REACTIONS AGAINST THE ABOLITION OF CALIPHATE IN THE MEDIA OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Abstract

Institution of “caliphate” encompassing the Islamic World has appeared when the prophet Mohammed passed away in 632. It is transferred to Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Egypt in 1517. Padişahs of the Empire has been called caliph until abolished in 1924 by Turkish Grand National Assembly. When the caliphate abolished, Muslims in Yugoslavia reacted the process in a myriad of different methods. Most of them, particularly Muslim intellectuals, were active in media. Intelligentsia was split over the abolition of caliphate of which the conservative party defended the vitality of caliphate. They critiqued Ataturk heavily. On the other hand, modernist intellectuals were appreciated due to its abolition unlike conservative ones, and were proud of Atatürk. Among the conservative intellectuals, İbrahim Hakkı Çokiç and Abdullah Ayni Buşatliç and Nuriya Pashic defended the classical concept; they claimed that the abolition of the Caliphate left the Bosniak Muslims alone. According to them, it is necessary to turn back to caliphate without wasting time. Innovative intellectuals Hamdiya Çemerliç, Abdurahman Meşic, Osman Nuri Hadzic, Edhem Bulbulovic, Maksim Svara, Munir Şahinovich Ekremov, Atatürk's actions on the issue of caliphate were regarded to be positive. According to them, Ataturk, with the revolutions he has made, is an example for the Islamic world, especially by removing the caliphate. Bosnian Muslims should support him in this regard. Intellectuals of Bosnia-Herzegovina discussed the issue through newspapers associated with their circle of view. This paper aims at investigating the pieces related to caliphate written in newspapers, magazines and books during the reign of Atatürk and setting forth the mainstream problems regarded by Bosnian intellectuals Institution of “caliphate” encompassing the entire Islamic World has appeared when the prophet Mohammed passed away in 632. It is transferred to Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Egypt in 1517. Padişahs of the Empire has been called caliph until abolished in 1924 by Turkish Grand National Assembly. Bosnia and Herzegovina's press, after 1933, was more interested in Atatürk's principles and reforms and announced the developments in Turkey announces to their readers. The writers, in their opinion, were evaluating the revolutions and trying to direct their followers. Especially the removal of the Caliphate, which deals with all Muslims, was the subject of the greatest interest of Bosnia and Herzegovina authors. When the caliphate abolished, Muslims in Yugoslavia reacted the process in a myriad of different methods. Most of them, particularly Muslim intellectuals, were active in media. Intelligentsia was split over the abolition of caliphate of which the conservative party defended the vitality of caliphate. They critiqued Ataturk heavily. On the other hand, modernist intellectuals were appreciated due to its abolition unlike conservative ones, and were proud of Atatürk. Among the conservative intellectuals, İbrahim Hakkı Çokiç and Abdullah Ayni Buşatliç and Nuriya Pashic defended the classical concept; they claimed that the abolition of the Caliphate left the Bosniak Muslims alone. According to them, it is necessary to turn back to caliphate without wasting time. Innovative intellectuals Hamdiya Çemerliç, Abdurahman Meşic, Osman Nuri Hadzic, Edhem Bulbulovic, Maksim Svara, Munir Şahinovich Ekremov, Atatürk's actions on the issue of caliphate were regarded to be positive. According to them, Ataturk, with the revolutions he has made, is an example for the Islamic world, especially by removing the caliphate. Bosnian Muslims should support him in this regard. Conservatist journalists gathered around the Hikjmet magazine in particular and demanded the caliphate to follow the views of the Salafi's Egyptian-Syrian representative Emir Şekib Arslan. He was one of the most prolific writers in Bosnia and Herzegovina who visited Bosnia in 1932. Conservatice circles followed the social, religious and political events in Islamic countries from their works and these pieces attracted the attention of the Muslim public to a great extent. Some of the religious reformists partially supported the Turkish revolutions while others claimed that the Yugoslavian Muslims have gone from imitating the revolutions that Atatürk has made in his path. They aimed at building an Islamic culture suitable for the Slavic natüre of Bosnian-Herzegovina Muslims. They also stressed that it would be appropriate for Yugoslavian Muslims to benefit from the positive aspects of European civilization, which are more advantageous than the Turks. The religious reformists and their views will be examined separately below. It seems that Bosnia and Herzegovina's reformists have been influenced by religious or political influences in the removal of the caliphate. They have put forward ideas on the issue of reformism and the fate of the caliphate in Turkey; Bosnia and Herzegovina attracted considerable attention in the public opinion. Innovative intellectuals have supported the reforms that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk has guided. Among these, there have been differences on the characteristics of the revolutions and on the evaluation of their fields, whether they are in the field of Islam or the reform of the Turkish nationalists. While reactions towards Ataturk's concept of comprehension between 1924-1939 in the newspapers, magazines and books were seen to have been heavily influenced by the Islamic part of Bosnia, it was seen that the reformists influenced by Europe from the other side displayed favorable opinions. The third group, which is a non-Muslim, revealed the writer of the Novi Behar magazine, Maksim Svara; has fully regarded the abolition of the caliphate as positive. Reformists, all in all, stated that Mustafa Kemal Pasha was the only one who lifted the Turkish nation to the footsteps when the Ottoman State was in a completely dismembered condition. While the caliphate, which was in

Özet

İslam âleminde hilafet, Hz. Muhammed vefat edince (632) ortaya çıkmış bir kurumdur. Hilafet, Dört Halife'den sonra Emevilere, arkasından Abbasilere geçmiştir. Osmanlı Devleti'ne hilafetin geçmesi 1517'de Mısırın alınmasından sonra olmuştur. 1924'te TBMM tarafından kaldırılmasına kadar Osmanlı padişahları tüm Müslümanların başı olarak halife unvanını da taşımışlar, Müslümanlardan saygı görmüşlerdir. İslam âlemini yakından ilgilendiren bir kurum durumundaki hilafetin kaldırılmasına Yugoslavya'da yaşayan Müslümanlar değişik şekillerde tepki göstermişler; bu konudaki fikirlerini Müslüman aydınlar basın aracılıyla duyurmuşlardır. Hilafetin kaldırılması konusunda aydınlar olunamayacağını iddia etmişler. Bu yüzden Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'nin kurucusu Mustafa Kemal Atatürk'e ağır eleştiriler getirmişlerdir. Yenilikçi kaldırılmasını memnuniyetle karşılamışlar; Atatürk'e övgüyle destek vermişlerdir. Muhafazakâr aydınlardan İbrahim Hakkı Çokiç ve Abdullah Ayni Buşatliç ile Nuriya Paşiç, konusunda klasik anlayışı savunmuşlar; hilafetin kaldırılmasının Boşnak asıllı Müslümanları ortada bıraktığını iddia etmişlerdir. Bunlara göre vakit geçirmeden tekrar hilafete dönülmesi gerekmektedir. Yenilikçi aydınlardan Hamdiya Çemerliç, Abdurahman Meşiç, Osman Nuri Haciç, Edhem Bulbuloviç, Maksim Svara, Munir Şahinoviç Ekremov, Atatürk'ün hilafet konusundaki icraatlarının olumlu olduğunu iddia etmişlerdir. Bunlara göre Atatürk, yaptığı inkılaplarla, özellikle hilafet kaldırmakla İslam dünyasına örnek olmuştur. Bu konuda ona Bosnalı Müslümanların destek vermeleri gerekir