Farewell to the Ottoman Legacy? Islamic Reformism and Revivalism in Inter-War Bosnia-Herzegovina

During the Austro-Hungarian period in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1878-1918), the ideas of Islamic reformism have been promoted by the nascent Muslim intelligentsia an by some isolated ulamas (religious scholars). After World War I, this reformist current has gathered around the Reis-ul-ulema Dzemaluddin Causevic and has endeavoured to transform the religious institutions, to modify the status of the Muslim woman and, more generally, to reconcile the Bosnian Muslim community with the "spirit of the time". In the 1930s, reformist ideas have been increasingly criticized by a revivalist current led by Mehmed Handzic, who was much more critical towards Western modernity and anxious to reaffirm the specific and unchanging nature of Islam.