On the appointment of hafiz Sulejman-ef. Šarac to the position of reisu-l-ulema of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

The enactment of the Statute for the autonomous administration of Isla-mic religious, endowment and related affairs in 1909 ended the long-standing struggle of Bosnian Muslims for the independent formation of their own reli-gious and educational life. The sanctioning of the Statute by the Austro-Hun-garian Emperor Francis Joseph meant, among other things, organizing and holding elections in all organs of the Islamic Community. Bearing in mind that the Statute brought with it special provisions and the formation of a speci-ally established body for the appointment of the reisu-l-ulema, the Ministerial Election Curia, we deal with the issue of the election of the first reisu-l-ulema in Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with the established provisions of the Statute. The elections were followed with special attention in the press at that time. In this paper we tried to elaborate the texts and inscriptions of the then papers, which often promoted certain candidates on their pages. Also, the fact is that the first reisu-l-ulema elected according to the Statute, hafiz Sulejman-ef. Šarac, has not been the subject of previous research, and we believe that hafiz Šarac with his education, work, merit, and service, earns the attention of a special monograph. In the introductory part of the paper, we briefly referred to the first reactions of the high functionaries of the Islamic Community after the adoption of the Statute, which primarily refers to the reaction of the then-retired reisu-l-ulema Mehmed Teufik-ef. Azabagić. In the second part of the paper, i.e. its major part, attention is paid to the selection and appointment of the candidate for reisu-l-ulema and his appointment by the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Francis Joseph I.