Zajimović: We will prove that the history of BiH is not what is being served to us

The Vakuf Directorate in BiH and the Vakuf Directorate of Turkey are actively collecting all vakufnamas from the Ottoman period, located in the archives in Istanbul.

As confirmed for the BiH news agency Patria (NAP) by the director of the Vakuf Directorate in BiH, dr. Senaid Zajimović, this is a historical project that will offer not only information on the exact number of vakufs in BiH and their fate, but a project that will provide reliable and credible information about the appearance and history of BiH from the Ottoman period.

- For me, in a historical sense, this will be much more relevant material than numerous history textbooks that have been presented to us all these years, and from which we learn about the Ottoman period. Because, we know that history is written by the victors, and there have been quite a few of them in these areas after the Ottomans – Zajimović told NAP, emphasizing that vakufnamas are the birth certificates of many cities in BiH, as they originated precisely as vakufs of various benefactors.

Vakufs established during the Ottoman period, Zajimović says, were registered in three different places. One copy went to the vakif – the benefactor, the second copy went to the local qadi (judge), and the third was sent to the archive in Istanbul.

Vakufnamas from that period that remained in BiH were mostly destroyed, most often during wars and the last aggression against BiH. However, the vakufnamas stored in the archive in Istanbul are still carefully preserved today.

- Vakufs are something that should serve not only the Islamic Community, but all living beings: animals and people, Muslims and non-Muslims. Various social projects, which should bring good to this society, are financed from vakufs – says Zajimović.

He explains that a large part of vakuf property in BiH is currently in state hands and is decaying, and that by returning it to the Vakuf Directorate, it would be put to use for the people for whom it was intended.

The project of finding, digitizing, and publishing vakufnamas from the Ottoman period concerning BiH will cost around 250,000 euros, and it is entirely financed by the Vakuf Directorate of Turkey, as a sign of friendship and support for the Vakuf Directorate of BiH.