Al-Ahari 1

The Mevlud: The Jewel of Bosnian Literature

IS 501 – The Academic Study of Islam

Muhammed Abdullah al-Ahari

American Islamic College

Professor Jawad Qureshi

January 20, 2015

Al-Ahari 2

The Mevlud: The Jewel of Bosnian Literature

What is Mawlid-ul-Nabi?

The Mawlid is celebrated traditional during the month of

Rabi al-Awwal. The Prophet Muhammad told his followers that he

was born on a Monday during the year of the Elephant (the year

when Abraha attempted to invade Mecca with a cavalry of

elephants). The event of the people of the elephant became the

focus of one of the chapter Surah al-Fil in the Qur’ān. Most of

the Mawlids begin with the birth of the Prophet Muhammad

(p.b.u.h.) and praise his mother Amina and father ‘Abdullah.

Is celebrating Mawlid-ul-Nabi innovation (bidah)?

When discussing the concept of Mawlid, the reader will often

find discussion about whether celebration the birthday is an

innovation. This discussion will come to three possible answers:

1) it is not a bidah of belief and action, but is a bidah hassana

(a good innovation), 2) it is a bidah and is haram to practice it

because it was not done in the prophet’s lifetime, and 3) it is

not a bidah and there are examples of poetry and words in the

Hadith and Sirah that would suggest it should be practiced.

Al-Ahari 3

According to Avdić (1977) the first public Mawlid al-Nabi

ceremonies can de dated to the year 604 A.H. (1208). That was

“when Al-Malik Muzaffar ad-Din Kokburi, brother of Salah ad-Din,

initiated this celebration which included parades, torch-light

processions as well as chanting poems expressing the unique

position of the Holy Prophet.”

Fatwas about the legality of the celebration were written

from this era and have continued to be issued till the current

era. One of the most important was by Imam al-Suyūṭī and is over

25 pages in published editions. A quote from near the beginning

can summarize his view on the issue.

“My answer is that the legal status of the observance of the

Mawlid – as long as it just consists of a meeting together

by people, a recitation of parts of the Qur’ān, the

recounting of transmitted accounts of the beginning of (the

biography of) the Prophet – may God bless him and grant him

peace – and the wonders that took place during his birth,

all of which is then followed by a banquet that is served to

them and from which they eat, whereupon they take their

leave without doing anything else – is a good innovation

Al-Ahari 4

(bidca ḥasana), for which one is rewarded because of the

esteem shown for the position of the Prophet – may God bless

him and grant him peace –, that is implicit in it, and

because of the expression of joy and happiness on his – may

God bless him and grant him peace – noble birth” (as

translated in Kaptein, 1993: pages 48-49).

The Beginnings of the Bosnian Language Mevlud

When Bosnians adopted Islam in mass in the 16th century,

they started to use Arabic and Turkish as mediums of

correspondence and exchange in addition to their language written

in Arabic, Cyrillic, and Latin scripts. However, like the

Persians and other early converts, they eventually developed a

literature written in their own language. In the 20th century the

use of Arabic and Cyrillic scripts to write the Bosnian language

declined and even stopped. In their place, like in Malay,

Turkish, and many African language, Latin based scripts replaced

Arabic script for writing the language. In Bosnia Muslims tended

to use Arabic and Latin scripts, but also had their own Cyrillic

script. This fluidity of script and language would change in the

Al-Ahari 5

middle of the 20th century when most Islamic schools were closed

and Bosnian began to be written in Latin script only (Fine,

1994).

One of the most unique forms of Bosnian literature is poetry

based upon the story of the Prophet Muhammad’s (p.b.u.h.) birth.

These are called Mevlud in Bosnian, Mevlut in Turkish, and Mawlid

in Arabic. The earliest in Bosnia are from the 17th century and

were written in Arabic and in Bosnian in Arabic script. The later

script is referred to as Aljamiado and the most famous author in

that mode, Muḥammad Rušdi, also wrote stories of the Prophets

before Islam (Ayyub, Ibrahim, Daud, etc.) called Hikiyat (morality

or wisdom poetry).

19th century Bosnian Mevluds

Until 1878 when Hafiz Salih Gašević wrote his Mevlud in the

Bosnian language, all of the Mevluds that were performed were

either in Turkish – with the Mevlud of Sulayman Čelebi being the

most popular, and in Arabic with those of Barzanji and the Qasida

Burda of the Egyptian Sufi Busiri being the most widely recited.

All three of these have multiple manuscript copies in Gazi Husref

Beg Library and in other manuscript repositories in Bosnia.

Al-Ahari 6

‘Iqd al-Jawhar fī Mawlid al-Nabiy al-Azhar (The Jeweled Necklace of

the Resplendent Prophet’s Birth) was the work of the poet and

Shafi jurist of the city of Imam as-Sayyid Ja’far ibn Hasan ibn

‘Abdal Karim al-Barzanji (1690-1766 C.E). Al-Barzanji composed

his Mawlid with the Prophet Muhammad’s (p.b.u.h.) birth as its

main theme. The text is based upon the Holy Qur’ān, Hadith, and

books of Sirah. The Barzanji Mawlid contains two books: the first is

Mawlid Barzanji Nathr, with 19 fasl (chapters) in 355 verses; while the

second is Mawlid Barzanji Nazm in 16 chapters in 205 verses. All of

the verses rhyme with the letter Nūn. When the Mevlud is recited

in Bosnia, no matter what language the Mevlud being read is

written in, the audience stands when the verses related to the

physical birth of the Prophet Muḥammad (p.b.u.h.) are recited.

Bosnian Mevlud choirs have traditional recited the Mevluds

above and also those by Muharem Dizdarević (1825-1903) written

under the pen-name Mohammed Rušdi, Arif Saraliji (1861-1916) and

Seid Zenunović (1875-1932). The last Mevlud collection was

printed in 1942 in Sarajevo. All collections published since then

has been based upon this collection. Gašević’s Mevlud has been

published in more than thirty editions in both Latin and Cyrillic

Al-Ahari 7

scripts. Other poets who have used their linguistic and poetic

skills in this genre have included Musa Ćazim Ćatić (1878-1915),

Safet Basagić (1870-1934), Semaudin Sarajlić (1887-1960), Rashid

Kadić (1912-1988), and Esref Kovačević (1924-1996).

The innovation of writing the Mevlud in Bosnian allowed

ownership by the reciter since they understood it and could

develop a mode of recitation that was more of the Balkan

experience and less of the Ottoman mode. This would become

increasingly important in preserving a Balkan Islam when the

Ottoman Empire retreated from the area, the Austrian-Hungarian

Empire entered, and an office of Grand Mufti of Yugoslavia

replaced the Sultan as the supreme religious leader over Muslims

in the area.

Hafiz Salih Gašević (1850-1899) was born in Nikšić (in

modern day Montenegro). Gašević finished his studies at the

mekteb and ruždi in his hometown and then he continued his studies

in Istanbul. At one time he worked as financial manager of the

town of Nikšić, and later became kajmekam (mayor) in Kolasin

(i.e. Sahovici, Tomaševo today). It was in Šahović that he sang

the famous Suleiman Çelebi Mawlid, may Allah have mercy on him, a

Al-Ahari 8

pious Turkish scholar, which is Mawlid found its place in Mevlud

collections in the original Turkish. His Mevlud was first printed

in the Sarajevo based periodical Tarik in Sarajevo in 1909 with a

forward to the text by Džemaludin Čaušević –the Reis-ul-Ulema of

his time. It included the biographical information that is given

above. The text also includes dova (duas) in Arabic. The Mevlud’s

24 line opening written in couplets can be considered an original

creation by Gašević, while the rest in essentially a Bosnian

language translation of the Mevlut of Čelebi (Zbirka Mevluda, 2009,

page 9 for biographical data on Gašević).

Gasevic’s Mevlud and its preface stand out as a call to

Bosnian Muslims to identify themselves based upon the name of the

land rather than as an identity forced upon them (Yugoslav,

unidentified, or muslim). The time it was written was after the

end of Ottoman rule in Bosnia, so the praise to the Sultan links

it to the past and the call to writing a Bosnian mevlud links it

to a future where Bosnian reestablish the identity of Dobri

Bošnjaka (Good Bosnians) found in medieval texts written before

the establishment of Ottoman rule over Bosnian which was later

replaced by the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and the then the

Al-Ahari 9

Yugoslav Communist state. It also became a text that was used as

a blueprint for later mevluds such as Muhamed Rušdi’s Mevlud

written in aljamiado (Bosnian written in Arabic script before the

20th century). In the 20th century the old Arabic script that was

used by Rušdi and other early Bosnian writers was discontinued

and a new one developed by Reis-ul-Ulema Čaušević was used to

write Bosnian for a few decades at the beginning of the 20th

century. Gašević’s Mevlud has remained popular is also one of the

most widely recited mevluds even till today.

Prologue:“Always to my dear God do we give thanks for Islam,And to the Prophet blessings and peace.

Our Caliph Gazi Abdul Hamid Khan,With him will help let this be Mennan (bountiful).

While reciting blessed (hajr) du’a and ikdam,On the right path should prosper intimacy.

When I found in Kolasin kaimekam (town),I want so badly to know the smell of the kalam (a flower).

I prayed to receive the first Kolasin,As commanded we write the Mawlid in Bosnian.

Now known that tarih (history) when I prayed with me,The day was the tenth of Rajab was.

We are avid to know what Mawlid says,We are all of the Prophet ašik (lovers) too.

Al-Ahari 10

In the Qur’ān all of us have iman,For Bosnia we construct this mevlud, please...!

The layman saw the work was for thawab (blessings),Before I write, I wash my face, then I kitab (write).

Dear God, I have labored for our I ask You to no worse for hata (love).

A Muhađir (refugee) I was from my watan (district) Nikšić,My name is Hafiz Saleh Gašević.”1

1 My translation from the text found on pages 11-12 of Zbirka Mevluda.

“Bogu dragom vazda šukur na islam,A salavat Pejgamberu i selam.

Naš halifa Gazi Abdul Hamid han,S njim pomoć tvoja nek je, ja mennan.

Dok je na nas hajr du’a i ikdam,Na pravi put treba činit intimam.

Kad se nađoh u Kolašinu kaimekam,Znadem da sam puno nakis na kelam.

Moliše me kolašinski prviši,Nama Mevlud bosanski napiši.

Sad je tarih kad me oni moliše,Dan deseti od redžepa bijaše.

Mi smo žudni znati Mevlud šta kaže,Pejgamberu svi smo ašik odviše.

U Kur’anu na sve iman imamo,Bosanski nam gradi mevlud molimo...!

Laik viđoh poraditi za sevab,Napisati kako umijem ja kitab.

Dragi Bože, ja se trudih za ata’,Molim Tebe da ne gorim za hata’.

Al-Ahari 11

Muḥammad Rušdi (1825-1903) was the pen name for Muhamed Aga

Dizdarević. He was one of the most prolific writers in Alhamijado,

even though he wrote during at a period at the end of the

nineteenth century when Cyrillic and Latin scripts were replacing

Arabic script for writing Bosnian. He wrote two mevluds, two

poems on the Miraj, poems of the death of the prophet Muḥammad

(p.b.u.h.) and his daughter Fāṭimah (r.a.), and two didactic

poems – “Bosnevi Baghdad and the Jewish woman who converted to

Islam” and “The Nature of the Prophet Muḥammad” in addition to

hikaja – stories of the prophets (Job, David, Sulayman, etc.)

(Nametak, 2001).

According to Šiljak-Jesenković (2008), the first mevlud was

composed of 210 couplets and began with a ten couplet poem

entitled: The value of learning mevlud. The Miraj was designed to

be recited along with the Mevlud and the poems the death of

Muḥammad and Fāṭimah. The Mevlud was modeled after Gašević, with

several lined being identical. However, Rušdi did not merely copy

the earlier model. His was slightly longer and there is a visible

effort of the author to express his own feelings and thoughts.

Muhadžir sam, vatan mi je bio Nikšić,Ime mi je hafiz Salih Gašević.”

Al-Ahari 12

Although it was developed following Gašević’s model, it contains

more Orientalisms (Turkish, Arabic, Persian vocabulary).

The other Mevlud from Rušdi’s pen has a 15 couplets

introduction along with the 189 couplets basic text in the

Bosnian language written in Arabic script. His Miraj contains 88

couplets. Like his Mevlud, it is richer in Turkisms than the

mevlud of Gašević. Both of Rušdi’s mevluds are written in the

tradition of Gašević, but they also express the author’s desire

to teach listeners the benefit to be gained from learning, loving

and giving reverence to the mevlud. In Rušdi’s Mevlud, the Prophet

is said to have asked his Ummah to recite prayers and salutations

upon him. When these lines are read, it is common for the

audience to cry tears of joy. He also composed a prayer in the

Turkish language to be recited after the Mevlud (Šiljak-

Jesenković, 2008).

Rušdi’s “Death of the Prophet Mohammed” and “Death of

Fāṭimah” are of the genre of vefats (poems on death). “The Death

of the Prophet Muḥammad” tells the story of the Prophet’s

preparation the way to eternal life in 164 couplets. Although the

Prophet was pleased for the upcoming meeting with his Lord, the

Al-Ahari 13

poem is melancholy in tone. This is especially true when he bears

the wistful looks of his daughter the moment she learns her

father is about to die. At the instant of death Muhammed, as,

caring for his Ummah and the Archangel Gabriel says:

“My sick soul still lives angels,

Remove my soul angels.”

At this point we are presented with one essential

characteristic of God’s chosen one: his total commitment to his

Creator, and his love, generosity, modesty, and devotion to his

Ummah. “The Death of Fāṭimah” was written as a continuation of

the story of the death of the Prophet's death and is comprised of

91 couplet. Fāṭimah’s tears have not dried from her eyes even six

months after her father's death. Visiting her father’s grave

daily did not sooth her pain, and she asked her husband ‘Ali to

build a house by her father’s grave. In the poem she receives

sign of her own approaching death. That pleases her, but she will

miss caring for her own children.

“Oh when will I wash your head,

And when will I comb your hair.”

Al-Ahari 14

At the conclusion of the poem Fāṭimah leaves her children

with one consolation – she leaves them with a caring father, and

with this she had a feeling of calm and left this world (Šiljak-

Jesenković, 2008).

Rušdi’s poems on the Prophet Muhammad’s death and the Nature

of Prophet Muḥammad belong to the didactic literature. The

Prophet is presented as a form of knowledge, goodness,

righteousness, piety, virtue, and therefore everything is done

exemplary. This is also true of his poems on the previous

prophets called hikaya (short stories) where Rušdi used terms in

the Arabic language in order to better express his religious

thought (Nametak, 2001).

Bosnian language Mevluds in the early 20th century

During the 19th/ 20th century writers of the Mevluds, for the

most part, began to write the compositions in Cyrillic or Latin

script rather than in Arebica. Writers in this later period such

as Musa Ćazim Ćatić, Safet Bašagić, Arif Brkanić Sarajlija,

Semsudin Sarajlić, Rešad Kadić, and Esref Kovačević became poets,

novelists, short story writers and translators in addition to

writing poetry about the Prophet Muḥammad (p.b.u.h.).

Al-Ahari 15

Musa Ćazim Ćatić (1878-1915) wrote a poem entitled “Lejlei-

Mevlud” (The Night of the Mawlid) in the literary journal Behar,

Vol. V, issue 16/1904, pages 33-36. Ćatić was one of the most

important Muslim poets during the past century. From Kujundžić

(1999) we find that Ćatić’s “Lejlei-mevlud” contains only 92

verses which makes it shorter than the usual mevlud. The only

theme covered is the birth of Muḥammad. Unlike other mevluds, it

does not touch upon other life events like the Miradž, major

battles, important life events such as his receiving the first

revelation, or his death. This mevlud was not as popular as

others as a result, and it was not publically performed. It is

known mainly by scholars on the writings of Ćatić rather that by

reciters of the mevlud.

Dr. Mirza Safvet-beg Bašagić (May 6, 1870 – April 9, 1934),

who was also known as Mirza Safvet, was a Bosnian poet,

historian, translator, and essayist who is considered to be the

father of Bosnian Renaissance, and one of Bosnia’s most cherished

poets at the turn of the 20th century. He was born in Nevesinje

and educated in Vienna. He taught Oriental languages at the

University of Zagreb and was an associate of Croatian national

Al-Ahari 16

poet Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević. Bašagić was also a founder of

the Bosnian cultural society and on the editorial board of the

society’s magazine Gajret, and was elected President of the

Bosnian Parliament in 1910.

Bašagić was curator of the Archeological Museum in Sarajevo

from 1919 to 1927. Bašagić was also known for compiling a

biographic dictionary of Bosnian writers with over 700 entries

and for writing a Mevlud in the Bosnian language. He translated

the Rubije of Omar Khayyam, wrote a study of Ghazi Husref Beg,

several works on Bosnian history, and several collections of

original poetry. Bašagić is buried in the harem of Gazi Husrev-

beg’s Mosque in Sarajevo, the city where he died.

He sought to unite Croatia and Bosnia together as a nation

where Bosnian Muslims would be equal partners and have the

opportunity to develop their own literature and identity that is

reflective of their religious identity. This idea can be seen in

the preface to his Mevlud where Mevlud Safet Bašagić writes,

“And here Safet Ibrahim

Teaches you the ‘Mawlid’ chanted

In the language which our Mujo understands,

Al-Ahari 17

For he hears Bosnian in his ears.”

Arif Brkanić Sarajlija (1865?-1916) was from Novi Pazar but

is commonly known after the city where he settled (Sarajevo). His

mevlud published in 1911 and was based upon the prior mevluds of

Mehmed Çelebi and Salih ef. Gašević. This mevlud was 21 pages

long and contains brief instructions on how to read the mevlud

and the virtues of the mevlud. It ends with dova to be read after

the recitation. It was reprinted in both Arebica and Latinska

scripts in Zbirka Mevluda (2009) pages 177-206 (Latin script) and

pages 15-33 (in Arabic numbers) in Arebica script. This mevlud

marks the beginning of the development of a structured program of

reciting the mevlud.

Šemsudin Sarajlić (1887-1960) was born in Knezina kod

Vlasenica. He received his education in Sarajevo Gazi Husrev beg

madrasa, the Darul-Ruzdija, and one year in Istanbul. He had a

perfect knowledge of oriental languages, which enabled him to

translation work. He worked mainly in Sarajevo. He wrote in

almost all modern newspapers and magazines in former Yugoslavia,

and at one time was editor of the literary journal Behar. Besides

writing a mevlud, he also wrote the work Nova Turska in 1943 about

Al-Ahari 18

the new republic in Turkey started by Attatürk. He was also

deputy JMO in the Constituent Assembly in Belgrade. He died in

Sarajevo in the year 1960. The Mevlud of Šemsudin Sarajlić was

not published during his lifetime. According to Kujundžić (1999)

it saw print as “Mevlud,” Zemzem, XIX/1986., issues 10-12, pages

23-30.

Rešad Kadić (1912-1988) was one of the writers who focused

on how the prophet Muḥammad (p.b.u.h.) was named in his mevlud

when in the section on the Prophet’s birth he told the story of

how his grandfather chose his name.

“Then the boy’s grandfather embraced him

Like a sheep to his chest,

His tears would not be hidden,

And he said comforting words and he kissed him,

Then he rose up in front of everyone,

With serenity and pride in his eyes,

The good grandfather solemnly said:

“The boy’s name will be Muḥammad!”2

2 This was published after Kadic’s death in 1989. The biographical data on Kadić is from Kujundžić (1999).Tad dječakov djed kao ovca s jed,zagrli unuče, htjede suzu skrit,poče blago tepat, oči mu ljubit,

Al-Ahari 19

The Mevlud of Rešad Kadić was first printed in 1963. The

poem was written for a competition to create a modern Bosnian

mevlud by the Supreme Islamic Council in Sarajevo. Kadić included

many didactic points scattered liberally throughout the poems

sections: Prologue, Arabia before Islam birth, childhood,

manhood, Reflection, First Release, spread of Islam, Miraj,

Migration, Farewell Hajj, Islam, and death. The poem covers the

essential points of the entire life of the Prophet Muḥammad

(p.b.u.h.). The topics are presented rationally and the poem

composition had a strong reliance upon historical facts found in

the Sirah and Hadith. Kadić shows his ability as a poet when he

covers events that only have a skeletal framework within the

historic texts effectively in individual lines.

Kujundžić (1999) finds that this mevlud differs from the

others mentioned above because it does not mention the name of

the language it was written in, nor the nationality of the people

it was written for. This is a reflection of the Bosnian Muslims

a onda ga diže gore iznad svih,s vedrinom u oku, ponosan nad njim,pa svečanim glasom reče dobri djed:“Dječakovo ime biće Muhammed!” – Rešad Kadić, Mevlud, Sarajevo 1989 page 17 asquoted in Kujundžić (1999).

Al-Ahari 20

anxiety during the sixties, when the poem was created, over what

their ethnicity and nationality was.

Smailović (2009) reports that Esref Kovačević (1924-1996)

was known as a professor of Arabic language and calligraphy. The

closing of the mufti college in 1947 destroyed his possible

career as a Muslim civil lawyer and he went back to college in

Belgrade where he received a doctorate with the dissertation

Limits Bosnian Pashaluk by Austria and the Venetian Republic under the provisions of

Karlovac Peace in 1971. He is also known for the calligraphy in

several mosques in the Balkans with the most well-known being the

Zagreb, Croatia mosque.

During the Communist era new mevluds became rare since

institutions of Islamic higher education were closed and public

performance of Islam was proscribed to what was deemed folklore

and entertainment. His mevlud was not printed until 1981.

Kovačević’s mevlud starts with these words,

“Muḥammad, a man greatly beloved of the Creator,

The One we give Selam with every breath and heartbeat!

There is no heart which devotes time, health,

Al-Ahari 21

But it burns with love (Aškom) for this celebration is above all

celebrations!”

(My translation)

The Čelebi Mevlud as the source of Bosnian Mevluds

The vast majority of Bosnian mevluds used the Mevlut of

Suleyman Čelebi of Bursa (1351-1422) as their source for both

theme and rhyme scheme. For the most part no other Bosnian poetry

uses the same rhyming pattern and meter as the mevluds. According

to Avdić (1977), “Suleyman Čelebi, a contemporary of Chaucer and

one of the Court Imams under Sultan Bayazid the Thunderbolt

(1389-1403). There is nothing like it probably in the entire

Turkish literature to move the hearts of Turkish people.” It was

for these reasons it was one of the most recited, studied, and

copied poems on the subject in the Turkish language.

The Mevlud, which was written in the year 1409, was composed

in 16 parts and contained 770 rhyming couplets with each line

having twelve syllables. Originally the Mevlut of Ćelebi also had

a section on Miraj and the deaths of the Prophet Muḥammad and his

daughter Fāṭimah. These sections are not often recited in Bosnia

either in the Turkish original or in Bosnian translations.

Al-Ahari 22

According to MacCullum (1943) the reason for it composition was a

dispute among religious scholars over which prophet was superior.

Ćelebi wrote his Mevlut in answer to Jewish and Christian scholars

to proclaim the exalted nature of the Prophet Muḥammad.

The Mevlud as a symbol of Bošnjačkog identity

Like other nations, the literature of Bosnia is an

expression of the spirit of what it means to speak the Bosnian

language and live on Bosnian land. Bosnia is a multicultural land

and its literature reflects this. However, the Muslims have

Bosnia developed their own literature to express what it means to

be a Bosnian Muslim. The Mevluds became the pinnacle of Bosnian

belle letters during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and

circles of choirs that recited the Mevluds were started at most

Bosnian mosques, mektabs, and madressas. Overtime around thirty

Mevluds were composed in the Bosnian language written in Bosnian

in Arabic, Cyrillic, and Latin scripts. Of these six or seven are

recited today, with those by Rašad Kadić and Dr. Safvet-beg

Bašagić being the most widely printed and recited.

According to Bringa (1995) the Mevlud ceremony is not only a

religious ceremony, but a didactic one that teaches the value of

Al-Ahari 23

social interaction and the transmission of Islamic identity.

Mevluds are sponsored not only for the participants to gain favor

with God, but to gain social acknowledgment of being part of a

larger Muslim community. Bringa (1995) holds that a specifically

Bosnian component can be seen in the idea of hospitality and

community. Food and drink are served to the guests and the

members of the mevlud choir by the sponsors of the recitation.

This and the recitations in Bosnian, Arabic, and Turkish link

them with a Bosnian identity and with one of being a lover of the

Prophet Muḥammad (p.b.u.h.) and thus part of the larger Muslim

Ummah (community).

Smailović (2009) has some background of the current ways to

celebrate the mevlud in his Zbrika Mevluda. There we find that in

many mosques in Bosnia the mevlud was recited not only to mark

the day of the birth of the Prophet Muḥammad (p.b.u.h.) but also

to mark the new Hijri year, the day of the Yawm Ashura, and

Lajletul-Qadr. In addition, Bosnians also recited the mevlud for

moving into a new house, when their children marry, during the

funeral for a son that died in battle, for the entry of a son or

daughter in the Madrasa or university, and for other reasons.

Al-Ahari 24

After the war of Bosnian independence (1992-1995) many

communities organized “Šehidske Mevlude.” This was where the mevlud

would be read to honor those who died for the sake of Bosnia and

Islam. Over time these have become a well-attended tradition. The

program of the mevlud recital may differ from place to place but

they all contain Qur’ānic recitation, the chanted Takbir, the part

of the mevlud which deals with the prophet’s birth, calling the

Salavat upon the Prophet Muḥammad (p.b.u.h.), and speeches by

Imams and other learned scholars.

Kujundžić (1999) posits that the drinking of sherbet after

the verses about the prophet Muḥammad’s (p.b.u.h.) birth is in

remembrance of his mother being given something to drink when she

asked. Legend holds that she was attended by Mary, the mother of

Jesus, and Aseya, the mother of Moses, during the birth. This

would show that his message would the successor of those of Jesus

and Moses.

The First American Mevlud

When Bosnians began to settle in the United States at the

beginning of the 20th century, they brought the idea of reciting

the mevlud at important life events with them. However, until the

Al-Ahari 25

1990s their numbers were only several hundred families centered

in the Chicago area. They assimilated quickly and their children

and grandchildren often spoke English instead of Bosnian. In the

mid-1950s they opened their first mosque at 1800 Halsted Street

in Chicago led by al-Azhar graduate Ćamil Yousef Avdić (Kamil

Yūsuf Avdich). He opened a weekend school which was taught in

English and sought other ways to preserve Bosnian identity such

as communal meals, weddings, and mevlud gatherings. It was not

until 1977 that he actually decided to compose a mevlud to be

recited in English by the descendants of these early Bosnian-

American pioneers (Avdić, 2006).

Shaykh Kamil Yusuf Avdich Effendi (July 10, 1914 – December

2, 1979) was the first permanent Bosnian imam in the United

States. It was of primary importance for him to preserve Islam

among immigrants and present a proper and understandable

explanation of that faith to non-Muslims in the West. The

methodology he used was through speeches, several textbooks on

Islam that he developed, and this bold attempt at the first

Mawlid written in English for English speaking Muslims.

Al-Ahari 26

This Mawlid was originally published in the Volume II, Number

2: February 1977 (Safar 1397) issue of The Islamic Center of Greater

Chicago Newsletter. The sources of this Mawlid are Arabic, Turkish,

and Bosnian, but Shaykh Avdich presents the thoughts from those

diverse languages in a simple and easy to read fashion. The

mevlud was published in the English language and an essay was

also published when gave the history of the concept of Mawlid-ul-

nabi. This mevlud was recited in English on March 2, 1977 at the

Islamic Cultural Center in Northbrook, Illinois. At that event

Imam Ćamil Avdić gave a speech about the Mevlud and the students

from the mektab recited the English language mevlud. It is not

known how many times it has been performed in public, but since

Avdić died on December 2, 1979, it is likely it was only done

twice – for the Mawlid in 1977 and in 1978.

Themes and organization of Avdich’s Mevlud

In the Bosnian community there are poems called Mevluds that

are recited in when mosques and schools are opened, at someone’s

birth and in remembrance of the deceased. The Mevluds tell the

story of the Prophet Muḥammad (p.b.u.h.) and his family and early

followers from the time of his birth to his death. The poems and

Al-Ahari 27

chanted and are valued as some of the best examples of Bosnian

Islamic literature.

As a preface to the Mevlud he composed in English, Avdić

(2006) gave a speech about the social significance of the Mevlud

and its importance to Bosnian Muslim identity. His Mevlud ends

with lines showing the role of the Prophet as a moral exemplar

for the Bosnian Muslims:

“Whosoever conducts himself this way

Can claim that to the fold of Islam to belong.

However, God alone knows what is in human hearts,

To Him Alone, we beg for mercy and guidance.” (Avdić, 2006,

page 262).

In this speech he also made the following points about the

Bosnian Mevlud:

“Because of his extraordinary qualities, poets had vied

with another for centuries in describing the event of his birth

in most beautiful verses in all languages that the Muslim peoples

speak” (Avdić, 2006. Page 245).

“There is always inspiration for us in reviewing these

events. There is a moral in them for the Muslims as individuals

Al-Ahari 28

and as bearers of a truly universal world order, for which they

are requested to struggle and sacrifice” (Avdić, 2006. Page 245).

“The Noble Prophet’s position in Islam is quite clear. He is

not a divinity, he is not an object of our worship; he is a human

being, a man, like the rest of us, with one distinct difference:

he was entrusted by God, our Creator, to deliver to mankind His

ultimate message concerning the concept of God, man’s

relationship to Him and to his fellow-men, man’s position in this

Universe and the purpose of his ephemeral life on this planet.

This is Muḥammad, the man, the servant of God and Messenger to

all mankind. He is set for us in the Holy Qur’ān as an example of

righteousness and as an ideal of human conduct and behavior”

(Avdić, 2006. Page 151).

Avdić related the following about the prophetic example,

“Islam is not confession by words only, but actions and deeds.

You ought to do something to prove who you are. Action is to the

faith is what is the head to the body. All good, positive and

constructive Islamic qualities ought to manifest themselves

through our individual and collective conduct and actions”

(Avdić, 2006, page 83).

Al-Ahari 29

Avdich’s mevlud had more in common with that of Musa Ćazim

Ćatić as far as it length and restricted content than the mevluds

he used as sources. It only covered the Prophet Muḥammad’s birth

and the miraculous events surrounding it. Avdić’s mevlud is eight

typed pages long in manuscript and is little known today whether

in the Bosnian-American community or the larger Muslim community.

The specific topics he covers are: introduction, the birth

of the noble prophet, welcome to the new-born prophet, prophetic

succession, miracles of the prophet, giving a name to the new-

born prophet, searching for truth: Muḥammad before the

revelation, Muḥammad receives the call – Islam, Duca al-Mawlid, and

selected verses from the Qur’ān. Thus the story of the deaths of

the Prophet Muḥammad and his daughter Fāṭimah and the story of

Miraj are missing from Avdić’s mevlud.

Avdić (1977) told us the following about the process he used

to compose his English language mevlud, “My main sources for this

story, however, were two Bosnian poets: late Dr. Safvet beg

Bašagić (Mirza Safwat) (d. 1934) and the contemporary Bosnian

poet Reshad Kadić. Bašagić’s poem is older and is the first

original poem in Bosnian which has acquired a very large

Al-Ahari 30

popularity and was chanted, partly in chorus, by students of

Muslim schools for a long time. The poem by Reshad Kadić is, in

my humble opinion, the best I have read so far. Many ideas from

this poem have been used in our story.”

The borrowing from Kadić can be seen in Avdić’s beginning

where he writes, “First of all, let us recall

Almighty God’s name.

Every action, every deed,

Should always start with the same.”

This beginning in God’s name is common in all mevluds and

can be seen in that of Ćelebi also.

“Allah! The name invoke we in the beginning,

For this is ever due from us, his servants.”

The topics of Kadić’s mevlud (Prologue, Arabia before Islam

birth, childhood, manhood, Reflection, First Release, spread of

Islam, Miraj, Migration, Farewell Hajj, Islam, and death) are

more expansive than the Mevlidi Sherif by Ćelebi. The topics

there are prologue, Fātiḥah, prophetic succession, birth of

Muḥammad, the miracles of Allah’s Apostle, the Heavenly Journey

of Allah’s Apostle (Miraj), the Petition, the Refuge in Allah,

Al-Ahari 31

closing duca, and the Fātiḥah. While in Avdić’s mevlud only the

prologue, birth, prophet succession, miracles of birth, and

giving the name are in common with his source texts. He also

changed the meter from the 12 syllables per line in rhyming

couplets of Ćelebi’s Mevlut to a style easier to recite for the

English speaker. Avdić’s line lengths vary and it is not in

couplets, but grouped by subject.

Conclusion

Bosnian Muslims have attempted to be aware of the social

effects of their actions in the world. This can be traced to

their reciting poetry such as the Mevlud which are didactic and

nature and which also provided a means to preserve a Bosnian

Muslim identity under a Communist system which proscribed study

of Islam unless it was done under a cover of folklore.

In the United States the Bosnian immigrant community would

attempt to preserve their language and culture and would turn to

the use of folklore – traditional dance, poetry, music, and food

to do this. The mevlud was retained as an essential component of

folklore within the Bosnian-American Islamic community like it

was in a Communist era Yugoslavia. After independence the mevlud

Al-Ahari 32

has continued to hold an elevated place within Bosnian literature

and as an essential component of a Bošnjak identity.

Al-Ahari 33

Works cited

Avdić, Ćamil (2006). A Heritage of East and West: the collected writings of Imam

Ćamil ef. Avdić Volume One. Chicago: Magribine Press.

Avdić, Ćamil (1977 February). “On the Eve of the Noble Prophet’s

Birth,” The Islamic Center of Greater Chicago Newsletter. Volume II,

Number 2: 1, 7.

Avdić, Ćamil (1977 February). “Story of the Mawlud,” The Islamic

Center of Greater Chicago Newsletter. Volume II, Number 2: 2-7.

Bringa, Tone (1995). Being Muslim the Bosnian Way: Identity and community in

a central Bosnian village. Princeton University Press.

Çelebi, Süleyman; F. Lyman MacCallum (1943). The Mevlidi Sherif,

London, J. Murray. Contains Turkish and translation.

Fine, John V.A. (1994). Bosnia and Hercegovina: A Tradition Betrayed. New

York: Columbia University Press.

Filipović, Muhamed (1967). “The Bosnian Spirit in Literature –

What is it?” Život translated in The Spirit of Bosnia Vol 1, issue

1 (online journal).

Kaptein, N.J.G. (1993). Muḥammad’s Birthday Festival: Early History in the

Central Muslim Lands and Development in the Muslim West until the 10th/16th

Century. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

Al-Ahari 34

Kujundžić, Enes (1999). “Mevlud kao jedan od simbola Bošnjačkog

Identiteta” (Mevlud as one symbol of Bosnian Identity),

Takvim: 299-307.

MacCallum, F. Lyman, translator (1943). The Mevlidi Sherif. London:

John Murray.

Mahmutćehajić, Rusmir (2000). Bosnia the Good: Tolerance and Tradition.

Central European University Press.

“Mawlid” and “Mawlud” (1991). The Encyclopedia of Islam, new edition,

sv. Vi, Leiden: Brill: 895-897.

Nametak, Abdurahman (1981). Muhamed Rušdi, monografija i tekstovi.

Starješinstvo iz u sr Bosni i Hercegovini, Hrvatskoj i Sloveniji, Sarajevo.

“Mevludi šerif bi lisani Bosnevi,” 80-99; “Mevludi šerif,”

59-77. This is a study of Bosnian religious poetry by

Muhamed Rušdi who wrote Mevluds in Arabic and in Bosnian in

Arabic script.

Schimmel, Annemarie (1985). And Muḥammad is His Messenger: The

veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety. University of North

Carolina Press.

Šiljak-Jesenković, Amina (2008 April 11). “Ehli-bejt u bosnia i

hercegovina u alhamijadu” (Ehli-bejt in Bosnian Aljamiado).

Al-Ahari 35

Baština Objave (online). http://bastinaobjave.com/ehli-bejt/o-

ehli-bejtu/56-ehli-bejt-u-bh-alhamijadu.

Smailović, Fahrudin (2009). Zbirka Mevluda. A collection of seven

Mevluds with notes on the authors of each.