YANGINLAR, KİLİSELER VE HAVRALAR: OSMANLI DÖNEMİNDE SARAYBOSNA’DA GAYRİMÜSLİM MABETLERİNİN MEŞRULAŞMA SÜRECİ
FIRES, CHURCHES AND SYNAGOGUES: THE LEGITIMATION PROCESS OF NON-MUSLIM SANCTUARIES IN SARAJEVO DURING THE OTTOMAN PERIOD

Summary/Abstract: The prohibition of building new churches and synagogues was one of the most importantreligious restrictions conducted upon non-Muslims until the Imperial Edict of 1856 during the Ottoman Empire. Sanctuaries, which remained in the hands of non-Muslims at the time of the conquest were allowed to be restored in their original forms after the ilam (judicial decree) of the kadi, fatwa of Shaykh al-Islam and the Sultan’s firman. However, it was necessary to demolish the sanctuariesbuilt after the conquest. These rules were also valid for newly established cities. Although Sarajevo was a city founded by the Ottomans, an Orthodox church, a Latin church and a synagogue were built in the 16th century. Questions ofhow these sanctuaries were created, why they were not destroyed and how they were legitimized are the main topic of our study. In the Ottoman cities, the churches and synagogues that were politically permitted or tolerated and that built in violation of Sharia could be legitimized during the reparation process by concluding that they remained from the time of conquest provided that there were no objection. More than twenty great fires occurred in Sarajvo during the Ottoman period. Churches and synagogues were also burned in some of them. In this article, we will try to show the sharia procedure applied in the reparation and reconstruction process and how fires were used as a means of legitimizing or expanding sanctuaries in Sarajevo. We will also examine the validity of standard expressions used in the official documents and registers.

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