OnePath Network presents the man who single-handedly revived Islam in the hearts of Bosnian Muslims, sacrificed his life in prison for saying ‘I love Islam’, wrote books making philosophical arguments for Islam being the only possible model to live by and lastly, led his people through a brutal war and genocide. This is the life of the Bosnian Grandfather and national hero, Alija Ali Izetbegovic.
Introduction
What you’re about to see is a story unlike any other—a story about a man who saved Islam in Europe. Who is this man? Alija Izetbegović, the first democratically elected president of Bosnia and a hero who helped shape the future of his country. Formerly a part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia’s history is rich and complex.
Background on Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia was a Balkan communist state formed after World War II. It was once part of the Ottoman Empire, which explains the presence of Muslims in the region.
Who Was Alija Izetbegović?
Alija Izetbegović was an Islamic philosopher and author who was sent to prison for his beliefs. How did he become president? He led his nation through the Bosnian War, which started in 1992 and ended in 1995. This conflict involved different ethnic groups, including Muslims, Serbs, and Croats. The Bosnian Serbs were led by Radovan Karadžić, and the war was characterized by brutal fighting, shelling of cities and towns, and ethnic cleansing.
The Life of Alija Izetbegović
Youth and First Imprisonment (1925–1954)
Alija was born in 1925 to a large family that faced many trials. His mother was described as a pious woman who would wake Alija at age 12 and send him to the local mosque to pray, despite his childish reluctance. He would fondly recount these memories, especially when the imam recited Al-Fatiha. In those days, barely anyone prayed, let alone attended the mosque for Fajr prayers.
His intellect showed at an early age, and by 18, he was reading all the major works of European philosophy. This exposure led to a crisis of faith as he encountered many communist and atheist writings, which were influential among the youth at the time. However, Alija couldn’t accept a universe without a god, as he felt it would be a universe without meaning. Here, we see his philosophical identity beginning to form.
Around the same time, he came into contact with a group called “The Young Muslims,” mostly made up of like-minded university students who saw Islam as a means for Europeans to live in harmony and coexist peacefully. When the Nazis invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, the Young Muslims were forced underground. After the Nazis were defeated, the Communists came to power, and the activities of the Young Muslims were once again halted.
By 1946, the Communists began filling their prison cells with Young Muslims. Among them was Izetbegović, who was sentenced to three years in prison. By 1949, close to a thousand people were arrested in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and some were even killed. Izetbegović received his first lesson in divine wisdom as he remarked, “One never knows what is good and what is bad for one in life. If I had not been imprisoned in 1946, I would almost certainly have been killed in 1949. Going to prison saved my life.”
The Sarajevo Trial (1954–1983)
Alija was as stubborn as they come. Communist eyes were everywhere, and even Alija knew he couldn’t continue down this path if he and his new wife wanted to survive. So, he laid low for a while, working ordinary jobs while studying law on the side and raising a family. By 1956, he had graduated from the law faculty and accomplished his dream of becoming a lawyer. But the writing itch was still there.
He saw his people slipping into nihilism and falling deeper into darkness under the communist atheist spell. For Izetbegović, Islam was the solution that sat in the middle of all the rifts encountered in the West, whether they be religious, ideological, scientific, artistic, political, cultural, or civilizational. Izetbegović wanted Muslims, specifically European Muslims, to know that Islam was not so much a question of choice but a need.
It was after the death of Tito, the dictator of Yugoslavia, in 1980 that the socialist states started to crack and crumble. This pressured the Communists to tighten their iron grip on power. They began to introduce new, harsh laws to silence dissenting voices, such as Alija’s Islamic Declaration. His real crowning achievement, however, was the work that exposed his genius as a philosopher who went toe-to-toe with the biggest ideologies of the day: atheism and Christianity. This was his book, Islam Between East and West, published in 1980. It ruffled a lot of feathers, especially among hardline communists.
They issued arrest warrants for him and a group of other Islamic fundamentalists unknown to Izetbegović. At the crack of dawn, the secret police stormed his apartment and searched every nook and cranny. He was taken into custody, where he was forced to wait for 30 days until he was transferred to a district prison for interrogation for more than 100 days. It was obvious to him that this was nothing but a series of false accusations and trumped-up charges. He was accused of conspiracy against the state and being the organizational leader of a fabricated Islamic fundamentalist group.
The trial itself lasted for a month, making its way onto national television. Izetbegović confessed that all his arguing with the prosecutor was futile, as he had already been condemned by the rigged court. Finally, he threw his hands in the air and said, “I love Yugoslavia, but not its government. I am not being tried for having violated the laws of this land, for I have not done so. I am being tried for having transgressed some unwritten rules by which individual power holders in our midst impose their own standards of the prohibited and permissible without regard for the constitution and the law. By all appearances, I have gravely transgressed those unwritten rules. I therefore state: I am a Muslim, and so shall I remain. I consider myself to be a fighter for the cause of Islam in the world and shall so feel to the end of my days. For Islam, for me, has been another name for the promise or hope of a better future for the Muslim peoples of the world, for their life in dignity and freedom, and for everything that, in my belief, is worth living for.”
When it came time for sentencing, the camera zoomed in on Alija’s face. No words could find his tongue; no expression could find his face, except to look at the window at the far right of that courtroom, away from the corruption and towards the rest of God’s creation.
From Prison to Presidency (1983–1990)
After the trial, Alija was sent to prison to serve his 14-year sentence. He was made to slave away all day in hard labor, which in his words was both physical and mental torture. Being honest with himself, he said, “You say certain things all your life, you think it and believe it, and then comes that moment of truth.” His values were put to the test—the test of consistency and potentially dying upon his values among murderers and convicts. He confessed that this weighed heavily on his heart.
On February 1, 1987, he was unexpectedly summoned for a special visit by his two daughters, who brought a message from a senior official suggesting that Alija should draw up a plea for pardon and he would be released from prison on the condition that he expressed remorse to the regime. Alija relented and did not write this plea. This reluctance was a huge risk, but luckily it paid off in 1989 when he was fully pardoned as a result of external pressure and the success of his book’s popularity. In total, he spent 275 days in prison.
After taking a break from life by traveling with his wife and spending time with his family for a year, the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, signaling the collapse of the Soviet Union and the decline of communism, including in Yugoslavia. In all six republics, nationalism was loosening the grip of communism. Einstein once called nationalism an infantile disease, a precise description of what was taking place in Yugoslavia. As old ethnic tensions were given new life through nationalism, Izetbegović felt it was time for Muslims to attain greater freedom.
He set up a meeting with 15 invitees under the shadow of a mosque and formed a political party for Muslims in Yugoslavia. He moved quickly, taking advantage of the weakening influence of the regime. In 1990, he held a public press conference to announce the founding of the political party. One journalist asked Izetbegović whether or not he would take revenge against those who convicted him in the sham trial of ’83. He replied that he would not take revenge against anyone and stuck to his word. When the November elections came, Izetbegović emerged victorious and officially became the first democratically elected president of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In just three years, Alija had gone from sharing a cell with convicts to being the president of the republic that had imprisoned him.
The War Diary
1991: The Prelude to War
Yugoslavia was on its last legs and on the verge of collapsing. Alija had filled his presidential seat quite nicely for a year, most of which he spent in countless unnecessary meetings with other presidents of sister republics, vainly attempting to put Yugoslavia back together. Tensions between different ethnic groups were at an all-time high. Izetbegović had the added side quest of fending off Serb and Croat vultures from partitioning and devouring Bosnia, much like how European powers had divided the Arab countries. There were simply too many issues for Bosnia and Herzeg
Alija Ali Izetbegovic: The Bosnian Grandfather Who Saved Islam In Europe
