Ibrahim Munib Akhisari and His Work „The Collection on Law“

Abstract

This is the work about the educated Bosnian from the 18^th century, Ibrahim Munib Akhisari (Pruščak), and his manuscript Magmu'a fiqhiyya (The collection of law). The author and the work were both formerly known only by name, on the basis of what had been told about them by Gustav Flügel in his catalogue of manuscripts and repeated by Hazim Šabanović in his work “The Muslims' literature in Bosnia and Hercegovina in Oriental languages”. In the collection of manuscripts in the Oriental institute in Sarajevo the autograph of Pruščak's “The collection of law” is found now. So we can ascertain now the complete genealogy and biography of Ibrahim Munib Akhisari on the basis of his own statements. He was the educated imam, hatib and “ders-i am” in the mosque Suleymaniyya in Oborci (the town on the road from Travnik to Donji Vakuf in Bosnia, in which he was born), after that the qadi in Akhisar (in which he was living) and at the end the mufti of Akhisar and Livno (Ihlewne). The facts from this work and the other facts about him lead us to conclude that he lived in the 18.th century. We cannot tell precisely when he was born nor when he died. There are no facts about his education either nor can we say when he started to work. In the year 1744. he was on the duty of imam and hatib of the mosque Suleymaniyya in Obordžan (Oborci); in 1755. he became naib (the sulbstitute) of the qadi Veliywddin in Akhisar and in this year he started to write this “Collection of law” in 1761. he had got the permission (izun-nama) to become the mufti of Livno (Ihlewne) after the death of the mufti Abdullah; in 1763. he issued the first fetva as the mufti of Akhisar (that means that he became the mufti just before that) Simultaneously with these duties he was the ders-i am i.e. he was permitted to give the public lectures in Suleymaniyya in Oborci. He finished his work “The collection of law” in 1765. when he was in the medresa (the school) Top-atan Mustafa bey in Livno. From the two documents from »shikayet defters« we can see that he was on the duty of imam and hatib of the mosque Suleymaniyye in Oborci in 1779. and 1780. too.

“The collection of law” presented here is his autograph and contains his own judicial decisions, exposed in 178 themes. Beside that, there are many citations and excerpts from the other judicial works which show his education and ample knowledge.

We must add a remark to the statement that this works is his autograph. Very often the mufti's secretary did the redaction and the systematization of the mufti's decisions and the latter wrote them jn the book thereafter according to the order of their appearance. As far as we know, this manuscript is the mufti's autograph without the redaction. Therefore, it is very interesting and valuable for the study of this kind of work.

Ibrahim Munib included in his “Collection” many literary, cultural and historical texts, beside the judicial ones. There texts have the major significance for the cultural history of Bosnia but because of their numerousness they should be treated in another study. Only some of the most interesting are mentioned here. By these texts we can see that Ibrahim Munib was also a poet and an excellent stylist in prose. He also mentioned some literary works of the Bosnian poets that were completely unknown.