We mustn’t forget what happened to us. We have no right to that. Reviving and maintaining the memory of our martyrs, of the innocent who were killed, of those who died just because they were Muslims, is a form of protecting ourselves, said the Grand Mufti of the Islamic Community in BiH Husein Kavazovic in Friday’s sermon about the genocide committed in the area of Srebrenica in the summer of 1995.

“We mark the date of their martyrdom and recalled the difficult days of Bosniaks’ struggle and suffering. We faced the threat of extermination from these areas before ” said Kavazovic in the sermon at the Gazi Husrev Bey Mosque in Sarajevo.

He noted, among other things, that some historians claim that in the last two centuries Bosniaks have been exposed to extermination ten times.

He recalled that believers are urged to practice forgiveness in many places in the Qur'an.

“But there can be forgiveness only if there is sincere repentance of the perpetrator and if justice is served. That, however, is missing for now. Be that as it may, we must not falter in persecuting evil and criminals. The commemoration of the anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica also has the function of encouraging it,” Kavazovic explained. “I congratulate all Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the coming days of Eid al-Adha. I especially congratulate our brothers and sisters in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and the Bosniak diaspora, as well as all the Muslims across the world. Bajram Sherif Mubarek Olsun!”