Izetbegovic

As the leading Muslim political spokesman and intellectual, Izetbegovi'c was imprisoned by the Yugoslavian government in 1983 for a 14-year sentence. During the six years he served in prison, Izetbegovi'c wrote notes on life issues, religion and culture, and politics and political philosophy. These reflections were smuggled out of prison and edited for publication along with a selection of letters from his family.

After describing prison life, Izetbegovi'c has organized his reflections into sections. From his first note When I lose the reasons to live, I shall die, Izetbegovi'c provides a provocative collection of reflections that will interest scholars and researchers of contemporary Balkans, European Islam, and life during the last days of Communist Yugoslavia.

ALIJA IZETBEGOVI’C was the founder and first president of the Democratic Action Party, the largest political party in Bosnia-Herzegovina. During the war years he served as president of the republic, 1992-1995, and again from May 1999 to October 2000. One of Europe’s key Muslim thinkers, he is the author of Islamic Declaration, Islamic Renascence Programs, and Islam Between the East and the West.