Reisu-l-ulema Dr. Husein Kavazović Gave a Lecture for IUS Students and Staff
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On Wednesday, April 4, 2018, Reisu-l-ulema (Grand Mufti) of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr. Husein Kavazović visited International University of Sarajevo. Reisu-l-ulema Dr. Kavazović and his delegation were welcomed by the President of the Foundation for Education Development Mr. Hasan Topaloğlu, Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yıldırım and Vice-Rectors. They expressed admiration for the role of the Reisu-l-ulema in Bosnia and Herzegovina and thanked him for the great cooperation between the Islamic Community and IUS.
Dr. Kavazović gave a lecture to IUS students and staff titled: "Identity of Muslims: The Challenges in Contemporary Europe". In his lecture, he emphasized many important aspects of Muslim identity and reminded the students that they are the ones who need to tackle contemporary issues in Europe.
"Has the complete image of the world of Islam remained in us only in fragments, scattered on national traditions: some of it is with Turks, some with Arabs, Iranians, Indians, Malays, Africans, Bosniaks, Albanians? Why do we fear that instead of the full image of our world we compose a mosaic in which every detail will be preserved and fitted in a giant item that will tell us and other who we are? So many questions are in front of us, especially for you, the youth, which you will have to answer in the near European future", said Dr. Kavazović.
He reminded the audience that the story of Bosnian Muslims has not been completely told yet.
"During the process of building their culture and tradition, Bosnian Muslims found themselves on the steepest and longest acclivity, which did not appear in any other European nation. Our tradition has not been completely presented yet, our story has not been told to an end. Despite that, we have always felt free in the atmosphere of European heritage, just like Athenians felt in their Athens", said Reisu-l-ulema Kavazović.
Moreover, he concluded that the Bosnian Muslims are, without any doubt, part of the Europe.
"Future of Bosnian Muslims is unbreakably connected to the whole Muslims being in Europe. The secret of our survival lies in us, the ones who created our world according to our time. I hope that the Muslim spirit of Europe, which is searching for its roots, will end up in the Bosnian spirit of Islam, because it is the only authentic and living origin which it can call onto. That should make us, Bosnian Muslims, even more responsible to keep our identity and our freedom and to have a rational critical approach to things and phenomenon", he concluded.
The lecture was part of the series called SPIUS Talks organized by the Student Parliament of IUS.