KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION IN ISLAMIC CULTURE OF MUSLIMS OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

The Middle Ages in Bosnia, same as in Central Europe, German and Slavic countries at the time, were marked by strong religious “leavening”. Bosnia was under religious influence of Byzantium and Rome, particularly from the 9th century. At later times, the regions presently known as Eastern Herzegovina experienced the spread of Orthodoxy, while Central Bosnia witnessed the spread of Catholicism. The latter particularly intensified upon the arrival of the Franciscan order in Bosnia, in the 13th century. It was accompanied by the development and spread of the Bosnian Church, which both Orthodox and Catholic hierarchies considered as heretic, or they recognized and claimed it as “their own heresy”.

The existence of Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Bosnian Church should be viewed in the context of geopolitical interests of Byzantium, Rome, Hungary and others at the time.

In the Middle Ages, Bosnian educational institutions found the fertile soil in Catholic and Orthodox monasteries and churches. The Codex of Hval, an artfully illuminated book from 1404, reveals that Bosnia had literacy well-developed for the time as well as a recognizable “cult of knowledge and the book”.

The arrival and expansion of Islam in Bosnia in the 15th century was followed by the establishment and development of the culture of Islamic knowledge and education, besides the Christian educational tradition. Centers of Islamic knowledge and education mostly developed in mosques, maktabs, mualimhanas (elementary schools), madrasas, tekkes, hanikahs (dervish monasteries with boarding schools) and libraries.

Turhan Emin-beg's Mosque in Ustikolina, built in 1448, is believed to be the oldest mosque in Bosnia. Firuz-beg's madrasa, founded in Sarajevo in 1595, is considered the oldest madrasa. It was followed by Gazi Husrev-beg's madrasa with a library and hanikah, also founded in Sarajevo, in 1537. A Khalwati tekke was also built close to Gazi Husrev-beg's madrasa.

According to Ismet Kasumović's book Školstvo i obrazovanje u bosanskom ejaletu za vrijeme Osmanske uprave (Schooling and Education in Bosnian Eyalet during Ottoman Administration) (Mostar, 1999), development of cities in Bosnia implied the development of madrasas, tekkes, hanikahs and libraries.

The cities of Sarajevo, Mostar, Nevesinje, Travnik, Foča, Tuzla, Tešanj, Jajce, Bihać, Livno and some others had many mosques and madrasas, tekkes and libraries. Some cities (e.g. Foča, Sarajevo, Jajce and others) also had scriptoria of their own.

In Bosnia, Islam spread gradually though visibly in the late 15th and in the 16th century, and the expansion of Islam continued during the 17th century as well. It was the “axial time”, when Bosnia experienced the development of a distinctive culture of Islamic education and knowledge. The development of this culture should be viewed in the continuity with Bosnian Middle Ages. Indeed, many founders of mosques, madrasas, tekkes, hanikahs and libraries were Muslims, grandsons or great grandsons of Bosnian Christians who had adopted Islam, e.g. Gazi Husrev-beg (1480–1541), Hasan Kafi Pruščak (1544–1615) and many others.

What constitutes the essence and the mode of Islamic knowledge and education is its focus on thebQur'an, the Word of God, as well as on other religious books in the field of hadith or Islamic tradition.

The culture of Islamic knowledge and education consists of three degrees. In madrasas, tekkes and hanikahs students first studied fields which deal with the topic of proper reading of the Book (Arabic language, grammar – nahw, syntax – sarf, semantics – ma’ani). The second degree implied study of sciences and disciplines which deal with the proper interpretation of the Book (exegesis – tafsir, hermeneutics – ta’wil). The third degree included studies of proper believing – aqaid, and the ritual – ibadat and moral – ahlaq “application” of the Book and the Tradition.

Practically, all curricula and syllabi of madrasas in Bosnia were bound to develop these fields of the culture of Islamic knowledge and education.

Essentially, this culture keeps in mind that it is grounded in the sacred or Divine origin of knowledge, science and the Tradition. It goes without saying that God himself guarantees what Knowledge – ilm and Tradition – athar are. God as the Maker of the world reveals His books, His knowledge and His Tradition to people.

Bosnian and Herzegovinian Muslims have successfully mastered these patterns of the culture of knowledge and education. Patterns of madrasa education have gained prominent globality and were widespread in Europe, Asia and Africa.

In his book Književnost bosanskih muslimana na orijentalnim jezicima (Literature of Bosnian Muslims in Oriental Languages) (Sarajevo, 1973) Hazim Šabanović lists an impressive number of Muslim authors from Bosnia and Herzegovina who wrote theological, philosophic, mystic, literary and historical works in Arabic, Persian and Turkish.

In the late 19th and in the 20th century, many Muslim authors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, in their encounter with modern Europe, modernized their classical patterns of the culture of knowledge and education. They have successfully joined the European and global exchange of knowledge. Many of them have proved themselves both as successful translators of European works in philosophy, hermeneutics, literature and science and as prominent authors in these fields.