just the case of one state uniting with another, making military treaties to fight alongside each other against a common enemy and then being called united. But it cannot be said that they are brothers, because one day they may break the treaty and turn their weapons against each other. However, in true brotherhood, this cannot happen. These are the commands of our noble faith, which guide us towards the best, for the best contains goodness within it.

For us, unity with Europe is brotherhood, it is a bond in life, it is a bond in peace, it is a bond in a common home. Europe calls upon Albanians of the Islamic faith just as their faith calls them to the best, that is, to brotherhood, because goodness, unity, as the scholar I quoted says, inherently implies the best, as it transcends in quality and superiority.

To conclude, allow me to bring here a call that today sounds vital, both for Albanians and for Europe. A call from the blessed words of a hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him.

Do not turn your backs on each other, do not sever the bond between you, be brothers, O servants of God.

May this call be accepted,
May the fasting and prayers of all our Muslim sisters and brothers present here be accepted.
Thank you!