The Ummatics Institute, in collaboration with the International University of Sarajevo (IUS), organized its 2026 conference, took place on July 25–26, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). This year’s theme, The Strategic Umma: Managing Difference, Thinking Beyond Secularism, and Building Future Impact, addresses major questions that sit at the heart of civilizational moment. 

“The Strategic Umma: Managing Difference, Thinking Beyond Secularism, and Building Future Impact”

The conference brought together scholars, thinkers, and practitioners to engage with some pressing questions facing the Muslim world today. Participants explored how the Umma can cultivate genuine unity while honoring deep internal differences — navigating sectarian tensions without falling into the traps of either forced uniformity or fragmentation in an increasingly multipolar world.

The conference also examined how civilizational revival can be informed by the tools and methodologies of Future Studies to develop a coherent long-term ummatic vision. A dedicated session sharpened and advanced the Muslim intellectual critique of secularism, interrogating its assumptions and legacies with fresh rigor.

Furthermore, partcipants explored how collaborative GEM ecosystems can move Muslim communities beyond individual achievement toward genuine communal empowerment and meaningful integration at a global scale.

The conference brought together scholars, thinkers, and practitioners to engage with some pressing questions facing the Muslim world today. Participants explored how the Umma can cultivate genuine unity while honoring deep internal differences — navigating sectarian tensions without falling into the traps of either forced uniformity or fragmentation in an increasingly multipolar world. The conference also examined how civilizational revival can be informed by the tools and methodologies of Future Studies to develop a coherent long-term ummatic vision. A dedicated session sharpened and advanced the Muslim intellectual critique of secularism, interrogating its assumptions and legacies with fresh rigor. Furthermore, partcipants explored how collaborative GEM ecosystems can move Muslim communities beyond individual achievement toward genuine communal empowerment and meaningful integration at a global scale.

Prof. dr. Admir Mulaosmanović, CEO of Aurora Foundation, addressed at two panels. In introductory speech, he emphasized importance of social transformation in current global, regional and domestic affairs. He said that social transformation is inevitable process that every socitey must go through and recalled Bosnian social transformation since the beginning of war in 1992 until today.

Prof. dr. Mulaosmanović, along with dr. Mustafa Cerić, Grand Mufti Emeritus of BiH, and prof. dr. Ermin Sinanović, Executive Director of Center for Islam at Shenandoah University, addressed on the panel “Insights of Two Genocides – Srebrenica and Gaza: What are the lessons for the Umma from Srebrenica nad Gaza?”. He said that world did not learn from experience of genocide in Srebrenica and repeatedly blinded to genocide in Gaza. Horror scenes from Gaza, prof. dr. Mulaosmanović added, remind that unity of Islamic world is neeed than ever before.

Photo by: IUS