Hundreds mark 31 years since Srebrenica at London launch of Alija Izetbegović’s Islam: Between East and West
The newly revised English translation of Islam: Between East and West — the philosophical work of Alija Izetbegović, the philosopher, statesman, and Founding President of Bosnia-Herzegovina — was launched on Friday, 10 July 2026, at the London Muslim Centre, during an evening that also commemorated the 31st anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide.
Hosted by The Cordoba Foundation and the Alija Izetbegović Foundation, alongside several supporting organisations (including the book’s publisher, Ketebe), the launch drew over 400 guests from across the country. Attendees included many youth as well as a Turkish delegation. Streamed live on The Cordoba Foundation’s YouTube and Facebook channels, the event proved highly successful, with nearly 300 copies of the book sold at the beginning of the evening.
Moderated by Dr Abdullah Faliq, Managing Director at The Cordoba Foundation —who brings 25 years of advocacy for the victims of Srebrenica — the event commenced as he welcomed the panel of speakers and guests. He described Izetbegović’s magnum opus as “a major contribution to understanding the human condition, consciousness, and the metaphysical foundations of ethics.”
Elaborating further, he said: “Many of us grew up reading this text, which positions Islam not just as a religion, but as an integrative worldview capable of harmonising humanity’s spiritual and material needs. The book has striking relevance for us today as we try to navigate conflicts, tensions, and the rise of right-wing populism across the globe.”
Imam Sedin Sahman, Chief Imam of the Islamic Bosnian community in Britain and a survivor of the Bosnian War, recited verses from the Qur’an. This was followed by opening remarks from H.E. Osman Topčagić, Bosnian Ambassador to the UK, who recalled working alongside President Izetbegović throughout the war years and the Dayton peace negotiations. “In all those situations, I had in front of me a statesman, but also a man who cared deeply for human beings: care for the people, care for others, and not just for one ethnic or religious group, trying to find a formula to enable life together,” he said. “Bosnia and Herzegovina remembers the work and life of Mr Izetbegović. What we have today is very much because of his actions and his deeds.”
The highlight of the evening was a keynote address by Sabina Berberović, daughter of President Izetbegović and a founding member of the Alija Izetbegović Foundation. Speaking on the eve of the Srebrenica Genocide anniversary, she stated: “Thirty-one years on, we remember the victims of the genocide, and we stand with their families: thousands of women and children who lost their fathers, their brothers, their husbands. It takes immense courage to continue living after such a terrible experience,” she said. “They are enduring the unendurable and accepting the unacceptable. The women of Srebrenica rose from being victims to become our heroes, and they raised their children with pride and dignity.”
She shared the story behind her father’s book, which Izetbegović began writing as a high school student during the Second World War. The manuscript was hidden by his sister under a flower chest in the family kitchen when police searched their home in 1946, and it was completed three decades later. By the time State Security agents targeted him again in the 1980s, the finished manuscript was safely in the possession of a friend in Canada. “As they were leaving, I asked my father what we were to do, and he just replied: ‘Have the book published,’” she recalled.
The book was published in 1984 while Izetbegović served a prison sentence. Sabina’s brother and husband later drove the first copies from Belgrade to Sarajevo in the boot of a car, taking rural backroads to avoid being stopped and searched. “I hope that the book Islam: Between East and West will only bring good wherever and whenever it is read,” she said.
Ömer Faruk Yeni, an arts and cultural heritage consultant and the London and Istanbul-based director of Ketebe publishing, provided an overview of the book. “This is not a book about East or West, nor is it a defence of one civilisation against another. It is a profound reflection on what it means to be human. More than forty years have passed since the book first appeared, yet its questions have only become more relevant. Increasingly, Izetbegović is recognised not only as the founding President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but as one of the most original Muslim thinkers of the twentieth century.”
In a recorded address, Dr Admir Mulaosmanović, CEO of the Aurora Foundation in Sarajevo and a wounded veteran of the Bosnian War, framed the book within the context of the present day. “The question Izetbegović posed rings even more powerfully today than when it was first written down,” he said. “This is not a theological text. It is an attempt to translate Islam into a language spoken and understood by today’s generation, and a call for both individual intellectual sharpening and collective social action.” (Note: Mulaosmanović’s full written speech is available here)
Shaykh Prof Abdal Hakim Murad, Dean of the Cambridge Muslim College, recounted travelling to Sarajevo in the 1980s to write a report for Amnesty International on the trial of Izetbegović and his co-defendants. Europe’s response to Bosnia, he argued, exposed a lasting blind spot. “The Bosnian struggle was not just a military struggle. It was against a European determination to defend a cultural truth rather than a factual truth,” he said. “We see this today in Gaza: so many hand-wringing politicians who have read the reports and know what is going on, but it is not their cultural truth, and so they are paralysed.”
Murad warned that “Muslim communities across Europe are witnessing the storm clouds gathering on the horizon”, adding that Bosnia holds a vital lesson: “Bosnians can teach us what that is like, and how to avert it. We need to challenge cultural truths with factual truths. We need to go to Bosnia, we need to read this great literature, and we need to make that history part of our history.”
Shaykh Dr Yasir Qadhi, a prominent American theologian who sent a video message while travelling, described first reading the book as a teenager in 1990. “This book is one of the few genuinely unique philosophical contributions of the Muslim Ummah in this century, in a similar vein to Iqbal’s Reconstruction of Religious Thought. What makes it especially important is not just the message, but that it comes from somebody who paid a personal price for what he wrote. Izetbegović was not a mere armchair critic. He lived the life of a bona fide leader who had to navigate his nation through a war,” he said.
“This book should be mandatory reading for all who want to traverse the path of intellectual scholarship, especially in the Western world, because it answers the question: what vision of the human person makes Islam intelligible?”
Sarah Joseph OBE, a writer, broadcaster, and founding editor of Emel magazine, focused on the book’s chapter on progress. “Izetbegović asks whether life will be five times fuller, happier, or more humane, and his answer is decidedly negative. Another forty years on, have we quintupled in our happiness? Again, the answer is decidedly no,” she said.
Addressing the rise of the far-right in Europe, she rejected fear: “This book is calling us towards civilisation. It is calling us to say: we are not victims. We are people inspired by ideas, and we have a vision for the future. The Prophet Muhammad did not come for the Muslims; he came as a mercy to mankind. That is a civilisational message, and that is what this book tells us.”
Dr Mohammed Wajid Akhter, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, remembered discovering the book as a child in Saudi Arabia during the genocide, noting it was one of only two English titles in his mosque. “The imam came to me one day and said: ‘This is why the Bosnians will win. You can kill a people, but you cannot kill an idea,’” he shared. Izetbegović, Akhter argued, possessed the rare vision, courage, and pragmatism that eventually guided his nation to survival and left a timeless intellectual blueprint for future generations.
Izetbegović, Akhter argued, possessed the vision, courage, and pragmatism every leader needs, alongside something far rarer. “He did something very few Muslim leaders do: he voluntarily stepped down,” Akhter noted. “Throughout 1,400 years of Muslim history, leaders have traditionally left office only for the graveyard. Izetbegović chose to leave before then, showing the true measure of the man.”
Former BBC war reporter Martin Bell, who was wounded during the siege of Sarajevo, sent his apologies as ill health prevented his attendance.
Dr Abdullah Faliq asked for prayers and reflection for ten genocide victims whose remains were identified this year, ahead of their burial at Srebrenica on 11 July. He also highlighted the Bosnian Grand Mufti’s Friday Sermon delivered earlier that day in Sarajevo, noting its timely messages of steadfastness and enduring faith.
Faliq urged the youth to study the history of Srebrenica, recommending a special publication, Srebrenica Genocide: 30 Years Later: Understanding, Remembering, Acting by Dr Emir Hadžikadunić. The publication features insights from Bosnia’s Grand Mufti, the Bosnian Ambassador, and ICMP Director Kathryne Bomberger.
Sarah Joseph urged the audience to visit the country: “Go, support the economy, support the people, and know that their stories will never die.”
Closing the evening, Faliq reflected on the ongoing pain of families still recovering the remains of loved ones 31 years later. “Let us not do this once a year only,” he pleaded. “We must keep the flame of Srebrenica alive and tell these stories all year round.”
[Ends]
Notes to editors:
Event Recording: Streaming on The Cordoba Foundation’s YouTube and Facebook channels.
The Book:Islam: Between East and West (Revised English translation, May 2026) is published by Ketebe and available online.
The Alija Izetbegović Foundation: A Sarajevo-based non-profit established in 2020 to preserve the legacy of the first President of Bosnia and Herzegovina. www.alijaizetbegovic.org
Launch of landmark Islam: Between East and West by Alija Izetbegović, marking 31 years since Srebrenica
The Cordoba Foundation, with the Alija Izetbegović Foundation, will host the official launch of the revised English translation (May 2026) of Islam: Between East and West — the seminal work of Alija Izetbegović, the philosopher, statesman and Founding President of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The launch will take place on Friday 10 July 2026 at the London Muslim Centre (7:15pm–9pm), with hundreds of guests expected.
Islam: Between East and West is a profound meditation on faith, civilisation and the human condition. Its first English edition was published in 1984, while its author, Izetbegovic, was a political prisoner, and it was followed by four further editions. The book argues that Islam offers a path between the materialism of the West and the abstraction of the East — a vision of the human being as both body and spirit. Over three decades after it first reached English readers, its questions about identity, belonging and coexistence remain strikingly current.
The book launch also marks the 31st anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide, in which more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were murdered on European soil. The launch stands as both a commemoration of those lost and a reflection on what the world has, and has not, learned since. A special exhibition on the genocide will be on display during the event.
“Alija Izetbegović’s life and thought remind us that dialogue and dignity are not luxuries, but necessities,” said Dr Abdullah Faliq, Managing Director of The Cordoba Foundation and a longtime advocate for Srebrenica. “To revisit his work in the shadow of Srebrenica is to ask ourselves what kind of future we are building, and whether we have the courage to remember.”
Sabina Berberović, daughter of Izetbegović who is traveling from Bosnia to speak at the book launch, said: “During the Second World War my father was a high school student. He read a great deal, mainly philosophical and political books, and felt conflicted between communist ideas and religious beliefs. Eventually it was in his faith — Islam — that he found all the core values he was searching for; a universe without God seemed to him a universe without meaning.”
Berberović added, @Inspired by this personal journey of thought, he, just a teenager, began writing a book. He put on paper the basic structure, ideas and thoughts, and the title: Islam between East and West.”
The book launch event brings together a distinguished panel of speakers, including Izetbegović’s daughter (a founding member of the Alija Izetbegović Foundation); H.E. Osman Topčagić, Bosnian Ambassador to the UK; Shaykh Prof Abdal Hakim Murad, Dean of the Cambridge Muslim College; Dr Admir Mulaosmanović, professor and Bosnian War veteran; Shaykh Dr Yasir Qadhi (joining online); Martin Bell, the former BBC war reporter who covered the siege of Sarajevo; Sarah Joseph OBE, writer and broadcaster; and Dr Wajid Akhter, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain.
[Ends]
Notes to editors:
The Cordoba Foundation is an independent research and policy institution established in 2005 to promote intercultural dialogue and positive coexistence among civilisations, cultures and people. Its work spans research and publications, conferences, executive education and public engagement, guided by its slogan, “Cultures in Dialogue.”
The Alija Izetbegović Foundation is a non-profit organisation in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Established in 2020, it preserves the intellectual legacy and personal memorabilia of Alija Izetbegović, the first President of the independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.www.alijaizetbegovic.org
Signed copies of the book will be available to purchase at a special event price of £10.
In light of the recent far-right riots, 80 Muslim organisations and community leaders have come together to demand immediate and concrete action from the government to tackle the growing threat of Islamophobia. The alarming rise in hate and violence towards Muslims has exposed the dangerous normalisation of Islamophobia in society, which fueled these attacks. The situation is critical. We call on the government to take the following urgent actions:
Adopt the APPG Definition of Islamophobia: The government must officially adopt the APPG definition, without delay, to send a clear message that Islamophobia will not be tolerated. The normalisation of anti-Muslim sentiment has been a key driver of the recent violence.
Launch an Independent Review: An independent investigation into far-right activities is urgently needed, focusing on the role of social media platforms, mainstream media, and political narratives in perpetuating hate and Islamophobia.
Engage with Muslim Communities: The government must engage directly with legitimate, democratically elected representatives of Muslim communities, particularly the Muslim Council of Britain, to ensure that Muslim voices are heard and addressed. Islamophobia has surged alarmingly in recent months, culminating in serious far-right attacks. It is essential that the government takes immediate steps to build a strong, collaborative relationship with Muslim communities, fostering unity and ensuring that all groups feel represented and heard. This is a pivotal moment. The time for action is now. A spokesperson for the Islamophobia Action Group said: “Islamophobia has fueled the recent far-right riots, and the consequences are clear and dangerous. The government must act now by adopting the APPG definition of Islamophobia; investigate far-right activities; and engage directly with Muslim communities and their national representatives. This is a critical moment to address the root causes of hate and to protect our society.”
The Islamophobia Action Group (IAG) was formed in response to the violent far-right riots that took place over the UK in August 2024 when Muslim communities and their places of worship came under serious attack. As Islamophobia has increased significantly and was the key driver of the far-right violence towards both Muslims and minority communities, a group of Muslim organisations began to coordinate collective action in the face of a very serious threat.
For media queries, interviews or for further information, email islamophobiag@gmail.com
The Cordoba Foundation hosted a major event in London on 11 June 2024, to launch Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic, the latest work by acclaimed Israeli historian Prof Ilan Pappe.
The event was organised in partnership with the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) and One World Publications.
Attended by hundreds of people in a packed central London venue, the book launch began with a poignant moment as Dr Anas Altikriti, founder and CEO of The Cordoba Foundation, led a moment of silence in remembrance and prayers for the lives lost in Israel’s military operation in Gaza and across Palestine.
Published by One World Publications, Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic delves into the intricate and powerful networks that advocate for Zionist interests in both the US and Europe. Pappe, a professor of History at the University of Exeter and author of the bestselling The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, provided insightful commentary on his latest work.
The event featured a distinguished panel of speakers who offered their perspectives on the book and its themes. Palestinian academic, physician, and author Dr Ghada Karmi praised the book as “impressive,” noting its exploration of the origins of Christian Zionism.
Dr Daud Abdullah, director of Middle East Monitor and co-organiser of the event, emphasised the significance of Pappe’s work, stating that it goes beyond previous attempts to examine the Israeli lobby by investigating its operations in Europe and Britain.
Prof Nur Masalha, a Palestinian historian and associate member of SOAS, University of London, provided historical context, discussing the role of “millennial Christianity” and “restoration Christianity” in advancing the interests of the British Empire and the Zionist movement.
Altikriti moderated the conversation, allowing the panel to share their insights and engage with the audience in a question-and-answer session. His moderation throughout the evening facilitated a meaningful dialogue, highlighting the significance of Pappe’s work leaving no doubt about the book’s power to transform our understanding of Zionism.
Reflecting on the event, Altikriti said, “the launch of Professor Pappe’s new book marks a significant historical moment on multiple levels. The timing of this critical publication, coupled with the exceptional turnout that filled the venue to capacity, is particularly noteworthy. We are witnessing a paradigm shift in public discourse, undoubtedly influenced by the remarkable resilience and determination displayed by the people of Gaza in the face of unprecedented adversity. This shift unfolds amid a global order that urgently needs reform, one that can effectively hold rogue states accountable and ensure that no entity, regardless of power or influence, operates above the law.”
Dr Abdullah Faliq, Managing Director at The Cordoba Foundation and the lead organiser of the event, commended Prof Pappe on his new book and thanked him for making time to engage with the attendees, some of whom had travelled from across the UK and even abroad. “The relevance of this book launch is especially critical today as we see Zionism increasingly aligning with Far-Right elements and other extremist ideologies. This unholy alliance, built on shared xenophobic and nationalist sentiments, poses a significant threat to minority communities and democratic values.”
Faliq further added “Pappe’s book sheds light on recent efforts on both sides of the Atlantic to conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism and this discussion is particularly important as people in the US, UK and around the globe go to the polls. It serves as a timely warning about the potential impact of these lobbying efforts on electoral processes and policy-making.”
The event by The Cordoba Foundation with MEMO and OneWorld Publications not only launched an important scholarly work but also initiated a crucial dialogue about the far-reaching implications of Zionist lobbying in the West. As global attention remains focused on the ongoing situation in Palestine, Lobbying for Zionism and the discussions it has sparked provide valuable tools for understanding and addressing the complex dynamics that shape international responses to the conflict.
Prof Andrew March – USA
A professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, he specialises in political philosophy, Islamic law and political thought, religion and comparative and non-Western political theory. Author of several books including, The Caliphate of Man: The Invention of Popular Sovereignty in Modern Islamic Thought (2019), and with Rachid Ghannouchi, On Muslim Democracy: Essays and Dialogues (Nov 2023)
Dr Ahmed Gaaloul
Former Tunisian minister; lecturer and writer in Islamic Studies, and an advisor to Rachid Ghannouchi.
Dr Daud Abdullah (Moderator)
Director of the Middle East Monitor; lecturer and author of several books, including, Engaging the World: The Making of Hamas’s Foreign Policy (2021).
Moadh Ghannouchi
Son of Rachid Ghannouchi and former Chief-of-Staff Nahda Party, Tunisia.
Watch Event Videos Below:
Special message by Shaykh Rachid Ghannouchi from prison to The Cordoba Foundation roundtable
Friday, February 16, 2024
I am in prison today because I called for the values of national democracy, which is part of universal democracy, and because the conflict in Tunisia is a conflict between democracy and non-democracy.
Some of the enemies of democracy rely on modernity as a basis to exclude Islamic opponents. We in Tunisia were founded on the values of Islam, and we do not find any justification to exclude those who disagree with us or those who believe in Islam with a different vision, because we do not see that there is an official spokesman for Islam.
I am in prison because a significant portion of the so-called Tunisian modernists are non-democratic. They call for a democracy that is just for them, an exclusionary democracy. Whereas We are in a struggle for a Tunisia for all and for a democracy that includes everyone inside Tunisia and outside Tunisia.
The country today is governed by the dualism of good and evil, right and wrong, patriotism and treason. This is the essence of the coup of July 25, 2021: the monopoly of patriotism, the monopoly of Islam, and the monopoly of righteousness. Therefore, the existing regime is in a relentless war against democracy in all its meanings. This approach cannot bring Tunisians together because God created people different.
The current system sees difference as a curse, but we see it as a mercy.
Palestine exposed the shortcomings of democracy within the framework of the nation state.
Democracy, as a mechanism, is one of the best mechanisms that the human political mind has produced for consensus and reaching settlements between differences and a way to resolve disputes away from violence.
But when democracy is confined to a particular group and is imprisoned within the trenches of nationalism, race, and colour, its mechanisms break down in more than one case – especially in the face of major challenges such as the Palestinian question.
The flaw, then, is not in the idea of democracy, but in the idea of the nation-state outside the framework of ethics and the values of equality for all human beings. There is no framework for ethics outside the framework of man as God’s khalifa / vicegerent on earth, the one who is entrusted to look after this world. Therefore, we demand democracy and add it to our understanding of Islam so that it emerges from the confines and the narrowness of the individual and the group to the vastness of humanity.
Honourable Faiez Jacobs – South Africa
A South African Member of Parliament of Greater Athlone for the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Born and bred Capetonian serving communities on the Cape Flats, he previously served as the Secretary of the ANC in the Western Cape until 2019. He has been a long-standing advocate for the freedom of Palestine and is currently involved in passing a bill in Parliament in support of Palestine.
Shaykh Dr Yasir Qadhi – USA
A resident Scholar of the East Plano Islamic Center in Dallas, the Dean of The Islamic Seminary of America, and the Chair of the Fiqh Council of North Africa. Shaykh Al-Qadhi is one of the few people who has combined a traditional Eastern Islamic seminary education with a Western academic training of the study of Islam.
Tayab Ali
Director of the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians and an internationally recognised Solicitor Advocate. His practice encompasses criminal and civil/public law in both the UK and international jurisdictions. He is a Partner at leading London Law firm Bindmans LLP.
Antony Lerman
An Honorary Fellow at the Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish-Non-Jewish Relations at Southampton University, he is the former director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research; and author of Whatever Happened to Antisemitism?: Redefinition and the Myth of the ‘Collective Jew’. Lerman specialises in the study of antisemitism, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, multiculturalism, and the place of religion in society.
Dr Daud Abdullah
Director of the Middle East Monitor and author of several books, including, Engaging the World: The Making of Hamas’s Foreign Policy (2021). From 2003-2011, he was a part-time lecturer at Birkbeck College, University of London and from 1990-1993, he lectured at the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. He has been a guest lecturer on Islamic and Palestinian affairs at many universities in the UK including Queen’s University in Belfast.
Baroness Jenny Tonge
Former Lord’s health spokesperson; was a Member of Parliament for Richmond Park in 1997. She was the Liberal Democrat spokesman for international development for 7 years, and has been a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Population, Development and Reproductive Health since 1997. In 2008, she took part in the Gaza Flotilla which broke through the blockage to deliver humanitarian aid. She has received several awards for her support for the Palestinians.
Dr Ghada Karmi
A Palestinian academic, physician and author. Currently, she is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter. Born in Jerusalem, Karmi was forced to leave her home with her family as a result of Israel’s creation in 1948.
Mysara Ibrahim
A British Palestinian, originally from Gaza City whose family members have been killed recently in the barbaric Israeli bombardment. He is a specialist in education diplomacy.
Dr Anas Altikriti (moderator)
Founder and CEO of The Cordoba Foundation. He is the former President of the Muslim Association of Britain and a leading figure in the international Anti-War movement and an Anti-Racism campaigner. He currently hosts a podcast, The London Circle, on Al Hiwar TV addressing issues relating to British takes on local, continental and global affairs.
