شيخ الإسلام
This was to isolate Bosnian Muslims from the Ottoman Empire, and its clergy who were subordinate to the Sultan. The Muslims were largely unhappy with their new status, and formed Muslim political opposition. This Muslim opposition demanded, at first, Muslim religious autonomy from Austria-Hungary, but later, as it grew stronger, they demanded autonomy from the Ottoman Empire. The Muslim opposition tried to align itself with the Serbs, who were also demanding religious and educational autonomy. But unsolved agrarian relations between the Muslim leadership and the Serbs was an obstacle to any far-reaching alliance. The alliance that did form was only tactical. Later, the Muslim leadership emphasized Ottoman sovereignty over Bosnia and Herzegovina, and demanded the right to organize their religious activity under the aegis of the Shaykh al-Islām of the Ottoman Empire.