Echoes of a Bosnian Prisoner

His name? Alija Izetbegovic.

His crime? Being a real Muslim, under Tito's communist regime in Yugoslavia, during the 1980s.

His fate after prison?

-President of Bosnia during the war-torn years and massacres of the 1990s.
-signed the famous Dayton Peace Accords in the mid 1990s.
-passed away from this world in 2003

His prominent works?

-Islam Between East & West (his magnum opus)
-Inescapable Questions: Autobiographical Notes
-Notes from Prison, 1983-1988 (a treasure chest of insights)

Here's one of his prison notes:

"In literature, the greatness of a hero is not in his social significance, but in the greatness of the moral dilemma he represents. A character is great if he represents the good and the evil in a novel, irrespective of his social ranking, his title or position. This is why, in a novel or a drama, a king may be an insignificant character and a servant may be a hero. Why is it not so in life? The reason is that in writing the writer introduces us to the soul of a hero, and in real life we get to know people only by their outer side. A man may be in our vicinity for years (at work or in the neighborhood) and we may believe that we know him, and what we know, in fact, are exactly the things that bear no moral value: name, profession, financial situation and social standing, etc. What is truly important and what no one but a writer could tell us about that person, usually remains unknown"

Allaaama Iqbal (rh) once said in a couplet:

'As for crows, they fly everywhere, freely
but the Shaheen (the eagle who soars high), everyone wishes to imprison him'

Our Bosnian amir flew to great heights by Allah's Grace. Unfortunate indeed, that so few Muslims today know of him, or read his works.

His masterpiece, Islam Between East and West, was PIVOTAL in my acceptance of Islam. A mentor of mine once expressed that there has been no Muslim contribution so broad in its scope, so unique and unconventional in its thrust, save this work.

Muslim thinkers & activists in southern India are now translating his "Notes from Prison" into two different languages. One of them is circulating each prison note on a daily basis in his newspaper, and the reader feedback has defied expectations.

So, read in the name of thy Lord, if you wish to know more:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/113D2696-9691-4CA5-991A-E0180F491EC5.htm
(Izetbegovic: hero of Sarajevo)

www.angelfire.com/dc/mbooks/inescapable-questions.html
(a review of his autobiography)

www.angelfire.com/hi/nazam/Aceric.html
(a conversation with Dr. Mustafa Ceric, his close friend)

www.angelfire.com/dc/mbooks/alija-izetbegovic-obituary.html
(an obituary & scenes from his funeral)