Love Is a Verb

Each person has his or her own way

of living a life pleasing to God.

Some will serve on the front line in the military.

Some will retreat to a life of monastic study.

In my opinion,

the most important task is teaching

investing in people.

Our friends will migrate

to the four corners of the world.

Because of the principle that

a believer's intention is more benevolent than his action,

so with the most sincere intentions,

they should scatter around the world.

The city of Sarajevo was under siege.

Entrance to Sarajevo was through a tunnel.

It's dark,

your shoes are soaking wet,

there is no air,

your backpack is heavy on your shoulders.

The physical conditions were intolerable,

but we were happy to reach our goal.

Our esteemed teacher Mr. Gulen

sent us here to help the people.

We weren't concerned with

how we were going to do it,

our goal was to come here.

Bombs were dropping

the war was ongoing.

I said, we may die there,

we might not come back.

If we don't survive,

will you do the final prayer for us?

He got very emotional.

His eyes welled up (with tears).

His face became solemn

He said, "I'm not sending you there to die,

I'm sending you there to serve, to open schools.

May God be with you.

May God show you the way."

We went to the Ministry of Education

usually it was Ibrahim —

every single day.

They would say, "what school?

The government's about to collapse,

people are miserable.

What school?"

But we didn't give up.

We kept knocking on their door

again and again.

One day they called us.

They said, "Okay, we'll give you a building for a school."

They gave us an old Serbian military post.

With this game,

we are trying to use the universal language of sports.

To convey a message to world media,

and the peoples of the world

But particularly to Muslim nations,

who in silent indignation

have been doing nothing

but watch as spectators in an arena of fighters.

When I see Mr. Ali,

with his smile,

he is taking your heart.

There is no badness in him.

What do we need in the war?

Food, drinking, just to save our life.

But they come in the war and

And they are going to teach us.

For us it was very unbelievable.

In our school there are Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian,

and they really teach us

you cannot hate me, how much can I love you?

Let's try to love people,

and that teacher comes here and

teaches us something like that.

If they didn't come here,

I would never be thinking like now.

Maybe I will hate those people

from another side.

In Bosnia

we play west instruments

when we must sing east music.

I try adjusting east melody

to European melody.

And now we have one special music.

Everything that God created is beautiful, wonderful.

We must respect everything

and also music, also tones.

For example, natural music.

Birds sing.

Water have sound.

Woods have sound, wind have sound.

All life on the planet,

that music be there.