MOSQUE IN RIBIĆ: AN EXAMPLE OF SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND MODERN ARCHITECTURE

In the postwar period, many new mosques have been built across the Muftiate of Bihać. Despite their immeasurable significance and function, many of them indicate superficiality in architectural design.

Several newly-built mosques in Krajina are exceptions. It pertains to mosques which have been built or renewed in the spirit of architectural outlines of traditional hipped architecture of Bosanska Krajina, with only as much influence of “modern” detail as was unavoidable. Among such mosques, a domed one stands out, the beauty of which overshadows many other mosques and which is an important indicator of the direction which building new mosques should take and of the standards which should be followed. It is the mosque in the neighborhood Ribić-Orljani in Bihać, built in 2018.

It is one of the most beautiful modern architectural expressions in the whole Muftiate of Bihać. Although small, this mosque is a good example of the symbiosis between traditional and modern Islamic architecture, as well as a mirror of a true junction of the divine, human and material. The beauty and harmony it breathes both inside and outside are a reason why it is well-known by far, and its threshold has been crossed by many known and unknown visitors, travelers and passers-by.

The mosque in Ribić is situated by the main road Bihać-Sarajevo, about two kilometers to the east of Bihać. According to some documents, it was in this neighborhood that one of the first mosques upon Ottoman conquest of Bihać in 1592 was built. Another source claims that the first mosque in Ribić was built in the first half of the 18th century. What is now known with certainty is that at the site of today's mosque there used to be another one, which was opened on 22 June 1969, and still another one before it. The hipped mosque from 1969 was razed in 2017 due to decrepitude and unserviceability, and the present, domed mosque was built on its foundations.

Both previous mosques in Ribić were built of bihacit stone. The one which existed until it was razed in 1967 had about one-meter-thick walls and the wooden minaret. The mosque of 1969, sized 8x7 meters, was also built of bihacit, and had a 22-meter-high minaret.

The dimensions of the new mosque in Ribić are 9x13 meters. It consists of three floors: the ground floor, with the maktab, boiler room and abdesthana (room for ablution), and the first and the second floor intended for praying. The mosque has a good thermal insulation, and central heating makes it useable throughout the year. When approaching the mosque, one notices its monumentality, while on the first step into the mosque space one perceives a carefully arranged interior and choice of colors. Mihrab and are made of nicely treated bihacit stone, with many carvings and artistic details, while walls are decorated with calligraphic inscriptions and motifs. The floor of the mosque is covered with blue carpets, and blue color also finds its place on wall decorations, window panes, as well as on the glass of the protective railing on the upper floor.

Daytime lighting of the mosque interior is provided by seven windows, vertically elongated, with mildly rippling narrow ends in the upper part. At night, lighting is provided by the central glass embroidered chandelier, and several lamps skillfully built into the ceiling of mahfil and into the walls of the entrance porch. The mahfil, which occupies almost a half of the mosque interior, allows praying on the upper floor as well.

To the right of the entrance into the mosque. An outside abdesthana was built, with a beautiful vault made of the bihacit stone and covered with the copper sheet. Also to the right, adjacent to the mosque, a sharp, 27-meter high minaret rises. The minaret gradually narrows from the bottom up, and at the level of the šerefe (balcony), its radius is 80 cm. The porch is covered with three small copper domes, which are faithful copies of the central mosque dome. Each of the four octagonal domes, as well as the very tip of the dodecagonal elegant minaret are decorated with beautiful copper alams; those on the central dome and the minaret end with a crescent and a star. The fenced mosque courtyard is a true “outdoor archives” housing a cemetery with dozens of old nišans (Islamic tombstones), recognizable by its nicely engraved inscriptions and motifs.

The design of the mosque was made by architect from Bihać Amir Ramić. It dominates over the center of the neighborhood and overwhelmingly reminds of the Alipasha Mosque in Sarajevo. Its seven windows symbolize seven ayats of surah Fatiha and seven heavens, Kursi and Al-Arsh. Among the interior calligraphic inscriptions, the ones that stand out are Ayatul-Kursi, inscribed at the bottom of the brim of the mosque dome, names Allah and Muhammed, names of four selected khalifs, and some other Qur'anic phrases.

Due to the speed of building and selfless support of jamaat members, as well as of believers from other jamaats, the mosque has been named Nafaka džamija (Lucky Mosque). The most significant of all benefactors was Muharem Trešnjić, who had the honor to open it at the ceremony of 21 July 2018.

It is known that from the oldest times until today the following imams have served in this jamaat: Ale-ef. Muminović, Mustafa-ef. Dizdarević, Bešir-ef. Hamidović, Ibrahim-ef. Mustafić, Abaz-ef. Duljković, Sulejman-ef. Hušidić, Smajil-ef. Zahić, Muharem-ef. Senagić, Hajdar-ef. Jakupović, Asim-ef. Mahmutović, Mujo-ef. Spahić and Semir-ef. Fileković.

Interior and exterior of Ribić Mosque