Muhamed Efendi Zahirović and his Idžazetnama (Authorization)

Abstract

This paper sets forth a biography of Muhamed efendi Zahirović and it gives a review of his social activism as well as a translation of the idžazetnama (authorization) he got from Hafiz Sulayman efendi Fazlić. He was born on the 14th of December in 1886 in Modriča. He spent his entire working life as a high school religion teacher. This paper is primarily based on the idžazetnama manuscript which is kept in Gazi Husrev-beg’s Library in Sarajevo (R-10790). Setting the sanad (a list of authorities who have transmitted a report (ḥadīth) of a statement, action, or approbation of the messenger Muhammad, peace be upon him) as a guarantee of the authenticity and a critical review of every person who transmitted a ḥadīth has provided a foundation for the tradition of issuing idžazetnamas. This common practice of seeking and issuing an authorization to transmit a particular ḥadīth or work carried on in Bosnia and Herzegovina until the beginning of the 20th century. The contents of the idžazetnama portrays Muhamed efendi Zahirović as one of the more learned people in Bosnia and Hercegovina at the beginning of the 20th century.