Dialectic Thought of Alija Izetbegović: Axiological Fragments of the Book Islam Between East and West

Özet

The paper explores some of the key axiological substrates on which Alija Izetbegović bases his philosophical thought in the book Islam between East and West. Content analysis detects key concepts on which the author dialectically creates his own theoretical framework, such as; freedom, justice, law, human, society, spirituality, materialism and religion. In this complex of ideas, special emphasis is placed on Islam, which is not just a religion but a comprehensive system of values that has the potential to synthesize and connect different extremes of the spiritual and material world in the polarized environment of contemporary humanity. In addition to dualism, as a basic characteristic of the author’s philosophical approach that runs through all chapters of the book, the research is also focused on Izetbegović’s specific methodology for arguing Islam as a “worldview” that symptomatically relies on European perspectives of science and development, emphasizing a living, active and progressive Islam that is not exclusive and conservative but applicable and inclusive in its effort to harmonize human, society, ideological blocs and antagonized extremes of human civilization. On these foundations, the paper points to an inspiring contingent of universal values within which the idea of “bipolar unity” is created as an authentic construct of Izetbegović’s dialectic in advocating the “third way”.