As the Mayor of Srebrenica (whose father was in a concentration camp in Bosnia and five male members of his immediate family were killed) told us, “we want to live together – it is their home (the Serbs’) and ours (Muslims’) but we need to change how the new generation is taught history”. Our collective fight today is against (jahiliya) violent ignorance, not kafiriya (paganism) as the former Grand Mufti, Mustafa Ceric who we met in Sarajevo, said.
[quote]"We want to live together - it is their home and ours, but we need to change how the new generation is taught history"[/quote]
The Bosniaks are one of the most dignified people I have encountered – they are intelligent, smart, noble, gentle and forgiving – people who value knowledge (ilm), respect for the Other (adab) and humanity (insaaniat). It is widely stated that there has not been one single act of revenge since the war of aggression on them. As one lady, Professor Tuna who was the teacher of the Grand Mufti, told me, “we are comfortable in our Muslim skin”. The Bosniaks are exemplary Muslims (scholarly and many hafiz-e-Quran) and exemplary Europeans (living up to the standard of its higher values in the modern age). At the risk of romanticizing them, the Bosniaks are a model for humanity, for Muslims and the rest of the world. But the acuteness of the tragedy is that as a world civilization, we human beings have not learnt our lessons from history: they know that they are a small number (less than 3 million) in a sea of unfriendly neighbours as our driver said to us when we left for the airport, “we Bosniaks are surrounded by neighbouring people–Serbs and Croats—who want to kill us and divide our land between themselves.”
It is a matter of time to see and test the true tolerant nature of Europe and its higher values of human rights and equality – if the Bosniaks survive, Europe will pass the test of respect for human rights and space for “the Other”. I know for sure, through decades of first-hand experience of working towards peaceful relations with people of all communities and faiths nationally and internationally, that there are voices of compassion who will stand for the higher values of respecting human life and property and will say loud and clear: Enough! No more bloodshed! We accept, respect and value every human life from all communities, faiths and cultures. As Gaza bleeds, Hatidza talked about the pain and suffering of war on Bosnia in reference to today’s Gaza. A lesson of all these wars and its consequences should make Pakistan and India think very hard before they even entertain any wrong ideas of war with each other ever again – it is, of course, better to work towards developing good “neighbourly” relations with each other in line with the sunnat and the Prophet’s (PBUH) sayings of being good to your neighbours 40 houses to either side of you. As a nation, we Pakistanis have got to turn our present situation on its head: we have got to stop fighting with "ourselves" inside Pakistan (whether it is with people from other political parties as we are seeing in a ridiculous violent charade now played out in Islamabad, or with people of other sects, religions or ethnic groups - diversity makes the social fabric of Pakistan rich with colour). And additionally, we have to stop fighting with our neighbours and turn our enmities into friendships, as the Prophet (PBUH) did (remember when the lady threw dirt at the Prophet (PBUH) he went to ask about her when she was sick in an act of compassion and kindness). The lessons from Bosnia for us are: to make as many allies and friends as possible all around us and within our country, never to be weak or rely entirely on others but to make ourselves strong with the weapons of knowledge, dialogue and honesty (as much as humanly possible); and finally to learn to live with ourselves in peace (not war) by moving forward without carrying the burden of hate and revenge and to be, like the Bosnians are, gracious, forgiving, stronger in faith and clearer about identity.
Indeed, I want to stress that we have to learn from the wisdom of our Holy Scriptures in order of revelation — the Hebrew Bible (Taurat), the Bible (Injeel), and the Quran – which tell mankind that human life is sacred and God’s precious gift, “He who saves one life… is as if he saves an entire universe. He who destroys a life… is as if he destroys an entire universe.” – Talmud (Sanhedrin 4:5)
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire… First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (at the alter of worship).” – Matthew 5:21-26
“For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and who so saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. – Quran 5:32 (Pickthall)