Rusmir Mahmutćehajić

Rusmir Mahmutćehajić (born 29 June 1948) is a Bosnian author, intellectual, and statesman.

Biography
Mahmutćehajić was born in Stolac, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 29 June, 1948. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Sarajevo and graduated in 1973. He continued his studies at the University of Zagreb with a focus on the propagation of electromagnetic waves in multiconductor systems. In 1988, he was a visiting professor at the Catholic University of Leuven for a year and became internationally known as an expert in electrical engineering.

From 1985 to 1991, he served as Professor and Dean of Electrical Engineering at the University of Osijek in Croatia.

He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 and Energy Minister from 1992 to 1994, during the Bosnian war. He was a close associate of Alija Izetbegović. He later parted with Izetbegović and the SDA over the Dayton Agreement.

He has served as a professor of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and Islamic theology at the University of Sarajevo since 1995. He lives in Sarajevo, where he works as the president of International Forum Bosnia. He is the author of more than 20 works in Bosnian, several of which have been translated to English, French, Italian, and Turkish.

Thought
Mahmutćehajić has been characterized as pan-Islamist. Zoran Milutinović describes Mahmutćehajić as an opponent of rationalism, secularism, liberalism, and modernity, possessing views inspired by René Guénon. Mahmutćehajić views Christianity as responsible for the persecution and genocide of Jews and Muslim in Europe and moral degeneration. He has advocated for a society and government based on traditional Islamic values but with tolerance for non-Muslim minorities.

He has argued for a vision of Bosnia that is pluralistic and inclusive of racial, ethnic, and religious diversity.

Works
He is the author of more than 20 books and hundreds of essays and articles. His publications include:
 * 1977 – Krhkost
 * 1996 – Suđeni Stolac
 * 2000 – Bosnia the Good: Tolerance and Tradition
 * 2000 - The Denial of Bosnia
 * 2003 - Sarajevo Essays: Politics, Ideology, and Tradition
 * 2005 - Learning from Bosnia: Approaching Tradition
 * 2006 - The Mosque: the Heart of Submission
 * 2007 - On Love: In the Muslim Tradition
 * 2011 – On the Other: A Muslim View
 * 2011 - Across the River: On the Poetry of Mak Dizdar
 * 2011 - Maintaining the Sacred Center: the Bosnian City of Stolac
 * 2015 - The Praised and the Virgin