Dr Mustafa Cerić was schooled at the Gazi Husrev Beg Madrasa in Sarajevo, Al-Azhar University and the University of Chicago (PhD in Islamic Studies). He became an imam in Zagreb in 1987 and was the Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1993-2012. He taught Islamic Theology at ISTAC, Kuala Lumpur. Dr Cerić is an advocate of cross-cultural engagement as well as a peace activist. He is the co-recipient of the 2003 UNESCO Felix Houphoet Boigny Peace Prize for Contribution to World Peace. In  2006, he issued the ‘Declaration of European Muslims’ and in 2008, he led the Muslim delegation of the ‘A Common Word’ initiative to the Vatican. Dr Cerić is currently the President of the Assembly of the Bosnian Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the International Scientific Board of the Imam Maturidi International Scientific Research Centre under the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan, as well as an active member of many local and international scholarly organisations and societies.