MOSQUE IN DŽEBARI, ŽIVINICE

Author: Lebiba Džeko, MA, National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Photo & video: Mirza Hasanefendić

About seven or eight kilometers away from the main road Sarajevo-Tuzla, in the area of Živinice, there is the complex of mosque in Džebari, which consists of the mosque, a large courtyard, the cemetery, a sofa which is made of wood as an additional part of the front wooden sofa, the abdesthana (ablution space) and the museum building (exhibition space) with a conference room. There are no reliable data on the time of construction of the mosque, though the mosque, like many other mosques in Bosnia, is associated to different folk stories, legends and narrations. Based on these sources, it is assumed that it was built immediately after Turkish conquests of these regions in the 15th century, and that therefore this mosque is the oldest in the whole district of Tuzla.

The mosques which were some of the first ones to be built after establishment of Ottoman rule, or at the time of “Feth”, were raised within forts and were intended for crew and army. They were mostly small mosques, where only a small number of believers could perform daily prayers. The mosque in Džebari is also small and its base measures 9x8m. The main building is built of stone and the front, entrance part, of wood. It is covered with a hipped roof made of roof tiles. The minaret is made of wood.

Interior of the mosque is typical of small Bosnian mosques. The walls are white and have no wall decoration. The mihrab is built into the wall and has no decoration either. The mimber, mahfil and ćurs are made of wood, while the mahfil spreads along the entire width of the mosque. At the time when field research was conducted (August 2022), the mosque floor was covered with mechanically-made floor covering (carpet).

The legend goes that construction of the mosque was planned on a neighboring elevation and that building material was prepared at that site. When builders of the mosque came in the morning and when they wanted to begin to build it, they found out that the material had been moved to another site overnight. It was the sign that the mosque should be built at the site where builders found the material, and consequently it is there that they built it.

There are many other stories which have remained among people and which cannot be accepted from the viewpoint of Islamic rules. One of the best-known among them goes that if someone performs three Jummahs (Friday noon prayers) in the mosque in Džebari, it counts as if he had made the Hajj. This story has remained among people up to this day, and therefore the mosque is frequented by many during Jummah. Its uniqueness is also proved by the fact that during the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina it was a target of the aggressor's army and that it was shelled from the nearby positions of the army. Although many missiles fell close to it, the mosque itself was never directly hit.   

On the first Saturday in August the mosque in Džebari hosts the dua and the mewlud and during this event the mosque is frequented by up to 10,000 believers.