# Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian: Islamska zajednica Bosne i Hercegovine, IZ BiH) is a religious organisation of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is also recognised as the highest representative body of Muslims in the region, especially in Serbia (Sandžak), Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Hungary and Bosniak diaspora.
It was established in Sarajevo in 1882 by Austria-Hungary, to have a controlled Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Ottoman Empire lost control over Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878.

## History

The Islamic Community was established in 1882 during the Austrian-Hungarian rule over Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the seat of the Islamic Community was moved from Sarajevo to Belgrade, but was moved back to Sarajevo in 1936. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, the organized community on Yugoslav level broke up, while the majority of local and regional Muslim communities accepted the historic authority of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina .
The Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina was initially weak, but with the help from Alija Izetbegović, Bosnia and Herzegovina's first president of the Presidency, as well as key military leaders, it became a pillar of the Bosniak national identity. Under the tenure of the Grand Mufti Mustafa Cerić, who held this office from April 1993 until November 2012, the Islamic Community promoted Bosniak culture, politics and identity, with its influence extending beyond the faithful and attracting many who were not practicing Muslims during the socialist period, as well as Bosniaks and other Slavic Muslims living in the region of Sandžak and elsewhere.

## Jurisdiction

The Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its head, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are the highest religious authorities for approximately 2.5 million Bosnian Muslims in the world. The Islamic Community has jurisdiction over the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Croatia through the muftiluk of Zagreb, Slovenia and Bosniak religious communities around the world. However, there is a dispute in Serbia over what Islamic Community has jurisdiction over the country, Bosnian or Serbian. Sandžak Mufti Muamer Zukorlić, who was supported by former Grand Mufti Mustafa Cerić, wanted that they remain under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the Serbian Grand Mufti Adem Zilkić wanted to expand the jurisdiction of the Islamic Community of Serbia to the entire country. He was supported by the deceased Serbian Grand Mufti Hamdija Jusufspahić, and later by his son Muhamed.
The Islamic Community of Montenegro, although not formally under jurisdiction of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, recognizes the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina as the highest religious and moral authority of Muslims in the region.
The highest body of Muslims in Hungary, the Hungarian Islamic Council, have expressed willingness to become part of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina and for the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina to act as the supreme religious authority for Hungarian Muslims.
Sufi orders in areas under jurisdiction of the Islamic Community are operating within the Tariqa Center and are autonomous but subordinated to the Islamic Community and the Grand Mufti.

## Media

Beside BIR TV, the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina is, via Media centar d.o.o. Sarajevo, also owner of the Preporod weekly newspaper, Islamic radio station - Radio BIR, MINA News agency and Preporod.info website.

## List of Grand Muftis

| No. | Name | Leadership | Place of birth |
| Grand Muftis for Bosnia and Herzegovina (1882–1930) |||||
| 1 | Effendi Mustafa Hilmi Hadžiomerović (1816–1895) | 15 December 1882 – 20 November 1893 (10 years, 340 days) | Kulen Vakuf, Ottoman Empire |
| 2 | Effendi Mehmed Teufik Azabagić (1838–1918) | 20 November 1893 – 1909 | Tuzla, Ottoman Empire |
| 3 | Effendi Sulejman Šarac (1850–1927) | 1910 – August 1912 | Stolac, Ottoman Empire |
| 4 | Effendi Džemaludin Čaušević (1870–1938) | 26 March 1914 – 12 June 1930 (16 years, 78 days) | Arapuša, Bosnia vilayet |
| Grand Muftis of Yugoslavia (1930–1993) |||||
| 5 | Effendi Ibrahim Maglajlić (1870–1938) | 1930 – 1936 | Banja Luka, Ottoman Empire |
| 6 | Effendi Fehim Spaho (1877–1942) | 1938 – 1942 | Sarajevo, Ottoman Empire |
| 7 | Effendi Ibrahim Fejić (1879–1962) | 1947 – 1957 | Mostar, Austria-Hungary |
| 8 | Effendi Ibrahim Kemura (1908–1975) | 1957 – 1975 | Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary |
| 9 | Effendi Naim Hadžiabdić (1918–1987) | 1975 – 1987 | Prusac, Austria-Hungary |
| 10 | Effendi Husein Mujić (1918–1994) | 1987 – 1989 | Gračanica, Austria-Hungary |
| 11 | Effendi Jakub Selimoski (1946–2013) | 1989 – 1993 | Kičevo, Yugoslavia |
| Grand Muftis of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1993–present) |||||
| 12 | Effendi Mustafa Cerić (born 1952) | April 1993 – 19 November 2012 | Veliko Čajno, Visoko, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 13 | Effendi Husein Kavazović (born 1964) | 19 November 2012 – present (12 years, 24 days) | Jelovče Selo, Gradačac, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina |