ড. মুস্তাফা কেরিক

Dr Mustafa Ceric, is considered one of the most influential Muslim leaders of current times and was instrumental in the founding of Religions for Peace's Interreligious Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ceric, a Bosnian imam, was born in 5 February 1952. He was former Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina (1999-2012), He was previously an Imam in Northbrook, Illinois, United States and Zagreb, Croatia. Ceric is currently President of the World Bosniak Congress as well as an active member in many local and international scientific organizations and societies including The Inter-religious Council of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Executive Committee of the European Council of Religious Leaders, International Commission for Peace Research and UNESCO. Sheikh Ceric graduated from the Gazi Husrev-beg Madrasa 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. Ceric led the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1993. In 2011, Ceric was one of the founders of the Bosniak Academy of Sciences and Arts. In December 2012, he was one of the founders of the World Bosniak Congress. Ceric 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. Ceric is also a member of the Committee of Conscience fighting against the Holocaust denial. Ceric was the co-recipient of the 2003 UNESCO Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize and recipient of the International Council of Christians and Jews Annual Sternberg Award “for exceptional contribution to interfaith understanding." He also received the 2007 Theodor-Heuss-Stiftung award for his contribution to spreading and strengthening democracy. In 2006, he issued the ‘Declaration of European Muslims’ to the European Union stating that European Muslims are dedicated to the common values of law, tolerance, democracy and human rights, the value of life, faith, freedom, property, and dignity.