TOWN MOSQUE IN BOSANSKA OTOKA

Author: Mujo Ćehić, imam of the town mosque in Bosanska Otoka • Photo & video: Mirza Hasanefendić

Bosanska Otoka is a small town on the banks of the river Una, nestled between Bosanska Krupa and Bosanski Novi. It used to be the center of municipality (until 1957), and today it is a constituent part of the town of Bosanska Krupa. This area was inhabited as early s in the prehistoric age, which is confirmed by several more or less studies archeological sites. Otok na Uni /An Island on the Una/ (Lat. Insula; Tur. Ada-i Kebir – A Big Island; today Bosanska Otoka) was first mentioned in documents in 1264 as an “island on the Una”, owned by dukes Babonjićs – of Blagaj. In 1418, the town formally became a royal town.

A new period began in 1565, when Ottomans occupied this region. Everything that happened after feth (conquest) is mostly based on oral stories. Still, it is a fact that, in 1565, Ottomans, new rulers of the region, built a mosque within the town walls for needs of the garrison. According to oral stories, which every citizen of Bosanska Otoka will tell you even today, the first small wooden mosque remained in the same form until 1791 when the Treaty of Sistova between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy was followed by great migration of Muslim population from Lika and settling of many of them in Bosanska Otoka. Today, descendants of emigrants' families of the time make up the majority of citizens of Bosanska Otoka.

Great migrations resulted in a significant increase of population and a need for a considerably bigger mosque, and therefore, as early as in 1792, the newly arrived population built a relatively big and beautiful stone mosque at the site of the first small military one. The new mosque had a very interesting minaret, atypical of these regions. Until the second half of the 19th century, there was no bridge in a broader area of Otoka, and people crossed from one bank to the other by ferry and boats. In 1865, Ottoman administration built a bridge which connected the mosque with the entire town, within construction of the road Bosanski Novi – Bosanska Krupa. Remains of this wooden bridge are still clearly visible during the normal water level of the Una. There are no accurate data on how the whole land within the fortress became a waqf, though it is assumed that it happened already during the Ottoman administration, so that remains of the fortification are today borders of the mosque courtyard as well. During the aggression, the area of Bosanska Otoka was a scene of difficult fights and massive destruction. The destiny of the town was shared by the town mosque as well, which was mined in the late 1994 and completely destroyed for the fourth time in its history.

The town mosque in Bosanska Otoka, situated in a unique environment of the blue-green river Una, on a natural river island, has become a special brand both of the town itself and wider. It is interesting to note that, although surrounded by water from all sides, the mosque has never been flooded, not even the highest water levels.

The mosque in Bosanska Otoka has always been a place where imams loved to come and mostly typically there for a long time. Memories reaching to the beginning of the 20th century have been preserved, when one after the other the following imams served in the town mosque in Bosanska Otoka: hafiz Mustafa-ef. Komić, hafiz Mehmed-ef. Podić, hafiz Ibrahim-ef. Komić, a hafiz Crljenak iz Maglaja. After the Second World War, imams of the mosque were: Muhamed-ef. Amidžić, Muhamed-ef. Alijagić, Smail-ef. Kličić, Ahmed-ef. Mešanović, Osman-ef. Mustafić and Mujo-ef. Ćehić, who has been the imam of the jamaat of the town mosque in Bosanska Otola for as long as thirty years.

Today, at the site of the old mosque destroyed during the aggression a shahid memorial was built where names of 153 members of the Army of RBiH who wove their lives in the freedom of the country are inscribed.

Building o fa new mosque began on 14 June 1997 and ended on 29 April 2001. The day of opening the mosque symbolically marked victory over years-long military aggression and victory in peacetime diplomatic struggle for the river Una and this town which, pursuant to the Dayton Accord was first partly annexed to the smaller entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and after an enormous effort the whole town was returned to the Federation BiH. The new mosque was built in the old Bosnian style though with modern materials. There was no classical building; rather, the whole mosque was made of concrete. The complex of ancillary facilities around the mosque has not been quite completed yet, since the original design provided for building premises for travelers' accommodation and an apartment for the imam, which will complete the architectural idea of designer Mesud Bužimkić and which will additionally contribute for the mosque to shine like the sun. Since the end of the war, the town of Bosanska Krupa, which Bosanska Otoka, administratively belongs to, has taken care of the currently only access wooden bridge on the right bank, and this year the town administration begins to build another wooden pedestrian bridge which will connect the mosque with the left bank of the Una as well, and in this way make it even more accessible and more attractive.

Today, the town mosque in Bosanska Otoka is a symbol of freedom, return, determination and persistence; it testifies of the times past, urbicides, culturocides and genocides, as well as of heroism, courage, love and determination of the people to remain and survive on their own land. The freedom we live, the adhan which every day comes from three points of minaret and flows down the waterfalls of the Una, the children who flock to maktab, the old people who rush to the mosque at the call of adhan – are the greatest satisfaction and reward to all defenders and guardians of the beauty which God gave as a gift to the country of Bosnia.