On May 8 and 9, 2024, an important scientific meeting was held in Casablanca, a city located in the extreme west of the Kingdom of Morocco. Namely, in the organization of the Faculty of Humanities of Hassan II University in Casablanca and the Moroccan Observatory for Islamic Thought, and in cooperation with the International Institute for Islamic Thought from Herdnon (Virginia, USA), a scientific symposium with international participation was held on the topic: "The MP's CV - multiplicity look" (Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya – Wuguhun muta'addida). On that occasion, a significant number of Islamic scholars and intellectuals gathered from several countries (Morocco, Turkey, Qatar, Northern Arabia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Libya, Sri Lanka, Syria, Egypt, Belgium, France, Italy, the United States of America), who in five scientific sessions discussed an important topic related to the study of the Sira - the Prophet's life in the modern age. He actively participated in the work of the symposium from Bosnia and Herzegovina Ph.D. Hafiz Safvet Halilović, full professor at the Faculty of Islamic Pedagogy, University of Zenica. He made the following statement regarding that meeting:
- This was really an interesting and very useful scientific meeting. In Casablanca, that large Moroccan city on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean (with a population of about six million), scholars from various parts of the world gathered to discuss approaches to studying the Prophet's biography. As everyone knows, Sira is an extremely important area. It is necessary for every Muslim, because in order for a Muslim to be thoughtful, he must emulate and follow the path of Muhammad, peace be upon him, and to be able to do that, he needs to get acquainted with the Prophet's way of life. There is no doubt that many Muslims today have exactly that problem: a proper understanding of the Prophet's Sunnah, his life path and mission. While some exaggerate to the extreme, others radically reduce it, and all are ordered to stick to the middle path of the Prophet (wasatiyya islamiyya). A detailed knowledge of the Sira is especially important for muders, imams, dais - that is, those who call to Islam and work to present it to others. Without proper and grounded knowledge of the Prophet's biography, it is difficult to properly understand the message of the Qur'an.
A total of 21 papers were submitted at the symposium, which were the subject of very useful discussions and analyses. Numerous aspects of the Prophet's biography were discussed, and here I can mention some of the topics presented: Humanity in the Prophet's biography; General civilizational values in the Prophet's biography; Civil society building; The question of the value system in the biography of the Prophet; The Prophet's Covenants and Treaties; The attitude of the Evangelist towards members of other religions and worldviews; Formation of a new discus in the area of Sira; The main questions of interest to non-Muslims regarding Muhammad, peace be upon him; How to talk about the Messenger of Allah today; Cheese in the eyes of some American writers; Reading the work Maometto Italian orientalist Massimi Campanini; Studying Sira in Bosnia and Herzegovina and others.
I was invited to this scientific meeting as an honored guest. So, I did not directly have a report, but I actively participated in the work of all sessions. In the first, plenary part of the symposium, I had a presentation as a representative of foreign delegations, and later numerous replies, comments and reviews of the papers presented. Also, their state radio and television had short interviews with me. Thanks to Allah, I presented our Faculty, the Islamic community and the homeland of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the most beautiful light.
I was invited to the symposium as the author of Sira - Prophet's biography, which has been translated into several ancient languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Czech, Arabic, Albanian. In the Bosnian language, Sira has seen eight printed and three audio editions (audio editions are available on numerous portals, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlPAEECDz-w).
Also, an audio edition in English was made in fifty episodes, which can be followed at these links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwpXRsxLD_A
My Sira in Arabic, English and French was particularly interesting for the participants of the symposium in Casablanca.
A special curiosity for me was the report prepared by a Moroccan scholar Ph.D. Yunus Azzuzi, on the topic: "Dedication of Bosniak ulema to the study of Sira - Reading the work Sira in a new guise, a contemporary reading of the Prophet's biography” by Dr. Safvet Halilović", in which he presented my Sira in detail. After his presentation, a very useful discussion followed, and many participants congratulated me on writing this work. Indeed, it was a special pleasure to listen to the presentation of that scholar from Titvan (a city in the north of Morocco), who, by the way, a few years ago did a doctoral dissertation on Islamic educational institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and on that occasion he stayed in our country for a while, visiting our madrasahs, Islamic faculties, libraries and making interviews with our ulema. That dissertation was printed in Arabic, in their country in Morocco and in our country in the edition of El-Kalem. I think it would be very useful if it were translated into our Bosnian language.
I would also say that we have very nice impressions from Morocco. There, by the way, they love our country very much, when you say that you are from Bosnia, smiles, words of praise and honor immediately follow... They know that we suffered aggression and genocide, and deeply sympathize with the injustice that was done to us. Given that this symposium was open, a large audience was present the entire time, mostly post-graduate students and doctoral students at the Faculty of Humanities. Thanks to that, I had the opportunity to meet several of their distinguished professors, such as: prof. Ph.D. Abdulefettah Zinifi, prof. Ph.D. Mustafa es-Samedi (by the way, director of the aforementioned Observatory for Islamic Thought), prof. Ph.D. Mustafa Buhindi, prof. Ph.D. Muhlis es-Sibti, as well as several of their valuable doctoral students, who were present at all sessions: Ejjub Sabiir, Jihad, Umayma, Sukeyna, Hanan and others.
Given that, due to the air connection, I had to leave a little earlier, I arrived in Kazblanka two days before the start of the symposium, so I had the opportunity to visit some of the sights of that city, such as: the large Al Saud library, which has over two million books and the King Hassan mosque, which is considered the largest mosque in Africa and is located on the Atlantic coast (moreover, one part of the mosque is built above the surface of the ocean, so you can always hear the crashing of the sea waves). My worthy host, dr. Yunus Azzuzi, who came from the north of Morocco (the city of Titvan is over 400 kilometers from Casablanca) to meet me, took me to some other parts of this ancient city. I especially enjoyed visiting their mosques, which are large and strongly reminiscent of the mosques of Endelusa (Muslim Spain). Their mosques are exceptionally well attended for prayers. Otherwise, the Maliki madhhab is the official madhhab, but they also respect other fiqh madhhabs. They have a very nice custom: every day, after the Fajr prayer, half of the juz is recited, and after Aksham, the other half. Therefore, in one month, Hatma is studied in all mosques. A significant part of the congregation stays at these joint studies and they all study together, at the same time. This is a practice they have had for hundreds of years, and it is truly wonderful to hear the voices of so many people reciting the Qur'an together.
At the very end, I would like to thank the organizers of this important symposium, with particular emphasis on: dr. Mustafa es-Samedi et al. Dr. Junus Azzuzi, who made a huge effort to organize and successfully implement such a meeting, said. Hafiz Safvet Halilović.
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