Hafiz Senad Podojak (born 31 May 1966 in

Zenica Zenica ( ; ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The city is kno ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

) is a Bosnian

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, se ...

and qari, currently living in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Biography

Podojak enrolled in the Gazi Husrev-beg Madrasa in 1981, which he successfully completed in 1985. In the second grade of the madrasa, he was appointed

muezzin The muezzin ( ar, مُؤَذِّن) is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer (ṣalāt) five times a day ( Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque. The muezzin plays an important ro ...

of the

Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque (, ) is a mosque in the city of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Built in the 16th century, it is the largest historical mosque in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the most representative Ottoman structures in the Balkan ...

, a position he held until 1989. At the same time, he became an active member of the Gazi Husrev-beg Madrasa choir until 1989. He is internationally known as a qari. Podojak participated at the International Competition for Quran recitation in

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow val ...

in 1987, where he finished in 5th place. In

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

, Podojak reached 4th place and 1st place in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In the 90s, he recorded an album of

nashid A nasheed (Arabic: singular ', plural ', meaning: "chants") is a work of vocal music, partially coincident with hymns, that is either sung '' a cappella'' or with instruments, according to a particular style or tradition within Islam. Nashee ...

s about the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

with

Yusuf Islam Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later i ...

Dino Merlin Edin Dervišhalidović (; born 12 September 1962), known professionally as Dino Merlin (), is a Bosnian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. Born in Sarajevo, he was the founder and leader of Merlin, which eventually became one of ...

and Aziz Alili. Podojak is chairman of the Islamic Community in Austria in

Wels Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the eighth largest city in Austria. Geography Wels is in the ...

. Since 2005,Islam in Oberösterreich – wie
Josef Wallner, Kirchenzeitung KIZ Ausgabe 2006/11 he has served as a specialist inspector for religious education in Islamic religion at the Pedagogical Institute. Podojak lives and works in

. He is married and has two children.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Podojak, Senad Islam in Austria 1966 births Living people Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Austria