Исламска заједница Србије: првих десет година (1868-1877)
Islamic Community of Serbia: First Ten Years (1868-1877)

Summary/Abstract: Serbia gained its full independence at the Congress of Berlin in 1878 when religious rights of minorities in the new independent Balkan states were proclaimed for the first time. The first and foremost, these rights meant that the attitude towards non-Orthodox population was based on freedom and outward exercise of all forms of worship, for all domestic and foreign entities, as prescribed by the Treaty of Berlin. However, Serbia was not unprepared for the fact that it was becoming a multi-religious country. The Jewish churchschool, Catholic Municipality, the Municipality of the Augsburg confession already existed and were active in Serbia. Since 1868, so a decade before provisions of the Berlin Treaty, the Islamic faith was also officially recognized in Serbia, as well as the Muslim community with their religious apparatus which has been financed from the budget of the Princedom thanks to the vision of Prince Mihailo, regardless the popular claims about the need for the expulsion of everything that was „Turkish“. Today’s Islamic Community of Serbia as the date of its establishment and early religious and social work takes May 18, 1868, in accordance with the decree of Prince Mihailo Obrenovic, which officially recognized the Islamic religion in the Princedom of Serbia. This paper presents life and organization of the young Muslim community as well as the problems and challenges it was facing in the first decade of its existence.

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