Abdulvehab Ilhamija Žepčevi (1773 – 1821) was a

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

and prose writer. In addition to Bosnian, his work was written in Turkish,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Name

His name '' Abd-ul-vehhab'' means "Servant of the Generous" — one of the attributes of God. ''Ilhamija,'' his

Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

name, means "inspired."

Early life

Ilhamija was born into a Muslim Bosniak family in

Žepče Žepče ( sr-cyrl, Жепче) is a town and municipality located in Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, between Doboj and Zenica. ...

Sanjak of Bosnia Sanjak of Bosnia (, / Босански санџак) was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire established in 1463 when the lands conquered from the Bosnian Kingdom were transformed into a sanjak and Isa-Beg Isaković was appointed its fi ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

(today's

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

). His father's name was Abdulvehab. Both his parents died during his youth. A quote from one of his poems is ''"A mother I do not have, and my father I do not remember."'' Ilhamija was educated in his birth town and in

Tešanj Tešanj ( cyrl, Тешањ) is a town and municipality located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 43,063 inhabitants, whil ...

and

Fojnica Fojnica ( sr-cyrl, Фојница) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located west of the capital Sarajevo, in the valley of the Foj ...

. He also attended the Ferhadija Mosque in Tešanj. His final work, the ''Bosnian Book of the Science of Conduct'', is a work that lists 54 religious duties that each follower of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

must know about, believe in, and fulfill, followed by advice on what a religious person should and should not do. It was published posthumously in 1831, a decade after his death. The book is printed in

Arebica Arebica (عربٖىڄا ,آرەبـٖٮڄآ; ) is a variant of the Perso-Arabic script used to write the Serbo-Croatian language. It was used mainly between the 15th and 19th centuries and is frequently categorized as part of Aljamiado literatu ...

, the variant of

Perso-Arabic script The Persian alphabet (), also known as the Perso-Arabic script, is the right-to-left script, right-to-left alphabet used for the Persian language. It is a variation of the Arabic script with four additional letters: (the sounds 'g', 'zh', ' ...

used to write

Bosnian language Bosnian (; / ; ), sometimes referred to as Bosniak ( / ; ), is the standard language, standardized Variety (linguistics)#Standard varieties, variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language mainly used by ethnic Bosniaks. Bosnian is one of ...

, mainly between the 15th and 19th centuries, after the conquest of Bosnia by the Ottoman Empire.

Execution

In the year 1820, a man named Dželaludin-paša became the Ottoman pasha of Bosnia, a title he would hold until his brutal death in 1821. At first, Abdulvehab Ilhamija supported Dželaludin, believing him to be a fair and just ruler. But over a short period of time the illusion faded and Abdulvehab Ilhamija openly criticized Dželaludin's harsh rule over the Bosnian population in his poetry and writings. In 1821, Dželaludin became aware of Ilhamija's criticisms and invited him to his home in

Travnik Travnik ( cyrl, Травник) is a town and a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the administrative center of the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, ...

. Ilhamija traveled without a horse, on foot from Žepče to Travnik. Before he left, he bid a final farewell to his family and friends, anticipating a grim ending to his meeting with the pasha. To this day, what happened in Travnik remains in the sphere of assumption. There is a legend that says that Dželaludin-paša asked of Ilhamija to renounce his critical writings, when Ilhamija refused to do so, he was either strangled to death or decapitated in the

Travnik Castle Travnik Castle, locally known as ''Stari Grad Castle'' (old town castle), is a medieval town-fortress complex in the town of Travnik, Central Bosnia Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Location The fortress is located in the Plava Voda neighbourhood ...

. News of his death was received with sorrow and revolt among the people. He was buried in Travnik in mausoleum near a former railway station and former hospital, where he remained buried for 138 years until 1959, when his bones and headstone were moved to a different grave.

Partial list of works

The publication years for his works remains unknown. *''Boga traži i plači'' (''Seek God and Cry'') *''Čudan zeman nastade'' (''There Was a Strange Zeman'') *''Dervišluk je čudan rahat'' (''Being a

is a Strange Comfort'') *''Dobro ti ders nadgledaj!'' (''Look at Your Lessons Well!'') *''Dženet saraj'' (''Heavenly Palace'') *''Hajat dok je...'' (''While Life Is...'') *''Hajde sinak te uči'' (''Come and Learn, Son'') *''Ja upitah svog Jasina'' (''I Asked My Soul'') *''Ne rastaj se od sufara'' *''Potlje Boga...'' *''Uči, sinak, i piši!'' (''Learn, Son, and Write!'') *''Ustrajte u sticanju znanja!'' (''Persevere in Gaining Knowledge!'') *''Bosnian Book of the Science of Conduct'' (1831); published posthumously

In popular culture

Fellow Bosniak writer Muhamed Hadžijamaković wrote a biography of Abdulvehab Ilhamija entitled ''Ilhamija: Život i djelo'' (''Ilhamija: Life and Work''). Rešad Kadić (1912–1988) wrote a book about Abdulvehab Ilhamija's death entitled ''Ilhamijin put u smrt'' (''Ilhamija's Journey to Death''), originally published in 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilhamija, Abdulvehhab 1773 births 1821 deaths People from Žepče People from the Ottoman Empire of Bosnian descent Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims Bosnia and Herzegovina writers 18th-century poets from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century poets from the Ottoman Empire 18th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire Executed people from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire People from Zenica-Doboj Canton Executed Bosnia and Herzegovina people