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. A video of the event has now been provided by the Cordoba Foundation click here
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. 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.
Source: Dr Abdullah Faliq, Managing Director The Cordoba Foundation
Publisher’s link: ketebe.co.uk click here.
| Further biographical link on salaam.co.uk “The twentieth century has seen many visionaries who have articulated the concept of an Islamic socio-political order. There have also been many false dawns leading to a re-evaluation of strategies within Muslim circles. Asad and Izetbegovic, whose lives straddle the twentieth century, were persistent proponents of Islam’s political dimension and the vision of establishing a society where the moral and ethical teachings of the religion would find practical expression. They were far from unsophisticated sofa intellectuals and their vision was not shaken by the disappointments. There is need to understand their aspirations, appreciate their rationales, and absorb their assessments, particularly in a period when there are misgivings about the vision of an Islamic state.” click here |