By Iman Kouvalis & Maria Zain
Wed. Oct. 22, 2008


A few sites trickled in, reversion stories and a video or two, are what came to my mind when I thought about launching Greeks Rethink blog for the first time," explained Iman Kouvalis, the project's founder.

Kouvalis, a Greek Muslim living in Canada is well-versed in community development in the country of her residence, has become interested in Muslims living in Canada, the United States of America, the UK, Australia, Germany, and
of course in Greece.

Kouvalis believes that Muslims are scattered around the world and are "being so far away from the country that they call home." Furthermore, Kouvalis realizes that others are looking for the same thing — to be united under the umbrella of Islam and to create an effective community that would wipe off any misconceptions about Greek Muslims. Iman then stopped thinking about the impossible and decided to create the first global online Greek- Muslim
Community.

Greeks Start to Rethink

"Is there a Greek- Muslim Community? This is not possible, why would a Greek become a Muslim?", a cynic would ask. Many who are unfamiliar with Islam and its universal principles and outreach may not even fathom the existence of Islam in Greece, a predominantly Christian country. "Contrary to a common misconception brought to us, when we become Muslims, we do not transform into Arabs or Turks."

"We are proud to keep our Greek heritage and connection because Islam allows us to do so," she explains.

To debunk further misunderstandings about both Islam and its Greek followers,Greeks Rethink blog is built to establish a dynamic online global Greek Muslim forum. Simply the project will be in the form of a blog and an online forum that
is updated with all Greek Muslim-related news in the form of societal issues and articles on how Islam affects daily lives of the Greek Muslims. Of course, being on the internet has led the "Greeks Rethink Blog" to be noticeable to the whole spectrum of readers, including those who are unwelcoming or even hostile to ideas relating to Islam. Heated debates over the Ottoman-Greek rivalry — a war declared by the Ottoman Empire after the Greek occupation of Crete in 1897, are very common in this blog. Furthermore, there are non-Muslim Greeks who still use the blog to stress the idea that Muslim Greeks are in fact Turks or Arabs pretending to be Greeks.

"I welcome all types of comments because one of our main purposes is to clarify the true meaning of Islam directly from the original sources," Iman reveals the grave distortion of Islam in the West.

"We have an interactive Q&A section so non-Muslims could ask questions openly as I believe transparency builds trust and provides a clearer perspective of intentions, thoughts, beliefs, spirituality and inspirations."

She even has higher hopes; "In the future, I would like to cooperate with Greek Muslim leaders as well as with government officials in Greece to help build and support organized communal systems, and to provide Muslims with services such as; publication, activities' development and education."

Muslims in Greece
Athens is a home for 700,000 Muslims, comprised mostly of Arab and Pakistani immigrants as well as Greek converts who converted to Islam either through marriage or their own curiosity and findings. Currently, a long awaited Hellenic mosque is about to be established and the cocktail of Muslim cultures have agreed that their prayers will soon be
performed in their proper place. The Greek authorities are aware of such arrangements and even of the unofficial praying places, but they have done nothing to forbid congregations. Previously, `Eid prayers have been used to be
held at the Olympic Stadium of Athens (OAKA), assembling prayers of thousands multi-national, multi-cultural Muslims.

The Greek Constitution states that freedom of religion is allowed to the parameter of proselytism and it's illegal to convince others to follow a certain faith. Though this may seem as a hindrance to da`wah work for some Muslims, it
acts as a protection for Muslims from any forceful or unwarranted influence of other religions. In fact, the Constitution of Greece, in this context, is aligned with the "no compulsion" tenet in Islam, where no Muslim can forcefully be converted into another non- Islamic religion. This is not a barrier to da`wah work, but on the contrary, it encourages Muslims to behave in a daily Islamic manner to demonstrate the beauty and equity of Islam.

"The Muslim community in Athens is always open to everyone," says Anna, a Greek convert living in Athens. "We have open and above board activities, so many Muslims are a preferred option when it comes to job recruitment because they are honest, have good manners and are integrated into the Greek society."


Anna, who is also a manager of Bridge of Civilizations , publishes a bi-monthly newspaper about Islam addressing major bookstores, Greek officials, embassies and the public. She is an extremely active Greek Muslim. Moreover, Anna always works on improving the good relationship between the Greek Muslims and the Greek government.

"The Greek government is aware of everything that is going on in the world. They treat Muslims like immigrants and they know that Greek immigrants are spread all over the world. The only arising trend in Athens from this fact is a fine,
educated and respected Greek Muslim Community that will make all Muslims proud of their faith." In fact, the mosque that is currently being built in Athens is fully sponsored by the Greek State and the European Union. No private funds were needed for the project to be completed. What is especially convenient is the location of this mosque; which is very close to the Metro station Eleonas in the centre of Athens. "The new mosque move has been widely welcomed," Anna adds, explaining that the original mosque was once farther away. "Even the Greek Church and the Ministry of National Education and Religions support this move."

Personal Aspirations
"Our association used to be a branch of the Arabic-Hellenic Centre for Civilization and Culture but now, with more people interested, we have formed our own independent association," says Anna. She herself was converted to Islam
after getting married to a Muslim man.

With the larger picture now in mind, Anna talks about educating Greeks about Islam as one of her association’s main objects. "Many people are interested. We want to show what Islam is about. It is not just about how great Islam is but, furthermore, they need to know Islam's contribution to science and how Muslims once saved the Ancient Greek Sciences."

It is really a "call for having a Greek rethink. We want to show aspects of Islam in real life, not theory."

Similarly, Iman hopes to be able to work with Greek translators in order to disseminate more information about Islam to her fellow citizens. Her main concerns with the Greek community, both Muslims and non-Muslims, lie in the scarcity of Greek-materials on Islam. A very small number of Islamic books have been translated into Greek and even fewer Greek authors exist. In fact, one of the very few books that were translated to Greek is the Qur'an.

Now Muslims like Iman and Anna are committed to rebuilding the glory of Islam that reigned for over 400 years of Caliphate in Greece. Greek Muslims have come a long way to the rethink strategies of da`wah work. Greek Muslims' dreams are quickly turning into a reality; thanks to the availability of the internet, supportive state governments and practising Muslims connected through an online forum like www.greeksrethink.com.


Iman Kouvalis is a Greek business owner and former Vice-Principal who specializes in guiding Muslims to structure and organize their communities for the spiritual, social and da'wah development. She is the daughter of Greek parents who, after researching in comparative religion, chose to convert to Islam in 2000. Since then, she has led numerous community events and projects spreading and clarifying the message of Islam. Kouvalis is now based in Canada.

Maria Zain is a Malaysian Muslim writer. She has published over 100 articles worldwide with a keen focus on da`wah work. Zain strived to support publications that aim at building a progressive Ummah.
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Many Modern Greeks believe Greek-Macedonians live in Macedonia
Risto Stefov
October 18, 2008

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/77999

By Macedonia I mean the 51% part of Macedonia that is currently under Greece,the part of Macedonia Greeks call the "Greek Province of Macedonia". The part of Macedonia the Greek armies invaded and occupied in 1912 and partitioned in 1913.

In 1928 Greece declared to the world that 98% of the population living in Greece was pure Greek and 2% were Muslim Greeks. So where did these so-called "Greek-Macedonians" come from? But wait a minute? What is a "Greek-Macedonian"? Is it a person who has one parent Greek and the other Macedonian? If that is the case then where did these Macedonians in Greece come from? Was it not Greece that declared, by its own admission, that "there is no such thing as Macedonians"? So who and what are these so-called "Greek-Macedonians"? Are they Greek settlers who happened to live in Greek occupied Macedonia?

To be honest with you not even those people who call themselves "Greek-Macedonians" really know who and what they are. This phenomenon, like a virus, sprang up just before the Republic of Macedonia declared its independence from Yugoslavia. You see the Greek Government is so paranoid about being discovered for having illegally expropriated Macedonian lands and having committed atrocities against the Macedonian people, that every time there is a mention of anything Macedonian it becomes very defensive. What Greece is doing is in fact trying to confuse the world about who the Macedonians are. If the Republic of Macedonia has Macedonians then so does Greece. After all Greece occupies 51% of the Macedonian lands, how could it justify its position without uncovering its deeds? Unfortunately Greece will try anything, even confusing its own people, in order to hide its past from them and from the world. Before the 1980´s there was no such thing as a "Greek-Macedonia" or "Greek-Macedonians", there was only "Northern Greece" and "Greeks", now there is a "Greek-Macedonia" populated by "Greek-Macedonians".

Allow me to break it down for you; 51% of Macedonia was occupied and annexed by Greece after the second Balkan War in 1913. At that time the ethnicities living in Macedonia were a large majority of indigenous Macedonians and smaller
minorities of Vlachs, Albanians, Jews, Turks and others.

Upon occupying Macedonia the Greek State ethnically cleansed the population by forcibly assimilating most of it and that which couldn´t be assimilated was either expelled or outright murdered. Then in the early 1920´s the Muslim
population was cleansed by deporting most Muslims to Turkey and importing a large Christian Turk population from Asia Minor and other parts of Turkey. After all that was done, Greece conducted a census and declared to the world that is
was pure Greek.

So once again, where do these so-called "Greek-Macedonians" come from?

If you ask me I honestly don´t know, but I do have a theory!

To understand where the "Greek-Macedonians" come from one has to determine who these so-called "Greek-Macedonians" are. As far as I can gather the people that classify themselves as "Greek-Macedonians" come from the following categories;

1- The majority are imported Turkish settlers brought to Macedonia in the 1920´s. These people have been educated by the Greek Government into believing that they are the real-Macedonians and descendents of Alexander the Great and
his Macedonians who were actually Greeks. They were taught to believe that they were the rightful heirs to the Macedonian lands. They were also taught to detest the indigenous Macedonian people and treat them as their enemy whom the Greek State labeled as "Bulgarian" and unworthy of the Macedonian heritage. Up to the 1980´s these settlers were told that they were "Greeks" but the moment the Republic of Macedonia declared its independence from Yugoslavia, they were told they were "Greek-Macedonians".

2-There is a smaller minority of Macedonians who pay homage, for various reasons, to the Greek State and pretend to be Greeks because they are given favourable positions in society. There is also a criminal element of Macedonians
who have committed crimes against the Macedonian people on behalf of Greece. These people enjoy the status quo because they believe they are untouchable as long as Greece refuses to recognize the Macedonians. They are loyal to Greece and to the Greek cause because they believe Greece will protect them from being prosecuted for the crimes they committed. These people will fight tooth and nail to prevent Macedonians from gaining any rights just to protect themselves.

3-There is also an element of people, including indigenous Macedonians, who actually believe the Greek propaganda and subscribe to the idea that they are the true descendents of the ancient Macedonians. These people were taught by the Greek state that the ancient Macedonians were actually Greek.

4-And finally there is a large xenophobic and ultra nationalist group of people who know the truth about Macedonia but are so poisoned and caught-up in the Greek propaganda that they will do anything to deny the Macedonians their
rights. And there you have it.

I just want to add here that the "imported settlers from Turkey", just like the indigenous Macedonians, are victims of "Greek chauvinism" and I sympathize with their plight just as I sympathize with the plight of all victims of Greek
chauvinism. You are not our enemies and we are not your enemies.

Although I am frustrated with those Macedonians who pretend to be Greeks, I hold no grudges against them because I understand that they are my brothers and sisters who have somehow lost their way. I hope some day soon they will come around.

Unfortunately I cannot forgive those who committed crimes against the Macedonian people or against any people and I believe the time will come when justice will be served. For those people who are lost in space, may the Macedonian sun and God´s light guide you back to find your way.

As for those of you who call yourselves "Greek-Macedonians", for one reason or another, where will you stand when Greece recognizes the Macedonian nation? Where will you stand when you are no longer needed and have served your useful purpose in serving the Greeks who work against the Macedonians? Do you think that Greece will accept you as "True-Greeks" and respect you as "Greek-Macedonians" or will they cast you out as they have cast us out, when
your usefulness has expired? Some food for thought!

The "Greek-Macedonian" phenomenon is a Greek State response to the Republic of Macedonia´s declaration of independence. There were no "Greek-Macedonians" before the 1980´s, in fact the official Greek Position has been that
"Macedonians do not exist". So where did the "Greek-Macedonians" come from? They came from the Greek imagination. Greece created the so-called "Greek-Macedonians" or fake Macedonians to rob the real Macedonians of their heritage. Another Greek method of divide and conquer and spread confusion while doing it.

Thus what is fake is not real and what is not truth is a lie. Therefore, the "Greek-Macedonians" are nothing more than another modern Greek invention.