Gazi Husrev-Beg: The Beating Heart of Sarajevo
The waqf system throughout Islamic history has served as the backbone of Islamic civilization providing countless services and supporting the Muslim community. In fact, in most of the major cities of the Muslim world, awqaf would comprise a massive portion of total properties owned in a city. Periods like the Mamluk and Ottoman periods saw significant development of awqaf, and by the 1800s, in Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire more broadly, nearly half of all real estate fell under the awqaf. Balkan historian Noel Malcolm says that “By 1878 it was estimated that nearly one-third of all usable land in Bosnia was owned by vakufs.” One of those awqaf, lies in the heart of Sarajevo, the Gazi Husrev Beg Mosque. This mosque and its surrounding complex are one of the best preserved, and greatest examples of a waqf we have today – certainly the best preserved in the Balkans. It is the largest and most comprehensive waqf in Bosnia today and has remained in operation since its establishment by Gazi Husrev Beg in the 1530s. So let’s take a closer look at the behind the waqf, how it was established, how it survived war and genocide, and finally, how it continues to operate today.
Gazi Husrev Beg
Born in Serres, Greece in 1480 Gazi Husrev Beg was born into lineage, as his mother was Selçuk Sultan, daughter of Sultan Bayezid II. Husrev likely had an upbringing that fostered in him aspects of leadership and kept him close to circles of power. He likely received a private education and traveled with his uncle, Prince Mehmed, to Kefe and Moscow on official diplomatic trips.
Husrev’s experience set him up to become governor on multiple occasions over Bosnia and once over the Smederevo in modern day Serbia. It was during his time as the governor of Smederevo that he played a crucial role in the conquest of Belgrade. He captured a strategic fortress just across the river from the city giving the Ottomans a strong advantage in the siege culminating in the Ottoman conquest of Belgrade. But it was during his 17 years as governor of Bosnia over a period of 20 years from 1521-1541 when he passed away, that Husrev built his now centuries’ long legacy in Bosnia and more specifically in the city of Sarajevo.
As governor of Bosnia, Husrev took part in numerous military campaigns capturing several strategic fortresses and cities around the Balkans, helping to solidify Ottoman authority over the region. He also took part in several negotiations and diplomatic communications with the Habsburgs and the Hungarian Kingdom who constantly vied for control in the Balkans. Perhaps most famously, he played a significant role in the Battle of Mohács which resulted in an Ottoman victory. This battle is one of the most important battles in Ottoman history as it resulted in the decimation of the Hungarian Kingdom and strengthening of Ottoman domains.
Gazi Husrev Beg Complex
But it wasn’t just his extensive contributions on the battlefield that won him the hearts of the Muslims in the Balkans, it was also his many contributions within Sarajevo – most notably the establishment of the Gazi Husrev Beg Comlex. This complex was the beating heart of Sarajevo and was part of a long Ottoman tradition of establishing awqaf in the cities that they conquered. Nowadays we understand a waqf as an institution that is centralized usually within a ministry of government. However, historically, awqaf operated far more independently and were often established to address a particular need within a town or city. In this case, the Gazi Husrev Beg complex was an extensive complex that was the beating heart of the city.
Built on land given to Gazi Husrev Beg by Sultan Suleiman, the complex included numerous facilities starting of course with the Gazi Husrev Beg Mosque, along with a madrasa, library, soup kitchen (imaret), guesthouse (misafirhane), marketplace (bezistan), public baths (hamam), and public fountains. This extensive complex was meant to serve the needs of the inhabitants and visitors to the city in as many ways as possible. One such visitor was none other than Evliya Çelebi, who describes how the waqf even provided warm water for ablution (wudu) stating the following: "Because its endowment (waqf) is exceedingly robust, the trustee (mutawalli), acting on behalf of the founder, boils water in cauldrons as large as soup-kitchen cauldrons during Bosnia’s severe winters. He causes hot water to flow from all the faucets like the rivers of Paradise (Salsabil). As all the worshippers renew their ablutions there and perform their prayers, they offer blessings and prayers for the benefactor, Husrev Pasha." Interestingly across my studies I have found that Evliya Çelebi has been the source of many pieces of information on Ottoman history that would have otherwise gone unmentioned or lost had he not documented it in his travelogue.
Initially endowed with 700,000 dirhams to establish the waqf (around up to $80 million USD today), Gazi Husrev Beg setup such a waqf such that it would quickly become selfsustainable – a key factor for why it continues to operate today. In fact, the Gazi Husrev Beg waqf may be one of the few remaining awqaf in the world today that still primarily runs based on the stipulations of the original waqf deed. Gazi Husrev Beg donated around 200 shops through which its revenue would help sustain the waqf operations and pay its staff. He also established caravansaries and hamams whose funds would also sustain the waqf. Until today, revenue from these spaces still fund the waqf operations.
Only a few years after the completion of the mosque, Husrev built the Seldžuklija (or Seljukija) Madrasa which was name after his mother Selçuk Hatun. The madrasa was not just a religious institution as we understand it today, but it also offered studies in medicine, botany, engineering, and other fields as well.
Major Stipulations from the Endowment
The endowment left behind by Gazi Husrev Beg was not just about building structures, but it was also about employing and maintaining quality and integrity throughout the space. Every facility had detailed instructions on how to operate and who should operate those spaces.
The soup kitchen, for example, was to provide two meals every day to any poor individual that walked through its doors. The madrasa was to have highly qualified teachers who were paid high daily wages. This was done to ensure only the best teachers would be hired and to avoid corruption of any kind. As such, teachers were expected to be well versed in both Islamic and rational sciences, maintaining a strong background in law, medicine, and engineering.
The khanqah, or sufi lodge, was to be administered by sheikhs of the Halveti Sufi Order to which Gazi Husrev Beg was a part of. During this period of Ottoman history, the Halveti Sufi Order was one of the largest in the empire and maintained close ties to Ottoman rulers. One of the stipulations which still runs consistently until today was the recitation of the entire Quran in the mosque daily. Typically, this would be carried out by groups of madrasa students each taking a portion of the quran and reading it in the mosque. This continued even throughout the war under harsh circumstances. Some of the religious scholars today in Sarajevo will even recount when they were madrasa students, they would earn their daily wage for food or other expenses by reciting a few parts of the Quran at the mosque and being paid a humble sum in exchange from the waqf.
Of course, as is common with many Ottoman era endowments, the stipulations end with an ominous warning stating:
فَمَنْ غَيَّرَهُ أَوْ بَدَّلَهُ، أَوْ سَعَى فِي إِبْطَالِهِ أَوْ نَقْصِ شَرْطٍ مِنْ شُرُوطِهِ
سَوَاءٌ كَانَ حَاكِمًا أَوْ قَاضِيًا أَوْ ذَا سُلْطَانٍ، فَإِنَّمَا إِثْمُهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ يُبَدِّلُونَهُ
فَعَلَيْهِ لَعْنَةُ اللهِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ، إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
وَلَا يَقْبَلُ اللهُ مِنْهُ صَرْفًا وَلَا عَدْلًا، وَاللهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ
إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“Whosoever alters this endowment, changes any of its conditions, seeks to void it, or attempts to diminish its assets through misinterpretation or reallocation—whether they be a governor, a judge, or any person of authority—they shall bear the sin of it. The curse of Allah, His angels, and all of mankind shall be upon them until the Day of Judgment. Allah does not guide the unjust, and He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.”
This warning is often inspired by the verse of Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:181 stating a similar warning.
Gazi Husrev Beg Library
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the waqf is the library. Containing one of the largest and oldest collection of manuscripts in the region is a treasure trove of information. Aspiring historians, madrasa students, scholars, and many more can find some of the region’s richest history stored in this one place in the heart of Sarajevo. It is understood that the library was completed around the same time as the madrasa in 1537. The original endowment states that “whatever is left from madrasah construction expenses is to be used for purchase of good books that shall be read in the madrasah and rewritten by readers interested in science”.
The library was inducted with a large collection of books and texts that were purchased for the library at the time of its foundation. Over the centuries however, much of these original books and texts were lost to multiple fires and only a few texts remain from the very original collection. Today, however, it houses up to 50,000 works from around the world and all kinds of languages. Books, magazines, articles and all other works written by Bosnian authors from 1878 until today are found in this collection. Furthermore, 7,500 manuscripts in Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish can be found at this library. In recent years, the library has expanded by purchasing the private libraries of other notable figures in Sarajevo and adding their collections to the library. But the library’s most prized possession, comes in the form of a copy of Imam Al Ghazali’s Ihya Ulum Al Deen written in the year 1131.
A large portion of the manuscripts that arrived to the library arrived from places all over the Islamic world including Mecca, Madina, Cairo, Damascus, Istanbul and Baghdad. Additionally, many manuscripts were copied, and such copies were then kept in the library. It is noted that the madrasa and the inns at Gazi Husrev Beg complex served as places where many manuscripts were copied for safekeeping at the library.
Gazi Husrev Beg Complex during the Bosnian War and Genocide
The Gazi Husrev Beg complex went through natural disasters, fires, and other tribulations throughout its history. However one of the most trying times for this beating heart of Sarajevo and the people that operated it was during the Bosnian War and Genocide in the 1990s and specifically during Siege of Sarajevo which lasted for nearly four years.
During this period the complex was deliberately targeting by Serbian shelling from the mountains surrounding the city and many of the complex’s facilities were damaged or destroyed. Library staff were keen on preserving all the texts in the library and worked tirelessly to move the thousands of manuscripts and books across various locations in the city unbeknownst to Serbian forces. Many Islamic manuscripts were kept safe in vaults and other locations across the city to as to prevent them from being damaged or destroyed.
The mosque also suffered severe damage and had to undergo significant restoration after the war. Restoring the Gazi Husrev Beg complex was a high priority for the local community as it was not just an historical site for the city, but it was a continuous, operational, beating heart of the city on which the inhabitants of Sarajevo relied upon for economic, spiritual, and intellectual enrichment. In many ways, it was the lifeline of the city, a symbol that stood tall as a sign of resilience. For Sarajevo, and Bosnia as a whole, this was not the first time they had undergone catastrophic events. The significance of the region has made it a highly contested place and for centuries the Gazi Husrev Beg complex stood tall, providing the humanitarian, economic and spiritual relief that people sought after such events.
Present Day
Today, the waqf and the complex stand as a continued symbol of Islamic tradition first and foremost, but also as a symbol of resilience and hope for the people of the region. Gazi Husrev Beg complex demonstrates for us today how a pre-modern Islamic institution can still operate and thrive in a modern world. In an age of constant change and development in the name of innovation, Gazi Husrev Beg demonstrates to us not just the possibility, but the need for charitable, self-sustaining institutions that fulfill the alimentary, economic, spiritual and intellectual needs of the community.
Although some aspects of the complex do not operate today for numerous reasons, it has also expanded in many respects and still functions as the beating heart of Sarajevo. It is because of this selflessness, attention to detail, and expansive nature of the waqf and its founder Gazi Husrev Beg, that it has earned him the nickname of the second founder of Sarajevo. It is imperative on us Muslims to draw from his example and many others like him, to establish our own institutions like this one wherever we are in the world.