Family motivation in Bosnia inspires SU role for Imam Durić
After previously serving as SU's Muslim chaplain, Amir Durić was named assistant dean for religious and spiritual life at Hendricks Chapel. Avery Magee | Asst. Photo Editor
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Amir Durić’s path to religious leadership started with prayer. Encouraged by his family, Durić would go outside at sundown and lead a call to prayer when it was time to break their fast during Ramadan.
From then on, Durić knew he wanted to be a faith leader.
“My parents and grandparents thought I would change my mind,” Durić said. “I never did.”
The motivation Durić felt from his grandfather is what led him to help empower students today in their faith, he said. Durić was named assistant dean for religious and spiritual life at Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel in July after serving as Muslim chaplain and executive director of Muslim student life.
Durić was born in the small town of Buzim, which was then part of Yugoslavia, two years before the Bosnian War began in 1992. His experience growing up in a war-torn country and seeing its aftermath shaped how he views faith relations and engagement today.
To Durić, war meant uncertainty, and he wasn’t always sure what the next moment or day would bring.
“If someone came to me during that time and told me in 20 or 30 years I’d be in the United States of America, or if they laid out my life story in front of me, there’s no way that I could trust them,” Durić said.
Being present for others in whatever way he could was how Durić came into his role as a Muslim leader. It’s the least people can do for each other, he said.
Today, Durić carries the practice into his work with students.
Durić strives to empower students as much as he can to take on their own initiatives. He remembers how formative that was for his life while growing up.
“When I work with students, I really believe in the potential that students bring to the
table,” he said. “They have so much they can offer if we provide space and create
opportunities for them to lead.”
Those who work with Durić describe him as a student-centered leader. Mirza Tihic, an assistant teaching professor in SU’s College of Professional Studies, has known Durić for years. Tihic said Durić is a “visionary” and strategic thinker, and his approach is always focused on his students’ needs.
Durić believes in contributing to a common good with whatever he does, he said. As assistant dean, he hopes to create opportunities for students on campus to do the same and prepare for a world beyond SU. Collaborating with his colleagues, like Reverend Devon Bartholomew, helps him accomplish this.
Bartholomew, a Christian Protestant chaplain at Hendricks, first met Durić when he came to SU as the new Imam for the Muslim chaplaincy. The two have worked side by side as chaplains during moments of crisis and have collaborated to find new ways to serve SU more broadly.
“He’s grounded and established and truly rooted in what we’re about,” Bartholomew said.
Since Durić’s start at SU in 2017, Tihic said he’s been instrumental in helping the Muslim community grow on campus. There are more than 200 Muslim students and faculty participating in programs and services on campus, he said.
Durić supports students traveling on religious pilgrimages to Islamic holy sites in Saudi Arabia. He’s helped students engage in spirituality and leadership through their scholarly work, Tihic said.
The new assistant dean has brought stability to Muslim students and improved the Muslim chaplaincy, Bartholomew said. Hendricks Friday Muslim prayer services have moved from downstairs in the Noble Room to the main chapel upstairs to accommodate over 1oo students. Durić also created a lecture and discussion-based series titled “Understanding Islam.”
Bartholomew appreciates that Durić meets directly with both students and colleagues. He trusts in Durić as a friend and as someone he can bounce ideas off of while sitting at lunch.
“He’s not aloof, it’s not distant or pie in the sky, it’s how do we do what we can do right now,” Bartholomew said. “He’s always done that. He’s always (sought) to raise the bar.”
Durić co-founded the Jewish-Muslim Dialogue Fellowship, where students can engage in difficult conversations that some may avoid having right now regarding faith relations, Tihic said.
“He has the courage to do things others don’t have,” Tihic said. “But in a very respectful, engaging, exemplary way.”
Durić hopes these kinds of initiatives will continue to encourage more interfaith engagement on campus — coexisting with those who have different worldviews and acting together for “the common good.”
Durić saw how faith was used as a tool to divide and as a way to rebuild community, growing up during the Bosnian War. But now, he hopes to use different faith experiences as a bridge to build relationships between students.
On interfaith days of service at Hendricks last year, Durić watched as students from various religious backgrounds gathered over a shared common value: serving the community together.
As assistant dean, Duric plans to broaden interfaith connectivity and create global leadership opportunities for students across campus. Durić is currently working to grow opportunities that model Hendricks’ values, such as purpose, empathy and empowerment.
A principle that inspires Durić in his faith is the Arabic word “Ihsan,” which translates to “excellence” or “doing good.” To Durić, it inspires him to exceed what’s expected of him and do his best wherever he is.
“It’s part of who I am, part of my being here, my purpose, and that’s why I don’t do it for anyone else, or because it’s my job responsibility,” Durić said.
