A Muslim Leader Reflects On The Holocaust After Visiting Auschwitz

Posted: 27/01/2014 11:26 am

Muhamed Jusic was quiet throughout much of our journey and we only learned afterwards why. He had his own story to tell. From the Kenyan mall massacre and the Boston Marathon to renewed violence in Iraq, Muslim extremists capture the headlines. Yet between the grim captions, there are other stories and there is hope. We, a Reform Rabbi and an Orthodox Jew, know this firsthand.

We experienced an unprecedented, some even called it an historic trip, that involved 12 influential Muslim imams, professors, and business leaders from around the world. These Muslim leaders agreed to travel with us, some against the opinion of family and friends and with safety concerns back home. Why? Because the trip was to Nazi concentration camps in Germany and Poland and the Holocaust is commonly misunderstood and misused within the Muslim world to foment anti-Semitism and anti-West hate. These leaders felt obligated to bear witness to the truth. They then took home what they saw and condemned anti-Semitism in all forms.

Among them was Muhamed Jusic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country with its own atrocities and rise of evil. “I could not stop comparing horrors of Holocaust with my own experience and childhood memories of ‘ethnic cleansing’. It was very hard to put into words all my overwhelming feelings and thoughts while visiting actual places where people became the victims of the biggest atrocity in European history. I feared I might sound pathetic, after all, what could I possibly say that was not said by so many before me? How can I possibly make some sense out of it all when the greatest minds in human history cannot explain to us what happened to humanity? My own story haunted me during trip. But I did not have courage, unlike many of the Holocaust survivors we met, to openly share my story with the others.”

When his hometown of Kotor Varos was overrun by Serbian forces in 1993, he was just 13 years old and his little brother was 11. They witnessed the unimaginable, including the slaughter of their Muslim neighbors by Serbian soldiers. He grabbed his little brother and escaped into the forest where they lived for months in terrible conditions and constant fear before reaching free Bosnian territory.

But rather than become bitter or radicalized by a tragic past, Muhamed became a Muslim theologian and influential writer in the Bosnian region.

“Visiting concentration camps in Auschwitz and Dachau as well as the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw, for me, was by no means a visit to the past but somehow to our present and future.” Returning to Bosnia his personal reflections and work grew more committed. “I kept thinking about that ‘never again’ we hear every time someone talks about the Holocaust. It made me wonder how sincere are we in that statement when we as humans and as an international community let atrocities happen every few years, be it in Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur, Myanmar or these days in Syria.”

He also knows that Muslims need to fight back against the headlines and show they are peace-loving members of the global community. Which is why he drew our attention to a renewed Declaration from the former Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina and current President of the influential World Bosniak Congress. Professor Dr. Mustafa Cerić is a global voice of the Bosniak nation in the aftermath of its genocide and an influential link between east and west. The Declaration is in response to the London and Boston terror attacks and is endorsed by the Islamic Forum of Europe.

In detail, it calls on scholars and intellectuals from all schools and denominations of Islam to unite against those who harm and destroy in the name of Allah and Islam. At the same time, he asks the West not to blame all Muslims and Islam for the crimes of the few. Muhamed asked us how to get this information out to the American people.

Do we Americans have the courage to accept Muslims as peaceful neighbors and friends? When Islamaphobia grabs headlines here, how many of us think, that’s not my problem? How many secretly say, serves them right?

In the Jewish text, the Mishnah, it is written: “Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” It is worth noting that Islam’s Qu’ran shares the same essence: “The destruction of one innocent life is like the destruction of the whole of humanity and the saving of one life is like the saving of the whole of humanity.” [Qu’ran 5:32]

Our Muslim neighbors are us and we are them: we are fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers; we all say we seek peace. Yet acts of violence and derision against “the Other” means Muhamed’s question remains unanswered: “How sincere are we?

Mohamed is the father of two daughters. He’s committed to “never again” because, with his jaw tightly set, he says never will he allow his children to experience the horrors he did as a child. “The Holocaust is not just our common history, it could, as my own Bosnian experience shows, easily become our present and future if we all do not learn the valuable lessons that it can teach us.”

“When I was standing in the middle of Dachau`s gas chamber in which thousands of innocent victims were hopelessly trying to catch their last breath, it sent a shiver down my spine to think that through the streets of Europe and the world still walk young people who are prepared to deny this evil, defend it and repeat it on someone else.”

He speaks in defense of all our children.

Full text of the Joint Statement signed by all Muslim leaders who participated in this trip can be found here

Joint Statement signed by all the Muslim leaders who visited Auschwitz

On May 18-24, 2013, we the undersigned Muslim intellectuals, community leaders and imams visited the sites of the Holocaust in Poland and Germany where we witnessed firsthand the historical injustice of the Holocaust. 

We met survivors who, several decades later, vividly and bravely shared their horrific experience of discrimination, suffering, and loss. We saw the many chilling places where men, women and children were systematically and brutally murdered by the millions because of their faith, race, disability and political affiliation.

In Islam, the destruction of one innocent life is like the destruction of the whole of humanity and the saving of one life is like the saving of the whole of humanity (Holy Qu’ran, al-Ma’idah “the Tablespread” 5:32). While entire communities perished by the many millions, we know that Muslims from Bosnia, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, and Albania saved many Jews from brutal repression, torture and senseless destruction. Indeed, we met and were touched by the experiences of several righteous people of all faiths who saved many innocent lives from destruction.

We bear witness to the absolute horror and tragedy of the Holocaust where millions upon millions of human souls perished, more than half of whom were people of the Jewish faith.

We acknowledge, as witnesses, that it is unacceptable to deny this historical reality and declare such denials or any justification of this tragedy as against the Islamic code of ethics.

We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Jewish brothers and sisters in condemning anti-Semitism in any form. No creation of Almighty God should face discrimination based on faith or religious conviction.

We stand united as Muslim intellectuals, community leaders and imams and recognize that we have a shared responsibility to continue to work together with leaders of all faiths and their communities to resist the dehumanization, displacement and genocide of all peoples based on their religion, race, gender or ethnicity. With the disturbing rise of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hatred, rhetoric and bigotry, now more than ever, people of faith must stand together for truth, peace and justice.

Together, we pledge to make real the commitment of “never again” and to stand united against injustice wherever it may be found in the world today.

Imam Muzammil Siddiqi Islamic Society of Orange County Chairman, Fiqh Council of North America, Orange County, California, USA

Imam Mohamed Magid All-Dulles-Area Muslim Society President, Islamic Society of North America Dulles, Virginia, USA

Dr. Mohammad Rayyan (PhD)  Department of Foundations of Religion Faculty of Shariah, Jordan University Amman, Jordan

Muhamed Jusić Islamic theologian and columnist Bosnia and Herzegovina  

Dr. H. Andullah Rahim Yunus Professor, Islamic History, Allauddin State Islamic University, Chairman at Moslem Scholar Association Makasser, Indonesia 

S.A. Ibrahim American businessman and Muslim committed to interfaith understanding Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Safi Kaskas, Businessman and interfaith advocate Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Ahmet Muharrem Atlig Secretary General of the Journalists & Writers Foundation Platform for Intercultural Dialogue Instanbul, Turkey

Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi  Chief Imam  All India Imam Organization New Delhi, India

Suhail A. Khan Senior Fellow, Institute for Global Engagement Washington, D.C. USA

Due to sensitive work in their home countries, several additional signatories wish to remain anonymous.

Personal Statements by the Muslim leaders who visited Auschwitz

 

Imam Dr. Ahmet Muharrem Atlig, Turkey Secretary General of the Journalists and Writers Association (Istanbul) former Imam in London

“I came here with a lot of information about Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Holocaust. I didn’t expect this would be my turning point but it is and I’ve made many decisions here. As soon as possible I will bring my family here. With my organization, I will organize Turkish Imams and Muftis to go to Holocaust sites. My people don’t know what happened here. It’s not an agenda; it’s a reality.  This is not Jewish heritage; it’s world heritage. Jewish people were mostly affected but the lessons are global. Here it’s beyond information. We touched survivors, heard stories, we cried here. These things moved me.”

Dr. Barakat Fawzi Hasan, Palestine Assistant Professor of Islamic Education at Al-Quds University Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Producer presenter on Palestinian satellite TV for the Jerusalem Center for Studies and Islamic Media programs

“For me Auschwitz means a difficult situation. It means collectively punishing. It means genocidal killing of civilian people…children, women, without any reason. This is what it means for me. It means evil things, a terrible past, and at the same time, it means hope.

Why hope? Because the people here in Europe, with what they have faced in the past, they have overcome the discrimination, all the terrible things. And now they live with peace…with safety. This means we can, in the Holy Land, do the same thing. We can overcome our conflict, our wars, our people who were killed, and we can talk together to reach a peace.”

Muhamed Jusic, Bosnia Islamic Theologian and Bosnian Columnist

“Coming from Bosnia, going through the experience of genocide and the 92-95 war, seeing what I saw here, it just saddens me to see these things keep repeating and we didn’t learn anything from history. After Auschwitz and Dachau, humanity said Never Again. But with the rise in the far right, self-evident in Europe in the same towns we visited, I wonder how sincere we were in that. I will do everything to have this not happen to my children or anybody in the world. We can’t change history but we must do whatever we can against such evil.”

Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, India Chief Imam of the All India Imam Organization (AIOIM), the largest Imam organization in the world, representing half a million Imams and two hundred million Indian Muslims

“This is just the beginning of something which we have started. We will take it forward from here, on personal and professional levels. We should all remember we are all one family and cousins from the same root; we should strive to make us closer on every front. Amen.”

Dr. H. Abd Rahim Yunus, Indonesia Professor of Islamic History at Alauddin State Islamic University of Makassar Vice Chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council of South Sulawesi

“There is no acceptable argument in good common sense or conscience that can justify the barbaric acts as committed by Nazi Germany; moreover, measured by the value of religious views, the action is so damned. In the view of Islam, humans are the most noble creature (Q 17:70), whoever kills one man, it is as if he all men (Q.5:32); and whoever saves one man it is as if he saved all lives (Q.5:32).

The incident of the Holocaust that killed 12 million human beings, 6 million of them Jews, means I will and must invite my brother Muslims and Arabs to accept the presence of Jews in the State of Israel, living side by side with other countries in the world, especially in the Middle East. In addition, I also invite my Jewish brothers to provide a place for our brother Arabs (Muslims and Christians) to establish their state in Palestine. They must not be left stranded in exile. The two countries should co-exist peacefully. Without this peace, the threat of human massacre remains constant and relentless, both present and future.”

Dr. Safi Kaskas, Saudi Arabia President and CEO of Strategic Edge Management Consultants Board member of Trac5, which works on faith-based conflict resolution

“After seeing Auschwitz, I feel that I shall no longer be silent when witnessing injustice. For not speaking against injustice is a betrayal to being a part of the human race. In Dachau we listened to a survivor. He was in his nineties and he very eagerly and emotionally told the tragic story of his survival. I was very moved until his last comment, which hit me like a truck. He said half jokingly:  ‘We are still the most hated minority in the world.’ I felt like my heart was pulled out of my chest. This man is still feeling injustice. He is still suffering. After all the suffering the Jews have been through, as it is evident in Dachau and Auschwitz, it is high time for them to be what their Creator meant for them to be; a blessing to their neighbors. And instead of accepting that they are a hated minority, they should become, through living their belief and telling their stories, the example for all of humanity to follow.

I was listening to the Warsaw Ghetto story; I started thinking that the revolt was an assertion of Jewish pride in the face of much greater forces. Hence it was it was heroic. But the lesson learned should be that we should never again live in a ghetto. Is Israel the answer for the future survival of the Jews or is it a larger ghetto that will feed Jewish pride but fail to deliver the future safety of the Jewish people? There is a way to survive in the Middle East with Israel’s neighbors. It requires courage to face the present and resolve to find innovative solutions. I know that the Jewish people are capable of both.”

SA Ibrahim, Philadelphia PA S.A. Ibrahim is an American Muslim business executive committed to interfaith engagement

“Could I have ever imagined anything more horrible or sicker minds? Even worse was the realization that this was the work of intelligent humans driven by the goal of fulfilling their gruesome task in an “uber” efficient manner. Once you have seen such sights, shock, horror and sorrow are but weak reactions. Nothing short of a complete and unified commitment to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again could ever serve as a worthy memorial to the victims or a fitting condemnation of those responsible.

As I bought a book at the Jewish Museum in Munich, the young woman at the counter expressed curiosity about our group. I explained that the group included a Rabbi and Muslim Imams from around the world, on the way to Dachau and Auschwitz to pray for the victims and to condemn the Holocaust.  The young woman said she had never imagined such a thing possible, as tears filled her eyes. What could be a more important tribute to the memory of the Holocaust victims than making people feel differently about each other in a more positive way as a step towards ensuring that the words ‘Never Again,’ indeed become a reality?”

Personal Statements by the Interfaith leaders who organized visit of Auschwitz

Rabbi Jack Bemporad, New Jersey, USA Executive Director, Center for Interreligious Understanding (CIU) Director, John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue (Rome)

“The most important part of this trip is the recognition that the horrendous suffering that took place here in Auschwitz can only be overcome if people are willing to take up more than their share of bringing about a common good. If people are strictly interested in their immediate needs and security and safety without being concerned with the tragic suffering in the world and striving in ways to rectify it, there’s no reason that these horrible things may not recur.

I think that the Muslim leaders who came here, having very little knowledge in many cases of the Shoah, are now convinced that any kind of Holocaust Denial or Holocaust Revisionism is simply out of the question. These leaders from all over the world, including the Middle East, categorically rejected Holocaust Denial and all forms of anti-Semitism and they are committed to making that clear to their vast constituencies.”

Prof. Marshall Breger, Washington, DC, USA The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law Special assistant to President Reagan and liaison to the Jewish Community

“These Muslim leaders came away understanding not just the reality of the Holocaust which they had not been taught in their own societies, but understanding as well its effect on the Jewish soul. To watch these leaders learn the tragic story and engage with both Survivors and Righteous Among Nations whom we met in Germany and Poland was a profoundly moving experience. No one who saw them prostrate in prayer in front of the execution wall at Auschwitz can doubt the sincerity of their response. And when one Imam told me that he came to the camps believing that this was a Jewish story but left understanding that it was a human tragedy, I felt my hopes for the trip were fulfilled.”

Suhail A. Khan, Washington, DC, USA Senior Fellow for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Institute for Global Engagement President GW Bush’s liaison to the Muslim community

“Visiting the historical sites of unimaginable horror, meeting with survivors and hearing of their harrowing experiences firsthand, one struggles to understand how men could have done such unspeakable things to so many innocent men, women & children. We live, no doubt, in a broken world. And yet, the bravery of the survivors and the compassion of those who saved many from murder serve to remind us that there is indeed compassion, kindness and redemption. We came to bear witness to the historical reality of the Holocaust, and in doing so, we pledge to make real the commitment of ‘never again’ and to struggle against injustice wherever it may be found in the world today.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-jack-bemporad/muslim-holocaust-_b_4549877.html?utm_hp_ref=religion