TEKKE AT VUKELJIĆI – BEGINNING OF A SPIRITUAL LINE

At a plateau in Central Bosnia, between Fojnica and Vitez, is the village of Vukeljići, which can be considered the core of Naqshbandi tariqa of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as of tasawwuf spirituality. It is in this village that a tekke was built almost two and a half centuries ago.

On the photograph of the entrance portal of the tekke at Vukeljići one can clearly see the Hijri year of building, 1195, which corresponds to 1780–1781 A.D.

How it happened that a cultural and spiritual center grew on this seemingly inaccessible hilly terrain will best be revealed by historical facts, as well as folk stories about this region.

In terms of administration, Vukeljići belongs to the municipality of Fojnica. According to stories, the tekke at Vukeljići was founded in 1780, by shaykh Husejn Zukić, who received the tariqa and knowledge from shaykh Muhamed Hafiz Hisari from Istanbul. “Shaykh Husein Zukić was born at the village of Vukeljići, where the tekke itself is found. He began education in a madrasa in Fojnica, and continues in Kuršumlija madrasa in Sarajevo. He went to university in Istanbul” (Ćehajić, 1986: 51). After thirty-two years of learning and training, Husejn-baba Zukić returned from Istanbul to Bosnia. Upon return from Istanbul, he served as a professor of the madrasa in Fojnica and as a preacher in the mosque at Vukeljići. During his stay in all the significant centers of tasawwuf of the time which, besides Istanbul, included cities such as Konya, Baghdad, Basra, Samarkand and Buhara, he also acquired knowledge in the tekke of the founder of Naqshbandi tariqa Behauddin Naqshband. In Bosnia, this tariqa emerged upon the arrival of Ottomans, though it confirmed power and influence particularly in the late 18th and early 19th century, thanks to activity of two Naqshbandi shaykhs – Husejn-baba Zukić and shaykh Sirija, his disciple. “According to folk stories, shaykh Husejn baba Zukić had only one pupil, Abdurahman, son of Fojnica kadi, who would later be known as shaykh Sirija and the founder of tekke on Oglavak near Fojnica ˮ (Ratković, 2022: 138). Later on, due to an unusual turn of events, which are described in another folk story, shaykh Sirija would get a pupil from west Anatolia, i.e. Kasri Arifan, close to the border with Syria, better known by name Mejli-baba (hadži Muhamed). He would assign to the pupil the task of settling at Vukeljići and take on the position and tasks left behind by his shaykh Husejn and inherit activities related to the tekke. (For more on founding the tekke at Vukeljići, see paper by Džemal Ćehajić Derviški redovi u jugoslovenskim zemaljama sa posebnim osvrtom na Bosnu i Hercegovinu, pp. 51-55.)

Knowledge and spiritual power of Husejn-baba affected expansion of Naqshbandi tariqa in Bosnia. Later on, in the long and well-established tradition, the family and heirs of Mejli-baba also committed themselves to this road. “In pursuit for a perfect shaykh via Konya and Istanbul he reached shaykh Sirija on Oglavak, where he stayed four years ˮ (Ratković, 2022: 139). At Vukeljići, shaykh Mejli-baba married the granddaughter of Husejn-baba Zukić and they had two sons, Husein and Hasan, which resulted in the creation of a family line which was named Hadžimejlić. Mejli-baba (shaykh Muhammed) passes away in 1854. “According to the existing data, it is estimated that he arrived in Bosnia in or around 1820. (...) He was the father of shaykh Hasan Hilmi-baba, who fathered shaykh Musa Kjazim-baba, who was in turn the father of shaykh Mesud-effendi born at a small village called Vukeljići, near Fojnica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 5 May 1937 ˮ (Hadžimejlić, 2013: 104).

Although Naqshbandi tariqa in Bosnia was founded upon the arrival of Ottomans in these regions, it gained its full significance, power and recognizability among people with shaykh Husejn-baba Zukić from Vukeljići (Hadžimejlić, 2016:16). The chain of shaykhs who led Naqshbandi dervish order over the last two and a half centuries looks as follows: shaykh Husejn Bosnevi (1720–1799/1800), shaykh Aburrahman Sirri (1775–1847), shaykh Muhamed Mejli-baba (passed away in 1854), shaykh Arif Sidki (1819–1889), shaykh Hasan Hilmi Mejlizade (passed away in 1899), then his cousin shaykh Muhamed Husejni Hasani Mejlizade (passed away in 1921), shaykh Musa Kazim Mejlizade (1888–1961), shaykh Muhammed Bedruddin Abidin (1897–1984), and then shaykh Mesud Mejlizade (1937–2009). Today, both this tariqa and the tekke at Kaćini are led by the son of shaykh Mesud, shaykh Ćazim Mejlizade (1964). However, one should keep in mind that the chain at Vukeljići and Kaćuni is different after shaykh Muhamed. The tekke at Kaćuni emerged and developed from the tekke at Vukeljići. At Vukeljići, shaykh Muhamed Husejn Hasani was succeeded by shaykh Abulatif, and then by shaykh Behaudin (Ćehajić 1986:54).

At Vukeljići, next to the tekke there is a cemetery where three mausoleums have been erected, the first one being that of Husejn-baba Zukić. To the right, there is a door with the corresponding inscription. The photo was taken by N. Efendić, 23.10.2022

Although it is believed that shaykh Sirija was the only pupil of Husejn-baba, there is also a grounded belief that Husejn-baba also had a relationship with shaykh Abdulvehab Ilhamija (1773–1821) from Žepče. Known by the dervish name Ilhamija, after the madrasa in Fojnica shaykh Abdulvehab found himself as the imam and khatib in Žepče, as recorded by some aljamiado texts. In his didactic poetry, he severely criticized religious and secular dignitaries of the system of the time, which would become the reason for his execution upon the order of Dželaludin-pasha, a Bosnian governor, in Travnik in 1821.

At Vukeljići, in front of the family museum founded on the foundations of the madrasa, which was established by shaykh Kjazim-ef. Hadžimejlić, there is the tomb of his son, Mesud-ef. Hadžimejlić.  The madrasa was founded after closing of the Fojnica madrasa and after cessation of work of other madrasas in BiH in 1944. The madrasa at Vukeljići continued the existence of religious schools in Bosnia and according to testimony by prof. Ćazim Hadžimejlić, it was attended by about 300 pupils, 80 out of whom were granted graduation certificates. The madrasa worked until 1953, when its work ceased. Today, its premises house family museum of the Hadžimejlićs.

Besides the tomb of shaykh Mesud, next to the former madrasa on a plateau above the tekke at Vukeljići there is a cemetery with three mausoleums. The first one belongs to shaykh Husejn-baba Zukić, the second one is the mausoleum of shaykh hadži Muhammed Mejli-baba, and the third mausoleum  houses five tombs, those of shaykh Hasan-baba Hilmija and his children, including hafiz Kjazim, father of Mesud-ef. Hadžimejlić.

Shaykh Muhamed Mejli-baba was a friend of Ali-bey Rizvanbegović from Stolac. There are stories and testimonies that Ali-bey was always pleased to welcome him at his Begovina in Stolac, and since Mejli-baba is associated to special abilities which distinguished him from the ordinary man – a believer, people remember and transmit several stories about them. Once, when he was crossing the river Bregava at Begovina, he saw two children watching a mature pomegranate which they wanted to cut in halves and did not have a knife. Mejli-baba only looked at the pomegranate and it cracked apart, and the children were amazed to see it. Amazement was also caused by his ability to walk on the water. He would easily cross the flooding Bregava, and this ability was possessed only by the selected ones (Šarac, Kelamu'l šifa' 55-56-57, XVI, 1441/2020).

Sources:

• Informant prof. Ćazim Hadžimejlić, PhD

• Informant Mubina Moker, PhD

• Informant Sulejman ef. Efendić (born in 1952) FAZM XXVIII-G, 16483.

• Informant Edib Karasalihović (born in 1990) ... Kaćuni

• Informant Kemal Mehmedović (born in 1953) Konjević-Polje

References:

• Avdukić, Malik (2016), “Nakšibendijska silsilaˮ, Kelamu'l šifa', 43-44, XII, 1437/2016 (19-25).

• Ćehajić, Džemal (1985), “Društveno-politički, religiozni, književni i drugi aspekti derviških redova u jugoslavenskim zemljamaˮ, Prilozi za orijentalnu filologiju XXXIV (1984), 91-113.

• Ćehajić, Džemal (1986), Derviški redovi u jugoslovenskim zemaljama sa posebnim osvrtom na Bosnu i Hercegovinu, Sarajevo: Orijentalni institut u Sarajevu.

• Hadžimejlić, Ćazim (2013), “Šejh Mesud ef. Hadžimejlić. Šejhul-mešajih BiHˮ, Kelamu'l šifa', IX, 1434/2013, 35 (104-107).

• Hadžimejlić, Ćazim (2016), “Pir-i Sani, Husejn baba Bosneviˮ, Kelamu'l šifa', 43-44, XII, 1437/2016 (16-18).

• Ratković, Rosana (2022), “Upoznavanje Nakšibendijskog tarikata u Bosni i Hercegoviniˮ, Kelamu'l šifa', XVIII, 1443-44/2022, 61-62 (136-139).

• Šarac, Jasmin (2020), “Hikaje iz života šejh Muhamed hadži Mejli babeˮ, Kelamu'l šifa', 55-56-57, XVI, 1441/2020, (72-74).