Husein Kavazović

Husein Kavazović (born July 3, 1964 in Jelovče Selo near Gradačac) is a Bosnian Islamic cleric and since September 2012 the new Grand Mufti (Reis ul-Ulema) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after having been Mufti of Tuzla.

Husein Kavazović
Kavazović in 2015
Title	Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Personal
Born	3 July 1964 Jelovče Selo, Gradačac, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia
Religion	Islam
Nationality	Bosnian
Denomination	Sunni
School	Hanafi
Creed	Maturidi[1]
Alma mater	Al-Azhar University University of Sarajevo
Muslim leader
Period in office	September 2012 – present
Predecessor	Mustafa Cerić
Previous post	Mufti of Tuzla

Biography

Son of Hasan and Saima Kavazović,[2] Husein attended primary schools in Gradačac and then enrolled at the Gazi Husrev-beg Madrasa in Sarajevo, where he graduated in 1983. He left Yugoslavia to study Islamic law in 1985-1990 at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, then came back to defend his master thesis at the Faculty of Islamic Studies at the University of Sarajevo, in the field of Sharia law.[3][4]

He then worked as imam, khatib and muallim (lecturer) at the Islamic congregations of Srebrenik and Gradačac, before serving as mufti of Tuzla from 1993 to 2012. In the early 1990s he was also elected member of the Council of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 2012 the Islamic Community elected him to succeed to Mustafa Cerić as 14th Bosnian Grand Mufti since 1882; at the vote in the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque, the main mosque of Sarajevo, he received 240 of 382 preferences. In his election program, Kavazović had pushed inter alia for the co-operation with other religious communities and a wider "incorporation of women into the work of the Islamic religious community".

Under an agreement, Kavazović was suggested to also serve as Grand Mufti of Hungary. [5]

He speaks Bosnian, Arabic and English.[6][7][8][9]

Controversies

In his speech in Switzerland made in May 2016, Kavazović said that it shouldn't be allowed for "Vlachs to govern Srebrenica", using the derogatory term for Serbs.[10] He also said that Bosniaks only have two options: either to vote and confirm their sovereignty over Bosnia and Herzegovina, or to "loose blood every 20 or 30 years", adding that it is good to "defend ourselves [Bosniaks] against them [Serbs] with graves".[11]

Kavazović has been attacked and threatened multiple times, together with other Bosnian Muslim officials, in the Bosnian language edition of the ISIS magazine, Al Rumiyah.[12]

Notes

• Michael Martens: Gegen Rache und Küsse: Das neue Oberhaupt der bosnischen Muslime tritt sein Amt an, in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 16 November 2012
• Meldung über die Wahl von Kavazović bei "Nachrichten.at" abgerufen am 15 December 2012
• Meldung der Deutschen Welle über die Wahl von Kavazović abgerufen am 15 December 2012
• Biografija reisu-l-uleme mr. Husein ef. Kavazovića (Rijaset Islamske zajednice u Bosni i Hercegovini)

References

1. "International Symposium "The Scientific Thought of Imam El-Maturidi (853-944)"". University of Sarajevo.
2. Biografija reisu-l-uleme mr. Husein ef. Kavazovića (pristupljeno 5. septembra 2013. g.) Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
3. "Novi reisu-l-ulema mr. Husein ef. Kavazović". balkanpost.net. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
4. "Ko je Husein ef. Kavazović: Od borca s puškom u ruci do reisa". AKOS.ba. Archived from the original on 26 April 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
5. http://balkans.aljazeera.net/vijesti/gvardijan-i-reis-biti-covjek-u-najtezim-vremenima
6. "Biografija mr. Husein ef. Kavazović" (PDF). rijaset.ba. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
7. "Neuer religiöser Führer für Muslime in Bosnien". dw.com. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
8. "Gvardijan i reis: Biti čovjek u najtežim vremenima". balkans.aljazeera.net. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
9. "Uvjerljiva podrška Huseinu ef. Kavazoviću". dw.com. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
10. Reis Kavazović: Da "vlah" ne vlada Srebrenicom
11. Kavazović: Ne dozvolite da "vlah" vlada Srebrenicom ili da lijemo krv svakih 20 godina
12. Balkan Insight