Reisul-ulema: The very foundation of our people and country is Srebrenica

(Patria) - The Reisul-ulema of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Husein-ef. Kavazović, said today that we must not forget the past, but we must look towards the future.

Namely, the Reisul-ulema attended the 200th forum in the Podlugovi community, Islamic Community (MIZ) Sarajevo, where he gave an appropriate address, congratulating the blessed month of Ramadan.

“I am glad to be with you today, and that we met on the first day of Ramadan. This is the most chosen time with which Allah could honor mankind. Ramadan is the time of the revelation of the Quran, which is our guidance. Let us thank God for this chosen time, may this time always remind us to work for the hereafter in this world,” said the Reisul-ulema.

Given that a large number of members of this community are mothers from Srebrenica, Reisul-ulema Kavazović also pointed out their great sacrifice and role among our people.

“Mothers, thousands of you, have similar stories, thousands of our Bosniak mothers from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina have similar stories, but none is as strong, as vivid, as the story of the mothers of Srebrenica. Their story connects us with our primal being, that we have always, regardless of the harshness of life, known how to find a way. First and foremost, what you have done here, in mutual meetings, it is important that we overcome the immense sadness and pain in our chests, and after that see the light of both this world and the hereafter,” stated the Reisul-ulema.

He emphasized that “only faith in Allah and His word can overcome this tragedy”.

“I saw Srebrenica with my own eyes only in one part of it, in the part when our mothers and sisters, with small children, arrived, and then we wondered why the older children were not with them. Only later did we understand the crime that happened, if we understood it and if we still understand it today. What kind of heart could commit such a crime, which today the whole world perceives as the greatest crime after World War II. What should make us Bosniaks even more aware, and what we should think about, this forum here is the best message, that we will not forget. They fear that, they are not ashamed of what they did, they do not repent, but today in their eyes you see fear, because they know that we will never forget. The writing about the resolution that is to be adopted in the UN has begun, and at the mention of that, the entire press in Serbia and RS has risen up, saying not to do it, not to dwell on it. This is a sign of how much the crime has frightened them too,” stated the Reisul-ulema.

He said that we will never give up on speaking the truth about what happened.

“Forbidden be anyone who from now until eternity stops talking about what happened. One is the question of what happened, another question is how we move forward, where we must go, what we must undertake. What you have done here is a good thing, but we must raise our children, we must educate them, we must move forward, no one has the right to stop on this path. Today, our children from Srebrenica and other cities are very successful people, educated, examples in everything, that is the path ahead of us, to resist the evil that is present with knowledge. We should never again believe in the goodness of people, we must be aware that evil can erupt among them, and we can resist it if we work on ourselves and if we remember, if we raise our children, so that they know who they are, what they are, where they are going, what their goal is,” emphasized the Reisul-ulema.

He pointed out that the Islamic Community has succeeded in “organizing our people, returning as much as we could, and today we have shown that there is no corner in BiH where we do not have a mosque, an imam, where we do not have organized people”.

“The state should also work like that. Last night we prayed Tarawih in Čajniče, after 32 years in the Sinan Pasha mosque. All this tells us that there is strength, will, awareness of the country, people, identity, our faith in our people. We who are already in our seventh decade can say that we have succeeded in preserving our country and leaving it to our children to improve and arrange it. Ramadan is an opportunity to remind ourselves of what was in the past, not to forget our fathers, brothers, grandfathers, but our gaze must be directed towards children, they are our future, we must dedicate the rest of our lives to them,” said the Reisul-ulema.

He added that “we will not cry over the sacrifice, but we will direct all our strength to raise these children, so that they will be the ones who will make this country happy”.

“To you mothers of Srebrenica, I congratulate you on your perseverance, I thank you for your persistence and the sacrifice you bear. The very foundation of our people and country is Srebrenica, it is deep in the foundation of our state, there is no stronger foundation than Srebrenica. Be proud of that, be proud of what your sons have done. The martyrs of Srebrenica and Podrinje are the strongest foundation on which we stand today throughout the homeland. Continue, you are heroines, continue to do what you do, praying to God to strengthen our people. It is not excluded that these forces that committed evil are still dreaming of their great project of large states in these areas. As a people, we must be aware of this and constantly think about it,” said Reisul-ulema Husein-ef. Kavazović.