Communities within a community : differentiating the Bosniak community in Bosnia

Abstract

This thesis is based on a six months of fieldwork in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina has over 500 years of history and within this history there has been a process of modernisation together with the rest of Europe. The Muslim population have adapted along with this process and made Islam in Bosnia an «islam» with particularities. This paper explores the differences within one overarching Muslim community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, I apply a historical aspect to compare how these differences have become more apparent after the transition from a socialist Yugoslavia, from supressed religion to an independent and democratic Bosnia and Herzegovina with freedom of religion. Muslims in Bosnia have the agency to choose in which degree they want to practice Islam and in particular youth is a period where Muslims test borders that break with the Islamic laws. I will discuss some of these aspects and show, through empirical examples, how Muslims grade some actions as accepted despite the fact that it might be illegal according to the Islamic law. The war in Bosnia and Hercegovina from 1992 to 1995 between the Bosnian Croats, the Bosnian Muslims and the Bosnian Serbs have changed the demographics of the nation. Since the war fractions are adherent to different religions the religious identity of the different war fractions were played out, which in turn led to an Islamic revival. During the war foreign fighters came to Bosnia and Herzegovina and this paper will focus on the Arabs that came to fight on the Muslim side. Furthermore, the Arabs brought with them an strict interpretation of Islam that parts of the Muslim population have become adherent to, which in turn has led to a more polarized Muslim community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This paper will adress some of the impacts of the encounter between two different «islams» and how the two «islams» are lived out differently.