Abdulvehab Ilhamija

Seid Abdulvehab Ilhamija[1]

The handbook, Bosnian Book of the Science of Conduct is a work that lists 54 religious duties, published in 1831 by the Bosnian author and poet Abdulwahāb Žepčewī, also known as Ilhami or Ilhamija
Born 1773
Žepče, Bosnia Eyalet, Ottoman Empire
Died 1821 (aged 48)
Travnik, Bosnia Eyalet, Ottoman Empire

Seid Abdulvehab Ilhamija (1773 – 1821) was an 18th-century Bosnian Muslim dervish and prose writer.

In addition to Bosnian, his work was written in Turkish, Arabic and Persian.[2]

Name

His name Abd-ul-vehhab means "Servant of the Generous" — one of the attributes of God. Ilhamija, his Dervish name, means "inspired."

Early life

Ilhamija was born into a Bosniak family in Žepče, Sanjak of Bosnia (today'sBosnia and Herzegovina). His father's name was Abdulvehab. Both his parents died during his youth. A quote from one of his poems is "A mother I do not have, and my father I do not remember."

Ilhamija was educated in his birth town and in Tešanj and Fojnica. He also attended the Ferhadija Mosque in Tešanj.[3]

His final work, the Bosnian Book of the Science of Conduct, is a work that lists 54 religious duties that each follower of Islam must know about, believe in, and fulfill, followed by advice on what a religious person should and should not do. It was published posthumously in 1831, a decade after his death. The book is printed in Arebica, the variant of the Perso-Arabic script used to write the Bosnian language, mainly between the 15th and 19th centuries, after the inclusion of Bosnia in the Ottoman Empire and its adoption of Islamic civilization and culture.[4]

Execution

In the year 1820, a man named Dželaludin-paša became the Ottoman pasha of Bosnia, a title he would hold until his brutal death in 1821. At first, Abdulvehab Ilhamija supported Dželaludin, believing him to be a fair and just ruler. But over a short time the illusion faded and Abdulvehab Ilhamija openly criticized Dželaludin's harsh rule over the Bosnian population in his poetry and writings.

In 1821, Dželaludin became aware of Ilhamija's criticisms and invited him to his home in Travnik. Ilhamija traveled without a horse, on foot from Žepče to Travnik. Before he left, he bid a final farewell to his family and friends, anticipating a grim ending to his meeting with the pasha.[5][6]

To this day, what happened in Travnik remains in the sphere of assumption. There is a legend that says that Dželaludin-paša asked of Ilhamija to renounce his critical writings, when Ilhamija refused to do so, he was either strangled to death or decapitated in the Travnik Fortress.

News of his death was received with sorrow and revolt among the Bosnian people. He was buried in Travnik in mausoleum near a former railway station and former hospital, where he remained buried for 138 years until 1959, when his bones and headstone were moved to a different grave.

Partial list of works

The publication years for his works remains unknown.

In popular culture

Fellow Bosniak writer Muhamed Hadžijamaković wrote a biography of Abdulvehab Ilhamija entitled Ilhamija: Život i djelo (Ilhamija: Life and Work).[8]

Rešad Kadić (1912–1988) wrote a book about Abdulvehab Ilhamija's death entitled Ilhamijin put u smrt (Ilhamija's Journey to Death), originally published in 1976.[9][10][11][12]

References

  1. ↑ Književni život Bosne i Hercegovine između dva rata; Page 395. books.google.com. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  2. ↑ Bosnia: a cultural history; Page 122. books.google.com. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "ABDULVEHHAB ILLHAMIJA". Camo. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  4. ↑ "Bosnian Book of the Science of Conduct". wdl. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "Kratka biografija Abdulvehaba Ilhamije". bastinaobjave. 28 October 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  6. ↑ Prilozi za Orijentalnu Filologiju, Volumes 12-17; Page 225. books.google.com. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Ilhamija, zaštitnik obespravljenih i prosvjetitelj". bastinaobjave. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "Ilhamija: Život i djelo". Scribd. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "Rešad Kadić - Ilhamijin put u smrt" (PDF). el-ilm. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "Ilhamijin put u smrt". AbeBooks. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "Ilhamijin put u smrt by Rešad Kadić". GoodReads. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  12. ↑ "SVI SMO MI ILHAMIJA NA PUTU U SMRT". Bošnjaci. 24 December 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
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