Resume:

The Islamic population was a completely centralized one on the wider

Yugoslav territory until the Congress of Berlin. Having its place in the

hierarchy of social organization of the Ottoman Empire, it was an

important part of the system because Islam as a religion was one of the

pillars on which the Empire evolved. The weakening of the Ottoman state in

the 19th century and national struggle of the Slavic peoples caused the

gradual withdrawal of the Ottoman state. Parallel to the withdrawal of the

secular government of the Ottoman Empire, religious jurisdiction was

waning too, which led to the formation of separate Muslim communities on

the wider Yugoslav territory

The year of the Congress of Berlin, 1878, saw the beginning of the special

organization of religious affairs of the Muslim population in the area of

today's Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Religious

organization of the Islamic population in these countries was a part of the

government policy, since the executive authorities in new states helped

them to establish and supervised their activities.

Thus, the Montenegrin Prince Nikola appointed the first Mufti of

Montenegrin Muslims right after the Congress of Berlin in 1878 and state

continued to take care of the religious officials’ living. The Islamic

Community in Serbia was formed with the Mufti of Nis, who was, like all

clerics, paid from the state budget. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Austrian

authorities have directly influenced the formation of a separate Islamic

community by appointing Reis-ul-Ulema and members of the Ulema -

Majlis in 1882.

However, the spirit of centralized regulation of religious affairs, inherited

from the period of the Ottoman Empire, to some extent had been

maintained even after 1878

through the spiritual presence of Sheikh-ul-Islam as the highest religious

instance of Muslims. Thus, the Grand Mufti of Nis, who had been managing

religious affairs in Serbia and Macedonia after 1913, Montenegrin Mufti of

the Muslims, and Reis-ul-ulema in Bosnia and Herzegovina, received their

spiritual legitimacy, consent and authority to perform religious services

from the Istanbul-based Sheikh-ul-Islam.

Forming of a new state in 1918 found Muslims religiously separated and

organized through the unstable and perishing waqfs which were the only

opportunity for autonomy in religious affairs. With the exception of Bosnia

and Herzegovina, where the Islamic population was successful in achieving

religious autonomy, the Islamic community in Montenegro and Serbia was

totally dependent on the state which was the employer for all religious

officials. Thus, creating of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes did not

lead to the creation of Islamic Religious Community of Yugoslav territory

which would gather fragmented religious communities of the Muslim

population in the new state.

Defining the relation of state toward the Islamic community after 1918 is

not easy because both sides in this process did not have a clear strategy, so

our conclusion on their relationship is that it was rather reflexive. The

bottom line is that the state had not done much concerning the assumed

peacekeeping duties, and on the other side, the Islamic community and

political circles close to them had failed to generate any force that would

facilitate such an action of the state. It is important to note that religious

organizations of Muslims in Serbia and Montenegro were very close to the

state even before 1918, so such an environment could not provide

conditions for the maturation of a major idea that would be respected and

which would adequately implement the principle of autonomy. The

situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina was completely different. Religious

authorities in that part of the country were a product of the struggle for the

waqf-mearif autonomy, unlike the situation in Serbia and Montenegro,

which meant an awareness of their rights.

The introduction of dictatorship required new models of organizing

cooperation between the state and the Islamic community. This primarily

included the adoption of the Law on Islamic Religious Community which

regulated the religious affairs of Muslims all over Yugoslavia. The main

provision of the new legislation was a strong need of state administration to

centralize the Muslim religious authorities. Introducing the Sixth of

January Dictatorship, the carrier of changes King Alexander I, desired to

link Islamic population to his project of dictatorship through the Islamic

Religious Community. He tried to do so through this law in particular due

to the absence of political parties.

Changes in 1930 were only proclaimed, since neither the Islamic

community self-managed religious, educational and waqf activities, nor the

state had ceased to interfere in these matters.

Changing legislation in 1936 confirmed that the Islamic community in the

previous period had failed to organize, and to develop administrative and

human resources that would allow the formation of institutions willing to

change from within. On the contrary, incorporated into daily political

events, the Islamic community was only an observer of changes that have

taken place when the new law was passed in 1936. Regulation on

Amendments to the Law on IRC, adopted in March 1936, can be

considered as lex specialis, or more precisely as a regulation with the

political background and the current compromise of political elites and the

Yugoslav Muslim Organization, which was a part of the ruling coalition,

which was bringing the changes, at the time.

Political parties in Yugoslavia mostly did not have a consistent

attitude towards the Muslim religious organization between the two world

wars, since the direction of their activities was aimed through the prism of

daily political events and influence on the religious officials. With the

exception of the Yugoslav Muslim Organization in Montenegro, Radical

Party and Democratic Party were almost the only political parties that

received votes from the Muslim population. Thus, the majority of Islamic

population was eager voter of the People’s Radical Party. Radicals have

made such an impact primarily through the inclusion of the Islamic clergy

in its ranks, which were the most influential social strata among the Muslim

population.

Waqf issues within the IRC can best explain the position of community

between the two world wars. Miniature economic power of the waqfs, in

comparison to the economic achievements of the Ottoman period, can be a

kind of litmus test for the position of the IRC in the state. It is rather

paradoxical situation that the state had failed to achieve a dominant

influence in the waqf organs despite the legal basis which provided a

Regulation on Administration of waqfs and its systemic capacity of the state

apparatus. Classic Ottoman waqf concept was not applicable in the new

circumstances, so even when the state at one time took over the

management of the waqf property it failed to make a significant

breakthrough in this field. Therefore, the role of the waqf in the Ottoman

state and the reasons of its existence were not required in circumstances

where the state took a number of responsibilities that previously belonged

to the waqf system. The state created in 1918 did not decisively influence

the process of the perishing of waqfs, but it primarily accelerated this

process.

Islamic community chiefly disagreed with the state in the area of education.

Two different concepts were the subject of considerable conflict in which

the Islamic community had to forget about the exclusivity of the

educational process and come to terms with the new circumstances, while

the political factor in most cases, and would control two educational

concepts. Modern European principle of separation of religious

communities of the state was not part of the constitutional arrangements,

which left room for compromise, rather than systemic and institutional

arrangement of this area. The constitutional definition of religious

education as a compulsory subject in public schools was equated with the

principle of religious freedom and could be viewed as an interim solution.

However, the two concepts of education quickly came into conflict because

of the traditional refuse of Muslim population to follow modern educational

methods and aggressive educational form of the new state. A long tradition

of Islamic religious education could not be deleted with conventions and

legal regulation on compulsory primary education. Thus, in the period

between 1918 and 1941 saw a constant source of conflict in refusal of

Muslim children to attend compulsory elementary schooling, which caused

the ban to organize religious lower education in sybian-mekteb institutions

and a number of other solutions through which the state assumed primacy

in education from religious authorities.

There are several factors that have affected the status and social

engagement of the Islamic community in Montenegro between the two

world wars. These were primarily heritage and stereotypes with which it

had entered the newly formed state. Everything that happened in the 18th,

19th and early 20th century life was too complicated to be solved in just 23

years between the two world wars. It should be said clearly that the nation

was identified with faith at that time, and that the generalizations were part

of everyday life, all of which together left a little space for the

democratization of the entire region and a new way of solving problems.

After 1878 and The Congress of Berlin there was a clearly defined line

between the winners and the defeated, and things were yet to be resolved

when the new conflicts and horrors of World War I appeared.

There are several reasons why there has not been an autonomous

development of the Islamic community and its positioning in society. The

first and foremost was certainly the lack of basic human capacities that

would lead their community out of the ring of daily political bickering to

ensure its autonomous role in society. Again, it was difficult expect the

creating of a critical mass within the community which would pull this

process forward. Namely, the Islamic community has been burdened by its

tradition and the lack of modern educated people who would be the

momentum of these changes. Staff limited to religious themes, not able to

actively participate in social and political life, was educated within the

community. Officials of the community in Montenegro and Serbia were on

the state budget which was a very good way to keep things under control.

The only way out of this situation was the economic independence that was

possible only with the use of the waqf property. However, the concept of

waqf completely collapsed in the early 20th century in the absence of a

strong central government to control this area as it used to during the

Ottoman Empire, so all was left to individuals who after a certain time

privatized the waqf assets, used them inappropriately and destroyed it over

time.

In our research we came to the conclusion that the period between 1918 and

1941 was a period of adjustment and wanderings of the Islamic community

for their social position. The big social fractures have left traces in the

religious organization which met 1918 in an institutional crisis. Religious

affairs of Muslims in Montenegro, which began to be regulated from 1878

were not based on normative principles and organization that which would

be established to promote itself and evolve. The common characteristic of

the majority of Muslim clerics was their modest education and a weak effect

that generally could not surpass the limits of their horizons. Material safety

of their families was a significant determinant of the tenure of the officials

of the Islamic community since the state appanage provided them with

such a care. Moving to the state budget turned all of them into civil servants

and political soldiers in a way. Therefore, most of them were strongly

influenced by the political parties that used them to spread their influence

among the Muslim population. The concept of economic independence of

the Islamic community based on the institution of waqf completely

collapsed, so between the two world wars we can not talk about the

economic sustainability of the community. The lack of competent

individuals led to the economic dependence as the main cause of an

unenviable social position of the Islamic community. Dependent on public

assistance and direct funding of all revenues of officers, Islamic religious

community did not create the conditions for independent development of

its own institutions. Supported by the state budget, personnel was

unprepared to respond to the challenges of time, so the Islamic community

followed the concept of state politics and was a mediator of the political

relations between the state and Islamic population since the formation of

the Yugoslav state.