How Did Islam Survive in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

SadaNews - Islam has been present in Bosnia and Herzegovina for over 550 years. During this time, Muslims have faced numerous challenges and difficulties, some of which posed a direct existential threat, while others involved denial of their freedom to practice rituals or the deprivation of their political and economic rights.

However, they managed to overcome these circumstances, allowing Islam to remain alive in the country to this day. What challenges did Muslims in Bosnia face? And how did they overcome them?

Why Did Bosnians Embrace Islam?

Former Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dr. Mustafa Cerić, states that Islam entered Europe from two avenues: the first was the Iberian Peninsula, where it lasted for 8 centuries. Then, with the fall of Andalusia, Islam entered through a second door, the Balkan Peninsula, progressively spreading from Serbia to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Battle of Kosovo in 1389.

Dr. Cerić refers to Bosnia as the "living Andalusia" and explains that the reason for Bosnians' embrace of Islam is a "significant historical discussion," where the Serbian Byzantine Church and the Roman Catholic Church competed for Bosnia. However, the Bosniaks, who called themselves the "good Bosnians," grew weary of this competition and established their own church, differing in many aspects from both the Byzantine and Catholic churches. Consequently, both churches excommunicated them for changing their beliefs and rituals, which became a crucial motivator for accepting Islam when the Ottomans arrived.

According to Ahmed Alibašić, a professor of Islamic civilization at the University of Sarajevo, there were motivating factors that led people to adopt Islam. Firstly, the Christian presence, whether Orthodox or Catholic, was superficial in Bosnia; the number of churches and monasteries at that time amounted to only 80 in a country that today has over 3,000 places of worship. He clarifies: "You can imagine at that time, with no means of transportation or available books… this number is very small, indicating that most people did not see priests, did not go to church, and did not participate in religious events."

He adds during his conversation with Al Jazeera Net: "People were isolated, and when the Ottomans brought the power of Islam, scholars, Sufi orders, and governance, many were astonished by that strength. The essential point is that Christianity in Bosnia was weak, unlike Serbia, Greece, or Bulgaria, where very strong churches existed and constant communication between priests and people was present."

Professor Joada Garic, an international relations expert at the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, explains to Al Jazeera Net that the year 1463 is when the Ottomans opened Bosnia. The Bosnians did not accept Islam immediately; rather, the Bosnian kingdom that existed then viewed the Ottomans as invaders. There were three churches in Bosnia at that time: Orthodox, Catholic, and Bosnian (which some refer to as Bogomil). The Bosnian Church was viewed as a "heretical church" by the other two, and its followers faced persecution from the Catholic Church and the Hungarian kings.

A Gradual Entry Disproving the Claim of "Islam by Force"

Alibašić refutes the claim that the Ottomans imposed Islam by force on the Bosnians. He clarifies that the slow spread of Islam over more than 150 years, along with the fact that Muslims did not form a majority in Bosnia during the Ottoman presence, explicitly disprove this claim.

Garic supports this refutation, confirming that the first census in 1879, conducted by the Austro-Hungarian Empire following its occupation of Bosnia, indicated that the Muslim population was 38%, while Orthodox Christians constituted 43%, Catholics 18%, along with a Jewish minority (who arrived in Bosnia after the fall of Andalusia).

However, "once the Bosniaks embraced Islam, they became true Muslims and were willing to sacrifice, even leaving their homes and emigrating to preserve their faith. Thus, today you find Bosniaks in Tunisia, Algeria, Palestine, Syria, Hejaz, and Anatolia," according to Alibašić. He explains that three factors prevented Muslims from forming a majority in Bosnia and Herzegovina: consecutive wars, the plague, and migrations that accompanied the decline of the Ottoman state.

Bosniaks under Non-Islamic Rule for the First Time: Emigration or Staying?

After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in its war with the Russian Empire (1877-1878), German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck held the Berlin Conference in 1878, during which Bosnia and Herzegovina were granted to the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the presence of the great powers. This signified the beginning of an unprecedented era for Muslim Bosniaks. When the Austro-Hungarian Empire occupied Bosnia, Muslims were faced with non-Islamic rule for the first time since embracing Islam, and there was significant debate: should they emigrate and live under Islamic rule or stay in Bosnia?

Garic explains that Muslims feared losing their identity and being forced to abandon their religion, especially after witnessing what happened in neighboring Serbia, where a policy of forced expulsion of Muslims was enacted, and Islamic architecture was destroyed immediately after gaining independence at the Berlin Conference.

However, notably, the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not adopt this policy, according to Garic, who published her book "Faith and Loyalty: The Bosniaks and the Austro-Hungarian Empire" in 2024. She notes that a fatwa issued by the Mufti of Tuzla, Imam Muhammad Taufiq Uzbegić (later the Grand Mufti of Bosnia), in 1886 under the title "Message on Emigration" was significant in discouraging Bosnians from leaving their country.

The substance of this fatwa was that if the new non-Muslim government was competent and did not force Muslims to abandon their religion, practice their rituals, or commit any prohibition, there was no obstacle for Muslims to live under this rule. This fatwa was essential to tell Muslims: "Stay here, this is your country and homeland," as Garic said.

Mufti Cerić refers to another fatwa against emigration by Imam Muhammad Rashid Rida in response to a Bosnian student's inquiry from the city of Travnik. Rida answered: "There is no emigration after the opening of Mecca," in contrast to fatwas from Istanbul advocating for emigration. Although many emigrated from Bosnia, most Bosniaks remained and lived under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian emperor.

From Fighters Against the Empire to Defenders of It!

Garic confirms that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's approach to the Bosniaks was very astute. They did not resort to coercive policies like their Serbian neighbors but instead were more open, establishing an Islamic studies college and a school for Sharia judges, among others. They did not abolish Sharia courts; rather, they introduced new civil laws while preserving them. Even in architecture, they did not construct the town hall in Sarajevo, for example, in an entirely Western style to avoid provoking the Muslims.

Garic does not hide that the officials overseeing these policies aimed at directing Bosnians toward Central Europe and distancing them from the Sheikh of Islam in Istanbul, but this ultimately benefited Muslims, as they became responsible for managing their own affairs, even reaching a point where Muslims managed their own endowments after facing obstacles and challenges from the empire's officials.

The peak of the shift in loyalty from the Ottoman Sultan to the Catholic Emperor was during World War I, which was sparked in Sarajevo by the assassination of student Gavrilo Princip (a Serb from Bosnia) of the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince on one of the city's main streets in 1914.

However, Muslims, after resisting the Austro-Hungarian occupation in its early years, had a special regiment within the empire's army. This regiment, according to Garic, had a distinctive uniform, local imams, the freedom to perform prayers and other rituals, and even a special kitchen to provide halal food according to Islamic teachings. They fought alongside the empire during the war when they realized that their religion and faith were not in danger under this rule.

Contemporary Challenges

The "Dayton" Agreement in 1995 ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and established a federal system composed of two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a Bosniak and Croat majority, and the Republic of Srpska with a Serbian majority, in addition to the small Brčko municipality. Many in Bosnia argue that the "Dayton" Agreement was the only way to end the war, but it is not the ideal agreement for building a state.

Alibašić states that the most significant difficulty lies in a "state that is hard to manage," but this was the best that could be achieved. He divides today’s challenges in Bosnia into three interconnected levels: ethnic divisions, especially by Serbs who turn any issue into an ethnic conflict, corruption, and economic development. He adds: "Ethnic policies create fertile ground for corruption, which hinders economic growth."

In this context, Cerić emphasizes the importance of Bosnia being part of Europe’s public security and a member of NATO, as this would stabilize peace and stability, since he believes that the Bosnian issue has never been merely a local matter, but has been influenced positively and negatively by external factors and roles.

Garic also adds a different challenge concerning the female voice in decision-making within the Muslim community in Bosnia: "We have educated women in various fields, but when it comes to the level at which decisions are made, it remains a domain dominated by men." She questions: "Why don’t we have a woman member in the Council of Muftis? Why don’t we have a committed Bosnian woman ambassador representing her country around the world?"

Source: Al Jazeera