Khutba by Mustafa Ceric on the Occasion of 11th of July

KHUTBA
By
Mustafa Ceric, Ph.D.
Grand Mufti of Bosnia

On the Occasion of 11th of July, 2011, the Day of Burial of the Shahids (Martyrs) of Srebrenica Genocide, 1995

Dear brothers and sisters in Islam and in humanity around the world,

The victims of Srebrenica genocide appreciate your condolences and feel not alone as you join them in their mourning for their beloved grandfathers, fathers, sons, husbands, uncles and friends. May Allah bless you for your Juma Prayer as well as for listening to this Khutba as it is devoted not only to the victims of Srebrenica genocide, but to all the victims of genocide in the 20th century because the last century was the bloodiest century in modern history, far more violent in relative as well as absolute terms than any previous era. That the 20th century was unprecedentedly violent may seem paradoxical. After all, the last hundred years were a time of unparalleled progress. For my country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, though the 20th century will be remembered by the bitter fact that the cry "never again" failed as the United Nations was not able to fulfill its mission of saving my people from genocide.

I must say, however, that the United Nations Security Council did act responsibly by establishing the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY. This body of the United Nations, which is located in The Hague, the Netherlands, is first of its kind to prosecute serious crimes against humanity and to try their perpetrators. We should commend the recent arrest of accused Serbian war criminal Ratko Mladic and support the work of Serge Brammertz, the Prosecutor of ICTY.
Nonetheless, if we really want to prevent future crimes against humanity we must do much more than sympathize with the victims. We have to comprehend the psychological depth of the perpetrators of genocide and indifference of genocide observers.

We have to learn what makes some persons, who were once normal, to hate other persons and people to the extent that they want to systematically and methodically eliminate them all! But we also need to learn about those who support genocide against innocent people or observe it from the distance! We need to learn more about them too!
We also need to learn about the holocaust and genocide not only as of historical facts but also as a means to teach our children about the dangers of racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other examples of human intolerance.
We must teach younger generations to appreciate democracy and human rights and encourage them to reject hatred, intolerance and ethnic conflicts.

We must appreciate the value of life and respect for its integrity, the value of religion and respect for the differences of its expressions, the value of freedom and respects for its limits, because my freedom ends where the other's freedom begins, the value of property and the respect for the possessions of others, and the value of human dignity and respect for the otherness of the other.

In fact, we must have a new vision for the mission of the United Nations. Indeed, we need a New United Nations for the 21st century that will redefine its mission in the sense of the Art of Peace against the Art of War, the Just Peace against the Just War, and the Holy Peace against the Holy War. It is here that I see the significance of faith and the role of religious leaders who can greatly contribute to the change of philosophy of the Art of War into the philosophy of the Art of Peace. Imagine how it would be if the human mind and energy were used for the art of peace instead of the art of war? After all, what is the art of war but the art of killing and destroying? Are we killers and destroyers only? No, I think that God Almighty has created us for the purpose of peace, not for the purpose of war.

In preparing of this Khutba I wanted to find the Qur'anic reference that can be related to the Srebrenica genocide and I found it in the 90th Chapter of the Surat al-Balad, where Allah Almighty says:

NAY! I call to witness this land. This land in which you are free to dwell and [I call to witness] parent and offspring: Verily, God has created man into [a life of] pain, toil and trial. Does he, then, think that no one has power over him? He boasts, "I have spent wealth abundant (to promote my power and influence)!" Does he, then,? Has God not given him two eyes, and a tongue, and a pair of lips, and shown him the two highways [of good and evil]?... (Qur'an, 90:1-10).

Srebrenica is a city in which a free man had been born from time immemorial.

Srebrenica is a city in which a hard working man had been living for centuries.

Srebrenica is a city in which an honest man had been happy until it came to be the one who "thought that no one has power over him" and said: "This is a revenge", because he "thought that no one sees him".

Srebrenica is a city in which it was allowed that an innocent man be expelled from his home and to be killed just because he was a Muslim.

However, it was forgotten that man has two eyes so that he can see. Man has tongue and a pair of lips by way of which he can speak. And man has two paths. He is free to choose one of them - the path of good or the path of evil. Thus, man has the freedom of choice between good and evil. It is in that that we see his human value. It is in that that we see his moral integrity or his moral shame. For, if man has no freedom of choice, it would not be possible to hold him responsible for his deeds.

It is not possible to say for someone that he is good unless he omits evil which he could commit if he wanted to do so. To be morally good it means that you choose by your free will and full conscience the khair (good) instead of sharr (evil). Man has no moral credibility if he does not have the freedom of choice because only free man can be put under the scrutiny of moral judgment. There cannot be a moral judgment on a man who is not free.

Nowhere like in Srebrenica today is a clear picture of man who had a freedom of choice between good or evil, who had a freedom of choice between love or hate for man. Unfortunately, that man has chosen evil instead of good; he has chosen hate instead of love. He thought that his power it over all; he thought that Srebrenica will not be a moral questionnaire.

Certainly, from the 11th of July, 1995 Srebrenica is more than a city, it is more than its name. Srebrenica is a place of an unending trial of conscience for those who could but did not prevent the crime against humanity at the end of 20th century in Europe.

Srebrenica is a name which hovers around the world in order to awaken the conscience of humanity that ought to face itself with a choice between good and evil; indeed, it must choose good for its own survival. For, there cannot be the other way but the way of good on the principle of which this world had been made by the will of Merciful and Beneficent God.

Our Muslim choice must be the way of good. Our choice must be the way of faith and morality. Our way must be wisdom and courage in the sense of helping each other against evil and hatred because we are Mu'mins, Security Lovers, because we are Muslims, Peace Lovers, and because we are Muhsins, Good Lovers. Thus, our choice must be peace and security for all people of good will.

This is a right time and a right place that we all say: - NAY! We call to witness this land of Srebrenica. This land in which we are free to dwell in peace and we call all survivors of Srebrenica genocide to come back home as it is clear that there is no better place to live and die than the place where you and your predecessors are born.