Biografija Šukrije Alagića

A survey of sources and literature

Sažetak

Sukrija Alagic was born in Donja Tuzla on the 20th of May 1881. He completed his elementary education in Sarajevo in the year 1893. In the capital city he continued his further education, and finishes six grades of the high school (gymnazium). The seventh and eight grades he con- tinued in Mostar, where on 19 of June 1901 graduated, being the only Muslim among seventeen graduants. On the 19 of June 1901 he got admission to the University of Vienna where he studied Oriental studies (Classical Arabic language) and Slavistics (Serbian and Croatian languages). On 31st July 1905, in regular time he completed his study. After graduation he returned to Bosnia where he was appointed by the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a deputy teacher of the Great secondary school in Sarajevo. Sukrija Alagic was fluent in three languages: Arabic, Turkish and German. In terms of ethnic and religious adherence he identify himself as “Croat of Islamic creed”. In 1909 he was appointed as a teacher and on 1st of March 1912 he got the title “professor”.

He was working as a professor of Arabic language in Sarajevo until January 19, 1916 when he was transferred, on his requests, to the Great secondary school (gymnazium) in Mostar. After two years serving in Mostar, on 30th October 1917, he was transferred to Derventa to be teacher in Male Teachers’ school. In the academic year 1917/18 he served as Muslim religious teacher and teacher of German language in the same town. On the 8 of October he was transferred to another high school in Derventa. In that time Sukrija Alagic was a member and activist of Yugoslav Muslim Organization. One political talk in which he presented difficult situation of Muslims after the First World War, given in Derventa on 26 October 1920, the second day of Bayram was a reason for his suspension from post and salary. In the year 1927 Sukrija Alagic was appointed as director of the High school in Tuzla. He was the first Muslim who performed such duty in the institutions of secondary education in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He performed many important duties in cultural associations and the Organization of Islamic Community. His works were published in Glasnik of the Supreme Islamic Authority Gajret, Novi Behar, Kalendar Narodna Uzdanica, Kalendar Gajreta, Islamski svijet and Pravda. His the most important works are translation of Tefsiru-l-Menar of Resid Rida which four volumes were published and fifth remain unpublished as well as commentary of the thirty of dzuz of the Qur’an written by Shajkh Muhamed Abduhu. For the teaching of Arabic language he compiled a textbook selected from Kitabu sireti Resulillahi. It is also recorded that he had written two more textbooks with dictionary but because of break of war those books have never been published.

He died on 30th January 1936 in Derventa.