The Islamic Community of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Islamska zajednica Jugoslavije) was an organisation of Muslims in socialist Yugoslavia established in 1947. The organisation was seated in Sarajevo, where the Reis-ul-ulema resided together with the Rijaset, the most senior body of the organisation.
The Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Community of Yugoslavia was made of members of the republican assemblies from all of the socialist republics, with those from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia being seated in Sarajevo, the Serbian delegates in Pristina, the Montenegrin delegates in Titograd and the Macedonian delegates in Skopje. Each of these republican assemblies also had their rijaset.[1]
In 1990, the Islamic Community adopted its new constitution, according to which Zagreb became a center for the republican assemblies of Croatia and Slovenia, while the republican assembly in Sarajevo represented Bosnia and Herzegovina only. The status of other republican assemblies remained the same.[1] With the new constitution, the republican assemblies were renamed to mešihat.[2] On 9 March 1991, the Islamic Community gained the first democratically elected Reis-ul-ulema, a Macedonian Jakub Selimoski.[1][3]
With the breakup of Yugoslavia and the international recognition of its newly independent countries, several independent Islamic communities were established. The Islamic Community of Yugoslavia adopted another Constitution in Skopje on 5 February 1993, recognising the independence of separated communities. At the time Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro established their own Islamic communities as well. The mešihat of Serbia with a seat in Pristina, was renamed to the Islamic Community of Kosovo. The meeting of the representatives of the newly formed mešihats in Istanbul at the end of October 1997, was a formal end of the Islamic Community of Yugoslavia.[4]
No. | Portrait | Name | Leadership | Place of birth |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Effendi Ibrahim Maglajlić (1861–1936) |
12 June 1930 – 14 March 1936 (5 years, 276 days) |
Banja Luka, Bosnia Eyalet | |
2 | Fehim Spaho (1877–1942) |
9 June 1938 – 14 February 1942 (3 years, 250 days) |
Sarajevo, Bosnia vilayet | |
3 | Effendi Ibrahim Fejić (1879–1962) |
12 September 1947 – 8 December 1957 (10 years, 87 days) |
Mostar, Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina | |
4 | Effendi Sulejman Kemura (1908–1975) |
8 December 1957 – 19 January 1975 (17 years, 42 days) |
Sarajevo, Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina | |
5 | Effendi Naim Hadžiabdić (1918–1987) |
18 May 1975 – 3 July 1987 (12 years, 46 days) |
Prusac, Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina | |
6 | Effendi Husein Mujić (1918–1994) |
11 December 1987 – 1989 |
Gračanica, Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina | |
7 | Effendi Jakub Selimoski (1946–2013) |
9 March 1991 – April 1993 |
Kičevo, Macedonia |