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The paper, proceeding from the need for a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of travel in Islamic dogma, relying on the texts of the Qur'an and Hadith, reveals the basic concepts of travel in Islam. It is noted that jihad, which is a kind of physical effort, hardship, involves the consideration of travel as one of the forms of jihad. The deistic perception of the act of wandering, traveling: on the one hand, the presence of the element of predestination in its very act, and on the other, the preservation of free will, leads the study to three fundamental motives that move towards a religiously justified journey: awareness of the consequences of unbelief, contemplation of all the beautiful that has been created Almighty, as well as repentance for polytheism. The special status of a traveler in Islam is affirmed by the recognition of some concessions in the implementation of religious practice. Modern Muslim regions, despite their deep-rooted conservative way of life, are trying to adapt to changing conditions by developing tourism on their territory, preserving the Islamic way of life, if possible.
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The Age of ayans, a name often given to the 18th century period of the history of the European part of the Ottoman Empire, is a period of decentralization and deterioration of the military system inherited from the classical period. Development of Belgrade in this age was marked by the Austrian rule between 1718 and 1739, when the oriental outlook of the city was lost. After the reincorporation of the Sancak of Semendire into the Ottoman Empire, the orientalization of Belgrade became one of the prerequisites for the functioning of the city life. The rebuilding of the city took up most of the second half of the century, and it encompassed the reconstruction both of military fortifications, and of the religious endowments, communal buildings and private houses. The political and social changes left their mark on the population of Belgrade. Organization of local administration attracted various jobless and landless adventures to become part of the city garrison in the fortress and to enter the service of Belgrade’s viziers. An important source of new population were sipahis and janissaries, members of military orders that lost much of their military function, who came to the city seeking opportunities for additional income. Some of them opened taverns or worked as artisans, and others got involved into tax farming (iltizam system). Representatives of powerful merchant families of Rumeli and Istanbul moved there in order to enmesh themselves into the profitable mercantile network of Balkan merchants (Greeks, Armenians, Serbs, Jews, etc.) on the main route from Thessaloniki to Belgrade and further to the Habsburg Monarchy. The basic official sources from the 18th century – tax registers (defter-i hakani, tapu tahrir defteri), attest that more than 2000 adult Muslim men lived in the city in 1741. It is supposed that the population steadily increased until the end of the century. This period also saw the ever greater divisions between different social groups and a start of proto-political conflicts and organized opposition to the ruling structures. The 18th-century Belgrade was by the dynamics of its development a place of contact between two empires. It was an oriental town that was undergoing quick and substantial changes and at the same time it acquired foundations for the future modernization. Belgrade remained a predominantly Muslim town until the incursion of the troops of Osman Pazvanoğlu that gave an impetus to the organization of an uprising by the local Serbian population. These events started a fundamental change of the character of the city in the 19th century.
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From the mid-nineteenth century to the end of Ottoman rule in Belgrade, British travelers rarely had direct contact with Turks (italics signifies that the term in this discourse is used metaphorically as oriental and imaginary Other). By the end of nineteenth century architectural objects, scenes like garbage empty streets, old and ruind houses, abandoned neighborhoods, smell of rotting on bazaars, „dry and wicker” fruits and flowers reveals the history of the city and the population that settles it. Instead of the usual analysis of discourse on Turks, the images of the city are regarded mediators and filters in the perception of Turks. The city with its spatial characteristics is discovering their absence, instead of their presence on the streets of Belgrade. While the city speaks with its own language, the rule of the Ottoman Empire is slowly losing its former power. Travelers are influenced by a political liberal power advocating the Right to self– determination of the people and the cration of the National States in the Balkans. Belgrade is becoming a witness to this important political problem. Its „neglect”, „silence”, on its streets, poorly built, steep and curvy streets, the presence of htonian beeings such as wolf, raven, and magpie, suggest that the end of the Ottoman rule is near. The Semlin quarantines became border areas where the spread of the „infectious disease” of the metaphorically understood domination of „Orient” should be stopped. So quarantines for patients infected with plague become hospitals where „The Bosphorous patient” must stay until new political circumstances arise. However, when the Ottoman rule in the Balkans was over, the images of Belgrade were more or less the same. Once again, Belgrade was represented as unregulated, chaotic and dirty place ruled by the South Slavs. Its materialization becomes a witness of the impossibility of the consistent implementation of the rights of the peoples to self determination
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There are several theories about the exact time of construction of the Belgrade Bayrakli Mosque. According to one, it was built in 1690, or few years later, as the endowment of Sultan Suleiman II, after he reclaimed the city from the Austrians for the second time. According to another theory, it was built between 1660 and 1688, while there are also some opinions that it was built in the 16th century by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, which is the least likely. In any case, since the second half of the 19th century, when the last Turkish squads left the country, after which the Principality of Serbia grew increasingly independent, it became the only active Muslim place of worship in the capital city, until this very day. Its first reconstruction, undertaken by the Serbian state, was made in 1868, and the second in 1897, after which it never stopped working, although it was restored several times more during the 20th century. Both reconstructions in the 19th century were primarily driven by higher national and political goals that focused mostly on the Muslim population, especially those of Slavic descent and language, who continued to live in those parts of the Ottoman Empire that Serbia historically and traditionally regarded as its lands and wanted to reclaim it.
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In this article, I examine the position and role of the Islamic Religious Community (IRC) in the period after the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) until the outbreak of World War II. During this period, the Muslims in the Kingdom found themselves divided between two centers – Belgrade and Sarajevo. The central part of this article examines the polical relations between the Kingdom and the IRC, which deeply affected the status and the autonomy of IRC. In the analytical part, I apply Bourdieu’s theory of social fields, using historical sources, archival material, and demographic data. The paper attempted to contribute to a better understanding of the (dis)unity of the Islamic Religious Community in the territory of the Republic of Serbia after the collapse of the socialist Yugoslavia.
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This article focuses on Franz Rosenzweig’s radical provocative views of Islam, which ironically appears in his magnum opus The Star of Redemption (1921), a work considered groundbreaking in its interfaith dialogical approach. The article opens with a short presentation of their main (more popular) point, and the alleged problematic nature of their attitude and style. At this stage I concisely review the evolution of the reference to these views in the scholarship, since the appearance of The Star of Redemption to our day in the late postmodern age. In regard to the relation of the current article to existing literature, it should be noted that it is drawing on insights from a host of different primary and secondary related sources. In addressing the question of the acceptance of Rosenzweig's approach, I refer to opinions of a line of thinkers, which re-appear in the following discussions throughout the article. In particular cases, such as in the concluding section, I mention some more background sources to support my argument. I obviously quote the sources from the Old and New Testaments and the Quran upon which Rosenzeig’s thesis rests. I close the outlining of the article's framework with a formulation of its purpose, namely to gain clarity of Rosenzweig's insights in order to ultimately speculate on its place in contemporary discourse on Islam. Coming across Franz Rosenzweig's, the modern Jewish theologian and philosopher mostly associates with his revolutionary dialogic approach to Christianity, opinions of Islam, one would probably consider him nothing more than another Islamophobe. This may explain the relatively low interest research has for this aspect of his thought, his radical approach considered condescending and his treatment of the subject considered superficial and patronizing. All the more when these insights are found in his The Star of Redemption, considered to be a treatise that opened a new era in the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, setting them as complementary and equal, which no Jewish thinker before him had dared do. The purpose of my paper is to clarify his insights on Islam in The Star, and to explain what can such a view contribute on this topic today, its controversial approach notwithstanding.
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Worship, beliefs and various religious rituals gained a significant place in the lives of Arabs since the period of the civilizations of Mesopotamia. Then, pre-Islamic Arabs had the same importance as they adopted these beliefs. The religions of pre-Islamic Arabs are mainly derived from the texts of ancient civilizations in the Mesopotamia valley (Babylonian, Assyrian, Sumerian, Akkadian, etc.). With their multiple dialects, these texts do not agree about various religious matters, as a result of the variation in the characteristics of these civilizations in terms of religious belief and worship, such as prayers, religious supplications, material eucharistic sacrifices. The current research attempts to find out how the religions of Mesopotamian civilizations affected pre-Islamic Arabs. Most of the religions belong to their ancestors in the period of ancient civilizations, especially Mesopotamian.
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Imam is a guide, leader, navigator, successor of the Prophet and the Divine ambassador on the Earth, whose speech, action and authentication are authority and proofs for us. In fact, Imam is the true ideal for humanity in various aspects of worship, individual, social and political realms. While Imam’s speech, actions and authentication is authority for us in matters of worship and jurisprudence, similarly they are proofs for us in the matters of governance and politics. Moreover, if we want to succeed in these grounds, we need to follow the infallible Imams and take their code of conduct as ideal for us. This article seeks to examine the political conduct of Imam Ridha facing the revolts during the period of his Imamate, in order to set an example to Muslims in political affairs.
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The text introduces basic theoretical concepts that are important for understanding the conception of the thematic issue, namely transdisciplinarity, cultural heritage, dialogical memory, as well analytical categories of individual and community of practice. The approach to Islam as a subject of study is further explained. The text then refers on the research of Islam, Muslim communities and Ottoman heritage in the Balkans, with the focus on Serbia. The second part presents the papers in this thematic issue.
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Legitimacy of the Qur’an translation to non-Arabic languages has never been disputable nor religiously forbidden act during the initial period of Islam for a great number of researchers. Initiators of the debate about the Qur’an translation and the legitimacy of that act were ‘non-Arabs’ –’ağam, who believed that they can only relatively apprehend the divine holy discourse – Qur’an, as they were limited by their own mother tongue. According to historical sources, there were no initiatives to translate Qur’an in our speaking area before the 19th century. The process of the Qur’an translation, however, has started in 1895 with Mićo Ljubibratić. In this paper the motifs of Ljibibratić’s work are analysed, as well as the absence of early translations among the adherents of Islam. The paper then reflects on the response to the Ljubibratić’s translation and the influence of his work upon the translation activity among the adherents of Islam. The other part of the paper is based on a contrastive lexical semantic analysis of the translation of Qur’an lexis excerpted from Quranic passages (Surah and Ayahs). The comparison between the Ljubibratić’s translation and the later translations of the Qur’an, as for example the translation from Arabic by Besim Korkut, shows differences on the semantic level, and allow us to observe the development and evolution of the experience in translating the Qur’an in our speaking area.
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Mevlud is a poem on the birth of Muhammed, the Prophet. The first Mevlud poem was written by Sulejman Čelebi, in 1409, under the title “Vesiletu’n Nedzat” in Bursa, meaning the “The Means of Salvation”. The word mevlud (Ar. mawlid) means ‘a place or time of someone’s birth’. This expression has acquired different meanings in time, as ‘the birth of the Prophet Muhammed’ and ‘the celebration organised on this occasion’, or during more significant events in life of the Muslims and their families. The Mevlud celebration i.e. the Mevlud poem as its central part, can be considered as a cultural form preserving the tradition of love towards the Prophet Muhammed, love towards God, and certianly,the tradition of mutual love among people.With this paper, we want to present the most beautiful Mevlud poems in our language and their significance in the life and culture of the Balkan Muslims. The paper is interdisciplinary and it shall follow the historical development of Mevlud, its literature-historical position within the Alhamiado literature, and the custom practice of Mevlud, as a celebration with its ethnological significance.
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The paper presents the celebration of religious holidays in the Bosniak community on the territory of Novi Pazar, by giving an insight into their meanings, as well as by giving a brief presentation of the celebrations primarily from the period of socialism, up to the present days. Research on the celebrations of religious holidays in the region of Novi Pazar is based on utterances of interlocutors from this area, then on archival material and literature dealing with this subject. The aim of this paper is to present the genesis of religious holidays in the Bosniak community in Novi Pazar, viewed in the context of understanding the relationship between secular laws and religious issues, and to analyze changes in the ways they are celebrated over the past decades.
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Like universalization, regionalization is a process that characterizes contemporary international society, including in the field of human rights. The analysis of regional systems for the promotion and protection of human rights reveals their degree of specificity and the large differences between the basins of legal civilization.
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Tafsir (tafsīr; commentary on the Qur’an) by Imam al-Māturīdī (in 333/944) from Semerkand (Transoxania region; Mā warāʼ al-nahr, present-day Uzbekistan) – who is honored with nicknames such as Imām al-Hudā (the leader of the God’s Word), Qudwa ahl al-Sunna wa al-ihtidā’ (a role model for those who follow the Sunnah and God’s Word), Imām al-mutakallimīn (leader of the mutekellimūn, the scholars of the Aqeedah) and Muṣaḥḥiḥ’ aqā’id al-Muslimīn (corrector of Muslim beliefs) – about which almost nothing is known, is yet to be presented and studied in the Bosnian language. Hence, this text is only an introductory presentation of Imam al-Māturīdī as a classical commentator of the Qur’an. The justification for such ignorance in our country, but also in the Muslim world in general, lies partly in the fact that until 2005 al-Māturidī’s tafsir magnum opus, Taʼwīlāt ahl al-Sunna or Taʼwīlāt al-Qurʼān, was not printed in its entirety. Now, even that partial justification has been annulled. This text deals with the following problematic issues: 1) a review of previous studies on al-Māturīdī’s Taʼwīlāt; 2) the titles of al-Māturīdī’s tafsir; 3) Imam al-Māturīdī and his place in the history of tafsir, and 4) the tafsir methodology of Imam al-Māturīdī. Elucidating these problematic issues should give us a closer picture of Imam al-Māturidī as a classical commentator of the Qur’an.
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In the first part of the introductory text, I present a theoretical framework that places the attitude towards the Ottoman heritage in a broader socio-cultural context. I distinguish between the two basic strategies in relation to the Ottoman heritage in the Balkan modern societies, and they are: de-Ottomanization (neglecting of Ottoman influences) and internalization. Furthermore, I point out that both strategies were created under the direct influence of the discursive practice of Orientalism, with which they share rhetoric and internal logic. Furthermore, I show, based on several examples of linguistic and cultural practices, how both strategies have been implemented in Serbia. In the second part, I present the papers in this thematic issue and identify the topics presented in it, namely: interreligious dialogue, negotiation of ethnic and religious affiliation in everyday life, religious conversion, inherited institutions of the Ottoman society and attitude towards them, (re)presentation of historical figures and events in literary narratives, Muslim religious organizations in the past and present. The thematic issue aims to contribute to academic dialogue in domestic and international context, in which strategies, topoi and actors related to the Ottoman heritage, Muslims and Islam are very current.
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The Islamisation of the population of two neighbouring regions south of Prizren, Gora and Opolje, occurred in varying degrees during the centuries-long rule of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. In Gora, inhabited by the Slavic population, it was extremely slow, while in Opolje, inhabited by the Albanians, it was incomparably more intensive. This paper aims to elucidate, based on the analysis of the Ottoman 15th and 16th century cadastral registers, the factors that affected the rate of conversion to Islam among the inhabitants of these two former Serbian medieval counties (župas), later Ottoman nahiyes. Among the most important are the highly developed church organisation in the region of Gora on the one hand, and on the other hand, the proximity of Prizren, the military and administrative centre of the Prizren Sanjak in which high ranking officials of Opolje origin operated.
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