THE MADRASA IN NOVI PAZAR

The madrasa in Novi Pazar is one of the oldest educational institutions in the Balkans. It was established in Novi Pazar before 1540. A comprehensive census of Bosnian sanjak of July 1540 also lists a waqf – imaret (public kitchen), a madrasa and a maktab - of the late Sinan-bey, a son of Hadim Jakub, in Novi Pazar (Čelebi, 264). For the purpose of maintenance and activity of these facilities, the waqif (donor) allocated revenues from one hammam, various shops, four mills and cash of 10,000 akčas, with the annual commission of 20,000 in the same currency (Zlatar, 107). The waqf grew over time.

The waqif made sure that the endowed assets function impeccably. The madrasa was about a hundred meters away from the Altun-alem Mosque, by the Stambolski road, where one could also find a gate and a fountain. The madrasa worked without interruptions until the 19th century (Ćurić, 21).

During its entire existence, the madrasa had its own boarding premises, which were located in the school building. There were fifteen dormitories in it. Besides, the madrasa had two dershanas/classrooms (Kačapor, 1983: 281).

From its establishment until the 19th century, the madrasa never ceased the teaching process. From the early 19th century to 1946 it experienced several interruptions due to the restoration of fairly ruined building and the war. Instead of the old building a new one was built, most likely on the site of Sinan-bey madrasa, which was situated on the southeast side of the Board of the Islamic Community. It was a one-story building, oriented in the direction southwest-northeast, in the form of Latin U with, most likely later on, added part which gave it the shape of Cyrillic letter Ш.

Work and curriculum of the madrasa

The madrasa in Novi Pazar finally ceased the teaching process in September 1946. It was then that the last certificate of the completion of the fourth grade of the Madrasa in Novi Pazar (DPUM, 5/1946) was issued. It had discontinued classes before that time as well: in 1912 it discontinued classes, in 1913 they were resumed again, in 1914 they were discontinued again, in 1920 they were resumed, in 1940 they were discontinued and in 1943 the school again began to work without interruptions until 1946 (Demić, 23).

Classes were delivered only in the morning hours. Frontal instruction was the typical teaching method. The work also proceeded in the group form, in the so-called halkas (circles, where students sit in a circle around the teacher), and in the form of students' joint learning and mutual testing – muzaker (repetition), whereby each good student was in charge of a poor one. Students showed an extreme interest in classes and achieved enviable success in mastering the prescribed subject matter (Kačapor, 1983: 282).

Wars have been the most frequent reason for occasional discontinuation of classes in the madrasa in Novi Pazar. In this respect, a great significance is attached to the session of sixteen jamaat majlises held in the Novi Pazar Board on 15.12. 1933, which was chaired by hafiz Ibrahim-ef. Riđanović and mufti of Novi Pazar Murat-ef. Sukić. In the final part of his address, the chairman of the Board said: “Today, we should make an actual and realistic conclusion which would primarily allow renovation of the building of the local madrasa, and then find funds which would make it possible to hire a sufficient number of teaching, religious and secular staff.” The session resulted in a series of conclusions, the following ones being particularly important for us:

• work shall begin on refurbishment of the madrasa, which is to be named: Hadži Ali-effendi – Muslim seminary,

• a select committee shall be chosen for refurbishment of the madrasa in Novi Pazar,

• fund-raising for the madrasa shall begin immediately,

• interim rules shall be drawn about the way of work, admission of students, curriculum, supervision and other matters within this topic (ZKDŽM).

It is not known why this name was proposed, and particularly why the proposal was not implemented. On the first round seal of the madrasa we find the words: Muslim seminary in Novi Pazar. In 1939, principal of the madrasa protested to the District Waqf-Educational Board because of such a name. Among others, his petition said as follows: “Words 'Muslim' and 'seminary' are redundant and are improper and show poor taste. The word 'madrasa' is sufficient even without the word 'seminary', since no other religion has a madrasa.” The emblem on the stamp and the seal is not Yugoslav, it belongs to the pre-war Serbia, which leads to the conclusion that the stamp and the seal were made before. In the letter, the principal asks the Waqf Board to provide a new stamp and a seal for the madrasa, with the words: Management of the Lower Madrasa in Novi Pazar (DPUM, 5/1946). The request was fulfilled, which can be seen in the annex to the exam list from the 1945/46 academic year, which has a seal with a star in the middle and the inscription Lower Madrasa in Novi Pazar.

All the decisions made at the session of Majlis of 15.12.1933 were implemented relatively fast. A new building on the foundations of Isa-bey Mosque was constructed. In the 1936/37 academic year the old madrasa was closed and the new one was inaugurated. In the 1940/41 academic year, the madrasa discontinued classes again, to resume them in 1943. It finally closed its door in 1946, when the new revolutionary authorities of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FNRJ) prohibited any further activities of the madrasa in Novi Pazar.

Like other Islamic educational institutions of similar orientation, the madrasa in Novi Pazar had its path of growth. It is assumed that it worked according to the “halka system”, and that many students were granted the idžazet (graduation certificate). It is known that many people who were later to become mudarrises in the madrasa, the most prominent among them being Omer-ef. Ejubegović, Arif-ef. Sarajlija, Ismail-ef. Filibalić, Halil-ef. Osmanović Kolašinac and Nazif-ef. Šušević, attended it and obtained its idžazet.

The madrasa in Novi Pazar was sometimes ranked as a high, sometimes as a lower, and at times as a middle educational institution. The schooling initially lasted twelve years, then eight and in the last stage of existence, until 1946, it was a four-year long Muslim religious school which prepared staff for religious officials: imams, khatibs, muallims and religious instructors. There were no obstacles for their work in the public service.

At the described session of the Waqf-Educational Board, the madrasa was reformed into a four-year school and the report on it was submitted to the Ulama-majlis in Skopje via the Waqf-Educational Board (DPUM, 1939).

Ottoman alphabet and Turkish language were used in the madrasa in Novi Pazar until 1928. It was the last year when the list of students was drawn in Ottoman Turkish. The following textbooks were used before the reform of 1936/37:

Awamil – the basis of Arabic syntax in Arabic. The author was Muhamed bin Pir Ali from Birgi in Asia Minor.

Basis of Grammar (the title was illegibly written) – which dealt with the conjugation of Arabic verbs in Arabic. The author is unknown.

Durrijekta/Bead of Pearl– includes the basics of religion and muamalat (rules governing commercial transactions) in Turkish. The author is Imam Zade Ahmed Esad.

Emsila/Examples – this course consisted of listing forms of conjugative verbs in Arabic. The textbook is translated into Turkish. The author is unknown.

Halebija – a textbook of muamalat/worship. It is written in Arabic, and includes Sadudin Kašgari's commentary of Munija. The author is Ibrahim bin Muhamed el-Halebi.

Izhar/Izharul esrar/Presentation of secrets – Arabic syntax. It is written in Arabic. The author is Birgivi.

Kafija/What is sufficient – Arabic syntax in Arabic. The author is Džemaludin bin Hadžib.

Lugati osmani – Arabic-Persian-Turkish dictionary. The author is unknown.

Mula džami/El-Fevaidu dijaije.

Multeka el-ebhur/Confluence of seas – a textbook of muamalat and fiqh in Arabic. The author is Ibrahim bin Muhamed el-Halebi.

Risalei Birgivi/Birgivi's booklet – a textbooks about basics of belief and muamalat in Turkish. The author is Birgivi.

Šimailu šerif – a selection from sayings about the life od Prophet, a.s. The author is unknown.

Tahriri – a textbook of inheritance law. The author is unknown.

Ta'limul muteallim – a textbook of akhlaq (morality in Arabic. The author is Burhanudin Zernudži from the 12th century.

Tarihul-enbijai/History of Prophet – neither the work nor the author is known.

Tajweed – proper recitation of the Qur'an. The author is Karabaša. The courses are listed according to exam tables for the 1923/24 academic year.

After the1936/37 academic year, new courses were taught in the madrasa:

In the 1943/44 academic year, after the discontinuation of 1940/41, curriculum changed, so that the following courses were taught: Qur'an, Aqidah, Fiqh, Arabic, Albanian, German, Mathematics, History, Geography, Husn-i Hat, Imla' (writing exercise) and qasida (these data and their sequence were taken from student registers for the 1943/44 academic year).

References:

• Čelebi, Evli (1987), Putopis, Odlomci o jugoslovenskim zemljama, preveo Šabanović, H., Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša.

• Ćurić, H. (1965), Školske prilike muslimana u Bosni i Hercegovini 1800-1878, Beograd.

• Demić, Faruk (1988), Medrese u Novom Pazaru, Sarajevo: Islamski teološki fakultet.

• Kačapor, Sait (1983), „Školstvo u Novom Pazaru i okolini od 1918. do 1941. godine“, magistarski rad, Novi Pazar-Zagreb.