Bosnia – We Refuse to Forget

Praise be to Allah and Blessings on Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

O you who have committed [to Allah]! [When it comes to political relations] do not take for your bosom friends people who are not of your commitment-quality. They spare no effort to corrupt you; they would love to see you in distress. Vehement hatred has already come into the open from out of their mouths, but what their hearts conceal is yet of a more serious magnitude. We have indeed made the ayat [thereof] clear to you, if you would but use your reason. [Al ‘Imran, 3:118]

11th July 2025 marks a sombre anniversary, that of the other holocaust, which the world does not observe or would love us to forget. On the 11th July 1995, hundreds of thousands of Bosnian Muslims were massacred by Serbian Christians and buried in mass graves with the help of tractors. At the same time, Europe was looking the other way, make believing that it was a civil war, which brings us to what Allah (SWT) says in the Qur’an:

[…] Vehement hatred has already come into the open from out of their mouths, but what their hearts conceal is yet of a more serious magnitude […] [Al ‘Imran, 3:118]

For the first time, the world discovered ethnic cleansing, the genocide of a people because of its belief in La ilaha illa Allah. More than 100,000 were martyred, massacred without pity, more than 60,000 women and young girls raped and sequestred until they gave birth, and 1.5 million left homeless. The so-called safe havens of the UN, were anything but, being the theatre of orgies for the Blue Helmets.

The genocide lasted four years. Thousands of Muslims were imprisoned in detention camps, tortured and starved. 800 mosques were destroyed, waqf properties were obliterated, the Sarajevo Library set on fire.

In the meantime, despots and dictators who had a grip on Muslim states turned their backs on their distressed brothers and sisters.

What Lessons Have we Drawn from These Sad Events?

The most important one is found in Surah An Nisaa:

O you who have committed [to Allah’s power]! Do not take the deniers of the truth [per- taining to Allah’s power and authority] for your allies in preference to the committed muslims! Do you want to place before Allah a manifest proof of your guilt? [An Nisaa, 4:144]

The lukewarm reaction of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation of the time was testimony of the incapacity of Muslim states to take a stand. The Muslim State Leaders suffered from a Trust Deficiency Syndrome, as was written in the British magazine, Impact, in May 1995. It would seem that this syndrome has taken root. It is pure and simple betrayal of Muslim despots and dictators in favour of their Western masters.

Emboldened by the indifference, the lethargy even of those who head Muslim states, other countries have followed suit to the Serbians. Ethnic cleansing and genocide are openly carried out in other countries. Since 1990, the genocide in Kashmir is ongoing, despite being called out. It has even been extended to Assam, in India, where thousands of Muslims are kept in concentration camps, following the example of China, following the destruction of their houses as they had not been able to prove their Indian citizenship.

In Xinjiang, more than one million Turkish-speaking Muslim Uighurs are held in concentration camps, tortured daily, and subjected to a brainwash to become Chinese. It is the most excruciating form of Islamophobia. We should also not forget the fate of thousands Muslim Rohingyas, whose homes have been burnt to the ground to chase them from Myanmar, their homeland. They are subjected to daily persecutions, taken from one refugee camp to another, since. Even refugee camps are burnt down.

What of Palestine?

We should all be concerned by the genocide in Gaza, ongoing since 21 months, and the motivations of the Butcher of Tel Aviv, who is evicting Palestinians from their lands, with the unconditional support of the Psychopath in the Oval Office.

The other lesson we should draw from the systematic elimination of a people is, undoubtedly, the strengthening of the concept of Ummah in the mindsets of Muslims. Since the genocide in Bosnia, this concept, sometimes misunderstood by the younger generations, has come a long way. We have been influenced by colonial ideas and the fragmentation of the State into state nations, based on race, ethnic or tribal belonging, and started to believe that this was best for the progress of the Ummah. Mauritian Muslims were largely indifferent to the Bosnian genocide, but following the subsequent ones, they have revised their concept of the Ummah, to envision a global Ummah, having the same beliefs in Allah (SWT).

The concept of Ummah is unique to Islam. It transcends race, physical appearance, languages, borders, social status and any other difference that many exist among humans. We are thus part of a global Ummah. Reviving this concept means to reclaim our status as the best Ummah.

The indifference, lethargy even, of the Muslim community as well as the Muslim World, against the numerous attacks against Muslims, and the rise in Islamophobia, shows the lack of comprehension in some, and casualness in others, regarding the fundamental concept of Ummah.

Allah (SWT) says:

And [as for] the committed muslims, both men and women, they are close to one another: they [all] stand for the ma‘ruf and op- pose the munkar, and standardize the salah and institutionalize the zakat, and defer to Allah and His Apostle. […] [At Tawbah, 9:71]

Allah (SWT) thus explains clearly that those who believe in His power are linked by their convictions and actions, and are required to support each other in hard times.

When we observe the indifference and the lack of engagement to bring down the Israeli economy, through actions which do not require great sacrifices, such as boycotts, we can conclude that, for some, the concept of Ummah is still unclear. Are we discouraged by the number of deaths and wounded? Have we become insensitive to the plight and atrocities committed against our brothers and sisters?

It is urgent that we rid ourselves of the Trust Deficiency Syndrome.

Allah (SWT) says:

You are indeed the best community that has ever been brought forth for humanity [for its well-being]: you require [and authorize] the doing of the common good and you disallow [and interdict] the common wrong, and you are committed to Allah. […] [Al ‘Imran, 3:110]

Why do we doubt Allah’s (SWT) words? As the best Ummah and witnesses of humanity, we have the duty to take a stand and to convert our belief into action, by cultivating activism. The Ummah lives in humiliation. Despite its conviction in Allah (SWT) and its determination to make Allah’s (SWT) deen prevail, the Ummah is crippled by the treaties that govern it.

Having adhered to the Abraham Accords, they have submitted to the Zionist enemies. Even worse, they dare impose an Islam devoid of Hisbah, of the will to make Allah’s (SWT) deen and deprived of the capacity to carry out intellectual jihad, in complicity with their masters in the West.

Have we drawn lessons from Bosnia and Gaza? The scale of Islamophobia should give us food for thought.

May Allah (SWT) help and guide us.