Mustafa Cerić

Mustafa Cerić (Bosnian pronunciation: [mustafaː tserit͡ɕ], born 5 February 1952) is a Bosniak imam who served as the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is currently president of the World Bosniak Congress. He was also a candidate for a Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 2014 general election.

Mustafa Cerić
Cerić in 2012
TitleFormer Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Personal
Born (1952-02-05) 5 February 1952
Veliko Čajno, Visoko, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia
Children3
Alma materAl-Azhar University
University of Chicago
OccupationWorld Bosniak Congress (2012–present)
Senior posting
Period in office1993 – September 2012
PredecessorJakub Selimoski (as Grand Mufti of Yugoslavia)
SuccessorHusein Kavazović

Cerić ensured that Islam is a strong element of Bosniak nationalism and has argued that Bosnia and Herzegovina should become a Bosniak nation state as Croats and Serbs already have their own nation states, Croatia and Serbia.[1]

Life
First Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish leaders in Brussels, December 2010 - left to right: Grand Mufti Mustafa Cerić - European Council President Herman Van Rompuy - Marc Schneier - Abduljalil Sajid

Cerić graduated from the Madrasah in Sarajevo and received a scholarship to Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. He then returned to Yugoslavia, where he became an Imam. In 1981, he accepted the position of Imam at the Islamic Cultural Center of Greater Chicago (ICC) in Northbrook, Illinois and lived in the United States for several years.

During his time in the United States, he learned English and earned a Ph.D. degree in Islamic Studies at the University of Chicago. After his studies, he left the ICC and returned to Yugoslavia and became an Imam again in a learning center in Zagreb in 1987.

Cerić led the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1993. He officially became the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1999. He was replaced as reis-ul-ulema in 2012 by Husein Kavazović. In 2011, Cerić was one of the founders of the Bosniak Academy of Sciences and Arts. In December 2012, Cerić was one of the founders of the World Bosniak Congress, and serves as its president.

Membership
Cerić meeting Pope John Paul II in Sarajevo in 1997

He is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding. Cerić is also a member of the Committee of Conscience fighting against the Holocaust denial.[2]

Awards

He was the co-recipient of the 2003 UNESCO Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize[3] and recipient of the International Council of Christians and Jews Annual Sternberg Award “for exceptional contribution to interfaith understanding."[4] He also received the 2007 Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung award for his contribution to spreading and strengthening democracy."[5]

In 2007, he was named the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Muslim Social Scientists UK “in recognition of his distinguished contributions to better understanding between Faiths, outstanding scholarship, for promoting a climate of respect and peaceful co-existence, and a wider recognition of the place of faith in Europe and the West.”[6]

He was a 2008 recipient of Eugen Biser Foundation award for his efforts in promoting understanding and peace between Islamic and Christian thought.[7] In 2008, Cerić accepted the invitation of Tony Blair to be on the advisory council of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation.[8]

Publications

Personal life

Cerić is fluent in Bosnian, English and Arabic language, and cites a "passive knowledge" of Turkish, German and French language.[9][10][11]

See also

References
  1. ICG & 26 February 2013.
  2. Committee on Conscience Archived 2009-04-01 at the Wayback Machine, projetaladin.org; accessed 10 March 2016.
  3. Monsignor Etchegaray and the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mustafa Ceric to receive UNESCO's 2003 Félix Houphouët-Boigny peace prize, UNESCO.org
  4. Dr Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti, Bosnia-Herzegovina addressed a large audience at the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies on Wednesday, March 7 Archived 2008-07-23 at the Wayback Machine, Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies
  5. Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung, German wikipedia
  6. Association of Muslim Social Scientists UK Archived 2008-06-17 at the Wayback Machine, amssuk.com; accessed 10 March 2016.
  7. Mustafi ef. Ceriću nagrada Fondacije „Eugen Bizer“, Infobiro.ba; accessed 10 March 2016.
  8. Profile Archived 2008-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, TonyBlairFaithFoundation.org; accessed 10 March 2016.
  9. Faculty of Islamic Studies in Sarajevo
  10. preporod.ba
  11. nf.unmo.ba

Other sources
  • International Crisis Group (26 February 2013). "Bosnia's Dangerous Tango: Islam and Nationalism" (PDF). Retrieved 17 April 2015.


Religious titles
Preceded by
Jakub Selimoski
as Grand Mufti of Yugoslavia		 Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina
1993–2012		 Succeeded by
Husein Kavazović
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