"This morning we are looking forward to Kurban Bayram. In our tradition, it is a big and chosen day. It echoes takbirs and contrite prayers from our hearts. This morning, they merge with the prayers of believers in the Mina valley, on the Hajj. Our feelings and thoughts bring us back to Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and his son Ismail. ", Bosnia's Grand Mufti said during the Eid al Adha sermon, on Sunday morning.

Honest confession and practice of faith and willingness to make the greatest sacrifice a person can make, opens the door of grace, even when it seems all ships have sailed, he pointed out.

“Today, while our sacrifice is being offered, we should remember the lofty call of Islam, that ideal that goodness, peace and harmony rule the world,” Kavazovic added.

“Trials and challenges on our path are constant: in the family, in the neighbourhood, at the workplace,” said the Reis-ul-ulema, adding that “we all need to think about our lives and the way we respond to the needs of our family members, neighbours who need our help, our colleagues at workplaces…”

He recalled that we have been witnessing untold suffering in Palestine for months.

“Gaza is exhausted, wrapped in unprecedented crimes. The news that reaches us speaks of crimes of the worst kind, crimed against children, women and the elderly. There is no refuge for these people. For them, the earth has become a narrow, bottomless tomb. History will remember the recklessness and cowardice of the world. After Bosnia and Gaza, crime and violence lost their meaning. In these moments, our thoughts and our prayers are with those brave women and men, children and the elderly, who are resisting the forces of darkness, in order to provide spiritual and material help to the victims. Each of them is in our hearts and in our prayers. We pray for mercy in the hearts of those who bear responsibility for the fate of the people of Gaza: Muslims, Jews and Christians and all those who participate in it. We ask and pray for the war to stop, for the suffering to end, for fear to be replaced by security, and hope and faith to replace despair,” Kavazovic pointed out.

In the days ahead, the Reis-ul-ulema called for action to help the people of Gaza, in mosques and masjids.

F.Z./N1

F.Z. / N1

F.Z. / N1

“Let's rely on the Most Graceful and let Him be our inspiration that good will overcome and defeat evil. I remind you of our obligation to oppose evil, about which the Prophet, pbuh, said: ‘Whoever among you sees evil, let him remove it with his hand: if he cannot, let him condemn it with words; if he is not able to do that either, let him despise it in his heart; it's the least he can do with his faith,'” Reis-ul-ulema declared.

At the end of the Eid sermon, he sent Eid greetings to all Muslims in Bosnia and across the world.