Dear Mr. General Mufti, during past week were disclosed the records of people who have cooperated with former state security office. Amongst the disclosed names was also your name. If we look back at the history, this is not the first disclosure; in 2006 your name was also announced. Let’s discuss this matter, what would you say about this?

With the Name of Allah All-merciful, All-compassionate!
As you said, my name was connected to the State Security Office yet in 2006. Today I see the same tendency. At the time of first disclosure were announced the names of four of all Muslims and today only seven people. I could not say if these are real figures. During the communist regime I’d been called by State Security Office many times. I’d written explanations for the activity had carried out. I’d never cooperated with anybody and had never written reports against anyone; I’m aware of my responsibility before Allah the Almighty. The last time I had been called in the former militia office was in 1989, January or February, and thence, until the end of the year I had not met State Security Office. People related to the Central Committee of BCP at that time also called me in the police office and in front of the Committee. If they had identified the period before 1989, I would have linked it with the explanations I had written, but as it goes for the period after 1989, I had not been called, had not written explanations and reports could not be even mentioned and that’s why I’m not bothered by this issue and I have nothing to worry about. Perhaps, judging by what came out in the press - I had been recruited on November 14th, 1989. I remember this time very well, because then communism fell, I came to Sofia and participated in strikes. At that time democracy was emerging and we cannot speak for SSO. Then everyone began to seek their rights and to show who is who. What is presented now has no logic for me, but everyone is free to say whatever he wants and do whatever he likes. No doubt we will all stand before Allah Almighty and will answer for what we had said and what we had done.
Mr. General Mufti, can we assume that SSO had forecasted your future that you may take positions in the denomination and forge this file for presenting it as discrediting factor at a later stage of your service?
There are a lot of possibilities, but unfortunately we can only guess. Subsequently, when I saw the man who recruited me, I remember I had met him.This is Kovahcev who actually had been responsible for SS in Velingrad. What they had forecasted I could not say and what was the purpose of writing this I also could not know. At that time I had not expected and thought that one day I’d reach the position of General Mufti. In 1990 I became imam in my village and I intended to remain so, but the Allah’s fate decided otherwise.
I would also like to ask you the following question, to ask you for all that you share now and also in other media – are you sincere?
Answer: Yes
You are convinced in what you say and we should be sure that SSO had not impregnated you , had not recruited you for a secret mission in our denomination?
Answer: Yes
Question: You know that the critics of the denomination will very often from now on use this pattern by saying “we would have forgiven Mustafa Hadji if he had been recruited in the past for any purposes during the Communism, but isn’t his mission still continuing? Doesn’t this influence and the dependence of former secret services impact the general processes in the denomination even today?”What would you say to dispel these doubts?  Because people are wondering, and if from now on things doesn’t go well, isn’t this because of the influence of SSO, which is still hanging over the Muslim denomination and not only over our denomination?
Mustafa Hadji: Thank you for this question! It is important for me these questions to be raised. I do not quite agree that there is former and present SSO. Regardless of its name, how it was called, since the activities of these structures are the same and as per the present moment – no, I’m not recruited. As far as I know, the names of now operating agents have not been mentioned, so if I were an operating agent, my name should not have been disclosed, and as to the second question – I understood from media that if I had agreed to work for the SSO, I should have signed a document for this certifying my consent for cooperation either full-time or part-time. I’m ready to ask for forgiveness all the people who have doubts for me. Asking for forgiveness for something I have not done means that I burden myself with something I cannot bear and this in terms of religion is not allowed. The doubts will remain ever and the society always tends to doubt. I believe, those who create doubts have particular expectations towards the society.
If there are people who have doubts that you have reported on them, are you ready to meet them and clarify the things?
Allah says in the Qur’an: “Stay away from doubts because some of them are crimes”. The fact is that my colleagues in the denomination understand what it is going about and they work for the image of the denomination. We also strive to arrange our current financial problems and we try to give salaried to some imams and this may bother some people who are trying to arouse suspicion among us. If anyone gives argument in support of his doubts, I’m ready to meet him.
Do you think of appealing this decision?
Yes, I have already spoken to lawyers and I will appeal this decision, but I do not expect that this decision of the Committee can be changed.
Isn’t it a regular practice for everybody who has worked or is working for the SSO to declare the contrary and others say “yes, we have been doing this” without any embarrassment because they have thought so at that time. But if everybody denies, then who have cooperated or it will turn that there are no such people in the Muslim denomination?
Indeed, there are some colleagues whose names were disclosed as contributors. The management of the denomination should declare its opinion on this matter. For me the issue of what we are doing at the moment and what we are going to do from now on is more important. I think there is a very clever trick here when disclosing the names of people who have worked and who have not worked. This is like mixing the grain with the chaff. For us to suspect everyone. If anyone had been of the disclosed, it is better for him to admit it, because in the religion there is something called compulsion and it is quite different for any individual. One can be compelled with slap and another with a great torture. Allah forgives those who have done anything under compulsion. One cannot be forgiven the compulsion in two cases only – when he has to give fetva, he is obliged to present things in compliance with the religion and the second moment is when you have been compelled to kill someone. You cannot agree with this since your life is not more valuable than other one’s life and therefore, if one had been compelled, he should seek forgiveness from the people he had harmed. We call this “Kul Hakki”. Talking on these matters could be endless, but I think one of the mistakes that the society could make is to deal with someone’s past. We very often reach one conclusion, that talking of Muslims – part of the Muslims does not have either vision of tomorrow or vision of today and we always have doubts of yesterday. I believe that we as Muslims should think in perspective and at the same time we should not forget what happened yesterday. This should not burden our psychic and thoughts and this should not become grounds for disunity of Muslims. Because this is the worst damage that could be caused. We have a certain period of life on earth and nobody knows when he will leave this world. For not being that we have wasted too much time in discussing who have been in the SSO and who have not been. Everyone should ask himself – “me as a Muslim, what have I done for the country, for the people and what have I done for Allah Almighty?” My work, my responsibilities should be in this direction. Sometimes we exceed our rights when judging someone. Finally, each one of us will stand before Allah and then he cannot be able to lie. If he lies today, then he will not be able to lie and this is the foundation of strong faith. We humans have weaknesses and make mistakes and therefore Allah has left the gate of the tevbe – repentance opened.