ISLAM IN THE BALKANS

Bosnia and Hercegovina is religiously incomparable to other European countries. Its Islamic presence is not a modern conception, a product of the increased movement and displacement of peoples during the twenti­eth century.

Rather than ‘by the sword’, this Semetic faith began first to filter through to the Balkan population via roaming spiritual leaders (shaykhs) who preached the Sufi Islamic philosophy.^[1403] Sufism is a unique order within Islam. It is considered a mystical dimension of the faith which focuses on the power of meditation and asceticism. Sufis seeks the internal (hatin) view of Islam while contemplating the concealed mystery of the Qur’an. The combination of these elements endeavours to achieve inspiration from a divine perspective.^[1404] This tends to draw religion into the introspective private sphere and, as a result, Sufism maintains a prominent following throughout secular countries such as America and Australia.^[1405]

Upon the arrival of the Turkish authorities to the region, Sufi mission­aries set about establishing a permanent religious presence through the construction and legacy of hospices and religious lodges (tekkes).^[1406] Reports of the condemnation of Sufi practice by Serb, Greek and Sunni Islamic institutions during the late nineteenth century show that this faith continued to exist throughout the Ottoman period in parts of the population.^[1407] Its impact is not inconspicuous.

Meanwhile, under the supervision of the Ottoman Empire from the fifteenth century, the majority of Bosnia’s Islamic population subscribed to the Hanafi School of jurisprudence.^[1410] Developed by Abu Hanifa during the early to mid-eighth century, this school fervently supports the concept of independent reasoning (ijtihad) in the revealing of Shari’ah law.^[1411] The fact that this is achieved through the use of both personal judgement (ra’y) and analogy (qiyas) means that it shares many similarities with the British common law system: the two relying on highly educated judges to interpret the legislation and use analogy, reasoning and legal precedent to decide new cases before them. While the element of individuality in decision making has sometimes come at the cost of uniformity (as those in common law countries will recognise), this school of jurisprudence has contributed to the progressive development of Shari’ah in the various situations that the expanding Ottomans encountered.^[1412] Bosnia and Tur­key, two countries potentially vying for European Union membership, both continue this progressive practice today.

Nevertheless, the Islamic development of Bosnia and Hercegovina had its limits under Ottoman rule.

Bosnia’s 1918 absorption into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes saw religious control wrested from the Islamic Community by the King, who assumed control of all religious affairs. Then, with the advent of communism following World War II, Shari’ah courts were abolished, elementary religious schools were closed, waqf was national­ised and the veils worn by Muslim women forbidden.^[1416] Consequently, the religion went underground and, without the courts, Shari’ah law trans­formed into a code of religious and ethical norms in an endeavour to remain relevant to the Bosniak population.^[1417]

As a consequence of the miscellany of religions and cultures prevalent in the Yugoslav state, reform through the form of ijtihad re-emerged in Bosnia.

Following on from Fejic, the 1960s saw imam Husein effendi Djozo publish fatwas under the title ‘Pitanja i odgovori’ (Questions and Answers) to provide further guidance to his Bosnian fellowship. His fatwas related to religious obligations such as prayer times, dietary issues and financial donations, all of which promoted a greater freedom of exercising religious obligations within the confines of Yugoslavia.^[1419] The next 20 years also saw the introduction of a constitution for the revived Islamic Community, the opening of the Faculty of Islamic Studies, and an increase in the dissemination of Islamic literature by the El-Kalem publishing house. However, in spite of these reforms, Islamic culture began to stagnate. The years of living underground had taken their toll on the education of the next generation of Islamic scholars. Few were religiously equipped to lead Bosnia towards the twenty first century.

This scenario stands as a stark warning. The institutionalisation of religious education for Islamic minorities within the European nation­state is essential in ensuring that the conditions and pressures of Western society are appropriately addressed through ijtihad and fatwas. An un-educated population is open to the injection of conservative doctrines which vehemently oppose many modern practices as sinful vices. Were Bosnia and Hercegovina to have suffered through 20 more years of religious isolation, the arrival of Saudi Arabian academics might have had more of a contagious and permanent impact.

III.