He journeyed into the heart of the Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian war as thousands were fleeing the other way. He agonized with Bosnian women who had been raped or had their husbands & children killed while attempting to council them on how to walk in forgiveness. And he made an impassioned plea for people to not view all Muslims as al-qaeida terrorists.
"He" is His Eminence Dr. Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti of Bosnia, spiritual leader for millions of European Muslims. A tall, towering figure of a man, Dr. Ceric spoke before a highly attentive audience of 150-200 at U.W. Madison’s Grainger Hall Friday, April 7, 2006, as part of an annual conference of U.W. Madison’s Lubar Institute for the Study of the Abrahamic Religions, "The Ten Commandments and their Appropriations in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam." The conference was held April 7-8, 2006.
A "mufti" is an Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law, capable of issuing "fataawa", which are legal pronouncements in Islam issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue.
Dr. Ceric graduated from the Medressa in Sarajevo, pursued a degree at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, became an Imam back in Bosnia, then completed a Ph.D. in Islamic Theology from the University of Chicago. His April 7th lecture was titled, "The Ten Commandments as a Basis for a Meaningful Jewish-Christian-Muslim Dialogue."
Very personable and at times, humorous, Dr. Ceric remarked that all the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) should get along because of their similarities. He said it was the duty of Islam, as the last religion, to make this cooperation happen, and that the three religions could work together to do a lot of good.
He emphasized that he was not going to get hung up on "aspects of our religions upon which we differ." Rather, he was concentrating on those things each religion held in common. One such commonality was the topic of forgiveness. He related how, during the Bosnian war, he helped and counseled several Bosnian women who had suffered horrible atrocities. He said if there was ever a people who could speak to the necessity and yet difficulty of granting forgiveness, it was these Bosnian women. (Dr. Ceric was asked by Muslim authorities to be the spiritual authority in Bosnia during the Bosnian war. So as everyone else moved fast to get out of the way of the war, Dr. Ceric and his family moved in. He has remained there to this day.)
As much as he showcased the religions’ similarities however, Dr. Ceric admitted he personally was going to remain a Muslim and would try to convince others to become Muslims as well. He said he understood when Jews or Christians try to persuade others to their religious point of view and thought this was o.k.
Dr. Ceric drew a laugh from the audience when he admitted that he would not be there without the permission of his wife. (Dr. Ceric’s wife and college-aged daughter were in the audience.)
Only a small portion of Dr. Ceric’s talk was devoted to the title of his lecture. He mentioned being surprised and pleased when he first encountered "the Ten Commandments". He said he was happy to see a Judaic/Christian moral code similar to Islam’s. (The Koran records the story of God giving the 10 commandments to Moses.) Dr. Ceric then shared the 10 foundational truths that guide Muslim conduct and morals, which include:
- Nothing else is equal to God
- Honor your parents
- Do not kill your children
- Do not kill unrightfully
Dr. Ceric spent a significant portion of the evening discussing the importance of not viewing all Muslims as al-qaeida terrorists. He told the audience that Muslims were human beings just like them.
The audience consisted primarily of conference attendees, although several students and members of the general public were also represented.
– Eileen Hocker attends New Beginnings Alliance Church, Grete Bauder attends Mad City Church