Alija Izetbegovic (1925-2003) was not only one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century, but also a Bosnian philosopher distinguished by his intellectual contributions. His role as a thinker nourished his statesmanship and vice versa, earning him the exceptional title of the “Wise King.” He bore the heavy burden of constructing a new discourse rooted in the historical legacy inherited from the Ottoman Empire in the heart of Europe. He devoted a significant part of his life to this endeavor – reading, thinking, writing and forming a small but vibrant network with young people, which he continuously nurtured.
He was imprisoned twice due to his ideas. The first occurred in 1946, resulting in three years of imprisonment. The second, in the 1980s, was a longer period during which he served six years in prison. It is as if his life before 1990 served as a period of preparation for the war of the 1990s, in which he would emerge as a statesman and founding leader. In fact, what took place in the 1990s was not merely a war – it was, rather, a massacre, a genocide enacted in the heart of Europe and under the watchful eyes of the world, through the siege and isolation of Bosnia. Even in the face of such circumstances, Izetbegovic never compromised his moral stance. He made great efforts to liberate Bosnia, both on the battlefield and through diplomacy. For this reason, Izetbegovic’s witness to history is not only significant for understanding that particular period, but also serves as a vital testimony for grasping the realities of our present day.
Izetbegovic’s most prominent trait was the consistency between his thoughts and his actions, attitudes and behaviors. He regarded his time in prison as the first true test of this consistency: "I am not a hero; it was merely a matter of a certain consistency. Throughout your life, you say certain things – you think them, and you believe in them – and then the moment of trial arrives. One of the teachings of Islam (which many consider the most important) is that a person must accept everything that happens to them as the will of God. To be honest, I hadn’t thought much about this before, but when I was faced with the possibility of spending the rest of my life in prison and dying among criminals, I reminded myself of the minimum requirement: a measure of consistency."
This period was one of intense reading, publishing of journals and writing of books. Izetbegovic continued his habit of deep reading from a young age. He followed Western thought particularly closely: "In this way, I read the complete works of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, and nearly all of Kant’s writings. I read 'Critique of Pure Reason' at the age of 19 ... Bergson was also among the important writers I read." In 1970, Izetbegovic published a 40-page booklet titled "The Islamic Declaration." This text did not focus on Yugoslavia but rather on the broader Muslim world. As Izetbegovic himself explained, "The main idea of the Declaration was that only a revival of Islam could reawaken the imagination of the Muslim masses and once again enable them to become active participants in their own history." Moreover, it offered solutions to existing problems along these lines: "It condemned authoritarian regimes, called for greater investment in education, advocated a new role for women, encouraged nonviolence, and defended minority rights."
Izetbegovic’s stance on Islam was unequivocal. He consistently reaffirmed this clear position even in court: "Accordingly, I declare the following: I am a Muslim and I will remain so. I consider myself a soldier of the Islamic cause in the world, and I will feel this way until my last day. For me, Islam is the other name for everything that is beautiful and noble; it is the promise – or the hope – of a better future for Muslim peoples around the world, of a dignified and free life for them. In short, it is, according to my belief, the name of everything worth living for." As Izetbegovic emphasized, the West never forgave him for placing Islam at the center of his proposed solutions to contemporary problems.
As is well known, Izetbegovic’s most fundamental work is "Islam Between East and West." What is remarkable is that he was able to draft such a foundational text at the age of 21, in 1946. "In fact, I can say that I wrote it much earlier, just before I was imprisoned in 1946. The manuscript remained hidden for more than 20 years," he explained. The book was first published in 1984, while Izetbegovic was in prison. In this work, he offers a comprehensive evaluation of contemporary issues from an Islamic perspective. Rather than relying on a purely traditional viewpoint, the book engages with foundational works of Western thought, offering a new perspective that bridges both intellectual worlds. With its style, its approach to events and the perspectives it provides, this book serves as a manifesto that evaluates both East and West together – and it remains relevant to this day.
During his second prison term, Izetbegovic read even more extensively and deepened his reflections, bringing together his thoughts on "life and destiny, religion and politics, the books I read and their authors, and all the other things that can come to a prisoner’s mind over more than two thousand long days and nights" in his book "My Escape to Freedom," published in 1999. In fact, this book also serves as a revisiting, updating and expansion of the themes addressed in Islam Between East and West.
Izetbegovic was clear in his stance toward both East and West. Just as he placed Islam at the center of solutions to contemporary problems, he consistently emphasized the importance of the achievements of the West. The geography he lived in already demanded such a synthesis. Bosnia holds a unique position. Geographically open to the gains of Europe, Bosnia – through the efforts of Izetbegovic and his companions – regained a connection with its Ottoman and, ultimately, Islamic heritage and developed the ability to forge a new language. For this reason, he described himself as a "European Muslim": "We are a typical country situated on the Great Frontier dividing two worlds. Our faith comes from the East, and our education comes from Europe. Our hearts belong to one world, our minds to another. In this, there is a kind of forgiveness and goodness. If we are honest people, we must admit that Bosnians constantly ask themselves who they are and to which world they belong. My answer to that question is this: I am a European Muslim. And I am perfectly content with that definition." In this sense, Izetbegovic was open both to receiving and contributing: "But to compete, we must first strengthen our own sense of identity. Conscious Muslims are prepared to give and receive, without forgetting their own values."
When Izetbegovic was released from prison in 1989, he recognized the country’s potential for disintegration and, together with his companions, began working to form a new political party to manage this transitional period. One year later, they established the Party of Democratic Action (SDA). The party’s objective was clear: "The party aimed to bring together and politically coordinate the Muslim population in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but it also aspired to be the party of all Muslims across Yugoslavia – that is, of Muslims in Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia as well." And in November 1990, it achieved victory in the elections.
With the secession of Croatia and Slovenia, Yugoslavia began to disintegrate. Izetbegovic faced a crossroads: "We declared that we would not remain in a Yugoslavia that did not include Slovenia and Croatia, because it was no longer Yugoslavia – it had become Greater Serbia." In this context, efforts to find a peaceful solution proved fruitless, and in 1992, Serbian attacks and the siege of Bosnia began. While the Serbs had a powerful army and ample weaponry, Bosnia was defenseless. At the outset of the war, Izetbegovic was the president of a country that had no army: "If a conventional war means a conflict between two armies, then the war in Bosnia was not conventional in its early stages. It was the assault of a powerful war machine on an unarmed people. The goal was to create Greater Serbia."
The Serbian assault on Bosnia, which lacked military equipment, created a highly asymmetrical balance of power. Rather than a mutual war, what occurred was a one-sided aggression and the resistance of Bosnian Muslims who were deprived of arms and resources. What made this brutal situation even more tragic – and encouraged the Serbs – was the silence of the West: "...Europe, as might be expected, did not react. It turned a blind eye to Serbian threats; this was the beginning of its shameful silence. The Serbian extremists were thereby greatly emboldened." Furthermore, the imposition of an arms embargo prevented this asymmetry from being corrected and paved the way for massacres. Izetbegovic harshly condemned the immorality of the West’s initial intervention in his speech to the German Council on Foreign Relations on March 17, 1995: "The international community did intervene in this war, but in the worst possible way. This must never be forgotten! In practice, the intervention was carried out through an arms embargo that affected only the victim of the aggression. Instead of helping us through military assistance or supplying us with arms, the world did the opposite. It prohibited the arming of a country under attack and deprived us of our most legitimate and natural right – self-defense."
Western interventions consistently worked against Bosnia. The massacre in Srebrenica also occurred as a result of such an intervention: "The U.N. had declared Srebrenica a safe zone. But that wasn't all. They persuaded us to demilitarize Srebrenica. Based on this, our army handed over its weapons to the U.N. What happened afterward? Srebrenica was abandoned to its fate. The greatest crime that humanity has witnessed since World War II was committed there. In my view, this is a disgrace, a betrayal. When I was a young man, I read Oswald Spengler’s 'The Decline of the West.' I was deeply influenced by what I read in that book for a long time. Later, to comfort myself, I decided that the decline of the West was only a utopia. Now, under the impact of this war, I have come to believe once again that the West has truly declined. How can Srebrenica, despite clear obligations, be handed over to the killers? Do you know that 4,000 people were killed in just four days? All this happened while the so-called civilized world stood by and watched, without any reaction."
The brutality of the war and the silence of the West led to the second greatest humanitarian tragedy in Europe after World War II, right in the heart of the continent, in Bosnia. What was truly targeted for destruction was not only a people, but also a geography and a cultural climate that, since the Ottoman era, had served as a contact surface between East and West, where a distinct language of coexistence had been sustained through culture: "The interaction between East and West continued for centuries through Bosnia, and what we call the 'Bosnian spirit' was formed in this way. The most fundamental trait of the Bosnian spirit is tolerance – the ability to live together with people who are different from you." Perhaps the West did not want such a capacity – a potential example for humanity – to emerge. That is why Izetbegovic describes the events of this period with deep pain: "Don’t forget this, Avdo (name of the interviewer), we are people who have lived through hell and yet managed to preserve our sanity."
It is now abundantly clear that the West has failed to offer humanity a path forward or a source of hope. Similar acts of genocide continue to take place across different regions of the world, most notably in Gaza. What we are witnessing today mirrors the stance the West took during the war in Bosnia. For this reason, what Izetbegovic and his companions accomplished in Bosnia – combining the values of both East and West while remaining true to their own identity and developing a new language – offers us vital lessons and experiences as we seek direction in our world today.
