Gajret was a cultural society established in 1903 that promoted
Serb identity among the Slavic Muslims of
Austria-Hungary (today's
Bosnia and Herzegovina). After 1929, it was known as the
Serb Muslim
Serb Muslims ( sr-Cyrl, Срби муслимани, Srbi muslimani) or Serb Mohammedans ( sr-Cyrl, Срби мухамеданци, Srbi muhamedanci, links=no), also named ( sr-Cyrl, Читаци, Čitaci ) are ethnic Serbs who are Muslims (ad ...
Cultural Society. The organization was pro-
Serb.
History
After the 1914
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand leadership of the association was interned in
Arad.
The organization viewed that the
South-Slavic Muslims were Serbs lacking ethnic consciousness. The view that South-Slavic Muslims were Serbs is probably the oldest of three ethnic theories among the
Bosnian Muslims themselves. After the
Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnian Muslims, feeling threatened by
Catholic Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
rule, established several organizations. These included, apart from Gajret, the
Muslim National Organization
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraham ...
(1906) and the
United Muslim Organization (1911). In 1912, after the death of
Osman Đikić, the editing of Gajret was entrusted to
Avdo Sumbul.
Gajret's main rival was the pro-Croat Muslim organization
Narodna Uzdanica, established in 1924. In interwar
Yugoslavia, members experienced persecution at the hands of non-Serbs due to their political inclinations. In this period association run a number of student dormitories in
Mostar, Sarajevo,
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
and
Novi Pazar.
During World War II, the association was dismantled by the
Independent State of Croatia. Some members, non-Communists, joined or collaborated with the
Yugoslav Partisans (such as M. Sudžuka, Z. Šarac, H. Brkić, H. Ćemerlić, and M. Zaimović).
Ismet Popovac and
Fehim Musakadić Fehim Musakadić ( sr-cyr, Фехим Мусакадић; ?–d. 1943), ''nom de guerre'' Musa (Муса), was a Serbian military officer in World War I, Yugoslav reserve major, Sarajevo chief-of-police, and Chetnik commander in World War II. A Mus ...
joined the
Chetniks
The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...
.
In 1945, a new Muslim organization,
Preporod, was founded in order to replace the pro-Serb Gajret and pro-Croat Narodna Uzdanica. The former organizations voted for and were merged into Preporod. In 1996 it was reestablished as a
Bosniak
The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...
cultural association.
Notable members
*
Osman Đikić (founder)
*
Safvet-beg Bašagić (founder)
*
Edhem Mulabdić (founder)
*
Avdo Sumbul
*
Osman Nuri Hadžić
*
Ismet Popovac
*
Fehim Musakadić Fehim Musakadić ( sr-cyr, Фехим Мусакадић; ?–d. 1943), ''nom de guerre'' Musa (Муса), was a Serbian military officer in World War I, Yugoslav reserve major, Sarajevo chief-of-police, and Chetnik commander in World War II. A Mus ...
*Muhamed Sudžuka
*Zaim Šarac
*Husein Brkić
*Hamdija Ćemerlić
*Murat-beg Zaimović
See also
*
Prosvjeta (1902)
Prosvjeta ( sr-cyr, Просвјета; "Enlightenment/Education") or the Serbian Cultural-Educational Society "Prosvjeta" was a Bosnian Serb cultural and educational society in Austro-Hungarian Bosnia and Herzegovina and Yugoslavia. It was founde ...
References
Sources
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{{Authority control
Bosniak history
Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims
Yugoslav Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ethnic organizations based in Yugoslavia
Ethnic organizations based in Austria-Hungary
Organizations established in 1903
1903 establishments in Austria-Hungary
1900s establishments in Bosnia and Herzegovina
1941 disestablishments in Europe