Abdulah Muhasilović (1898 – unknown) was a Bosnian army

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

best known for his involvement in the 13th

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

Division " Handschar". Born in 1898, the son of Bajro Muhasilović, he was raised in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. Muhasilović joined the nascent division early on in the recruitment stage in June 1943 and was quickly appointed senior Imam to the entire division as he was comparatively the oldest of all the young ulama who signed up. His tasks included supervising the younger imams and serving as spiritual leader of the divisional headquarters ''Stabsjäger Kompanie'' (staff security company). In July 1943 he and several other Bosnian

Ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

in the Handschar attended an "Imam Training Course" in

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organised by SS

Obergruppenführer (, ) was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after ...

Gottlob Berger. Zvonimir Bernwald (b. 1924), an ethnic German ( Volksdeutscher) and interpreter for the division, described Abdulah Muhasilović as a "skirt-chaser". Later in 1943, training at Neuhammer, Imam Muhasilović gave an important speech during festivities to mark Bajram: "The world's Muslims are engaged in a terrible life-and-death struggle." He appealed to the men to prepare for conflict with Communism in their "beloved Bosnia". Abdulah Muhasilović was later judged to be a "complete failure."Lepre, George, “Himmler’s Bosnian Division; The Waffen-SS Handschar Division 1943-1945” - 1997., ''page.184.'' On 21 October 1944 he led a mutiny in Cerna, Croatia he and over 100 Bosnian men simply walked away with their weapons towards

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. They stopped for a while in

Brčko Brčko ) is a city and the administrative seat of Brčko District, in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies on the banks of Sava river across from Croatia. As of 2013, it has a population of 39,893 inhabitants. De jure, the Brčko District b ...

and then joined 500 other deserters and surrendered to the Partisan XVIII Croatian Brigade in the Maoča - Rahić area. His fate after the war is unclear. There are strong indications that he was executed in 1945 by the Ustaša forces of Maks Luburić.

References

Literature

*''Lepre, George'', ''“Himmler’s Bosnian Division; The Waffen-SS Handschar Division 1943-1945”'' ''- 1997. '' *''Redzic, Enver,'' ''“Muslimansko Autonomastvo I 13.'' ''SS Divizija".'' ''Sarajevo: Svjetlost, 1987.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Muhasilovic, Abdulah 1898 births Year of death missing Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnian Muslim collaborators with Nazi Germany Bosnian Waffen-SS personnel World War II chaplains Imams in the military