Riyasat ( ; ) is a main executive body of the Islamic communities in the

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

region. The head of the riyasat is

Reis-ul-ulema A Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is a title for the leading Islamic jurist of a country, typically Sunni, who may oversee other muftis. Not all countries with large Sunni Muslim populations have Grand Muft ...

(Grand Mufti).

History

During the

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 ...

, all Muslims were subjected to the

shaykh al-Islām Shaykh al-Islām (; ; , ''Sheykh-ol-Eslām''; , Sheikh''-ul-Islām''; , ) was used in the classical era as an honorific title for outstanding scholars of the Islamic sciences.Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Mahan Mirza, The Princeton Encyclope ...

, the supreme religious authority, even though the

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

maintained the title of kaliph. After

Austrian-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

occupation of

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 ...

in 1878, general

Josip Filipović Josip Filipović, ''Freiherr'' (Baron) von Philippsberg, also Josef von Philippovich or Joseph Philippovich (28 April 1819 – 6 August 1889), was a Croatian nobleman, who rose to the rank of Austrian-Hungarian general ('' Feldzeugmeister''). L ...

, who led the occupation, received instructions that Bosnian Muslims should become independent from the shaykh al-Islām in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. The Austrian-Hungarian authorities had in plan to make this separation look like a local initiative. After Filipović failed to do so,

Gyula Andrássy Count Gyula Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka (, 8 March 1823 – 18 February 1890) was a Hungarian statesman, who served as Prime Minister of Hungary (1867–1871) and subsequently as List of foreign ministers of Austria-Hungar ...

, at the time foreign minister of Austria-Hungary, tried to do the same through joint Austro-Hungarian Ministry of Finance, which was responsible for Bosnia and Herzegovina, headed by

Béni Kállay Béni Kállay de Nagy-Kálló or Benjamin von Kállay (; – ) was an Austro-Hungarian statesman and a Hungarian nobility, Hungarian nobleman. Early life Kállay was born in Pest (today part of Budapest). His family derived their name from t ...

, and governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Josip Filipović. Andrássy saw this as a political instrument to strengthen the position of the Austro-Hungarian authorities in newly occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnian Muslims fiercely opposed to this move of the Austrian-Hungarian authorities. The conflict reached its peak when the Ottoman

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

named Ahmed Şükrü, a former

Rumelia Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and Vassal state, vassals in E ...

kazasker A kazasker or kadıasker (, ''ḳāḍī'asker'', "military judge") was a chief judge in the Ottoman Empire, so named originally because his jurisdiction extended to the cases of soldiers, who were later tried only by their own officers. Two kazas ...

, a new Bosnian-Herzegovinian mufti on 18 June 1880. They based their decision on the Novi Pazar Convention of 1879 between Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, in which, among other things, Austria-Hungary committed to respect Bosnian Muslims' religious freedoms, while Bosnian Muslims received the right to maintain religions connections with shaykh al-Islām in Istanbul. Bosnian Muslims opposed any separation from Istanbul. Austria-Hungary agreed that shaykh al-Islām could appoint religious officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but only from the local population. They asked from the Austrian-Hungarian ambassador in Istanbul to prevent Şükrü from taking the office of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Mufti. The Austrian-Hungarian authorities saw Husein Nur Hafizović as chief representative of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina who was at the time supreme

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

judge in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the end, Austrian-Hungarian authorities succeeded in preventing Şükrü from taking the office of mufti and shaykh al-Islām Uryanizade Ahmed Esad named

Mustafa Hilmi Hadžiomerović Mustafa Hilmi Hadžiomerović (1816 – 10 February 1895) was a Bosnian Muslim Islamic cleric who served as the first Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1882 to 1893. Biography Born in Kulen Vakuf in 1816, Hadžiomerović received his ...

a new Bosnian-Herzegovinian mufti. Hadžiomerović was known as suitable person for the Austro-Hungarian authorities. Immediately after the Austrian-Hungarian forces occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina, he called for Bosnian Muslims to accept military laws of the Austrian-Hungarian occupational administration. On 17 October 1882, emperor

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

issued an imperial decree in which he proclaimed Hadžiomerović a

reis-ul-ulema A Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is a title for the leading Islamic jurist of a country, typically Sunni, who may oversee other muftis. Not all countries with large Sunni Muslim populations have Grand Muft ...

(grand mufti) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This made Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina independent from the Ottoman religious authority, and nobody from the Ottoman Empire opposed this decision of the Austrian-Hungarian emperor. After Hadžiomerović was named grand mufti, the institution of Riyasat, as main executive body of the Islamic community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was established. It was a unique institution in all of the Islamic World. Béni Kállay's efforts of creating an independent Islamic community in Bosnia and Herzegovina were finally realised. The emperor had the right to name grand muftis and heads of

majlis (, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning 'sitting room', used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to the Mus ...

es. Other Islamic religious officials were named by the Land Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Current Riyasats

* Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, established in 1997 * Islamic Religious Community of Macedonia, established in 1994 *

Islamic Community of Serbia Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number 2 billion worldwide and are the world's second-largest religious populatio ...

, established in 2007

References

;Citation ;Bibliography * {{cite book , last=Zdravkovski , first=Aleksandar , year=2014 , chapter=Islam and politics in Serbian Sandžak , title=Religion and Politics in Post-Socialist Central and Southeastern Europe: Challenges Since 1989 , location=Basingstoke , publisher=Palgrave Macmillan , isbn=9781137330727 Islam in Europe Islamic organizations

History

Current Riyasats

See also

References