Mufti of Belgrade Munīrī Belġrādī and Hamzevis

Abstract

This paper presents accounts in the Ottoman language on the movement of Hamzevis and their activities written by the famous mufti and muderis of Belgrade Munīrī Belġrādī by the beginning of the 17th century. In two of his seventeen works that are known to us, Belġrādī speaks directly about the Hamzevis, their founder and activities, and in two works, writing about other topics, he indirectly touches on the Hamzevis, their teachings and behaviour. Belġrādī’s accounts are important because they give a picture of the Ottoman State’s attitude towards religious movements as well as the positioning of a scholar, such as Belġrādī, regarding these movements. The paper also points out that the Hamzevi movement was not only of a religious character, but also had a potential to be a carrier of socio-political changes. This paper provides basic academic literature on Hamzevis, a brief overview of the author’s biography, a Latin transcription of Belġrādī’s reports with a paraphrased translation into Bosnian, and an analysis of these data in the light of socio-political events in the Ottoman Empire during the second half of the 16th century.