Jusuf Barčić (25 September 196730 March 2007) was a Bosnian
Salafist leader and the founder of the Salafist movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina whose leadership shaped the Bosnian Salafist community.
Early life
Barčić was born in 1967 in the hamlet of
Barčići in
Petrovice, Kalesija to father Salih and mother Rasima. He studied at the
Gazi Husrev Bey's Madrasa
''JU Gazi Husrev-begova medresa, Sarajevo'' (''Javna ustanova Gazi Husrev-begova medresa u Sarajevu''; ) is a high school and college, a madrasa in Arabic, founded on 8 January 1537 CE and built in Sarajevo as Gazi Husrev-beg's second endowment. I ...
, where from 1984 to 1987 he memorised
Qur'an
The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
and became a
hafiz.
Barčić left Bosnia and Herzegovina during the
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
and studied Islamic studies in
Medina
Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
. He studied under the mentorship of
Al-Albani
Muhammad Nasir al-Din (19142 October 1999), commonly known as al-Albani, was an Albanian Islamic scholar. A leading figure of Salafism, he is commemorated for his works on revaluation of hadith studies.
Born in Shkodër, Albania, to a family ad ...
, one of the best-known Salafist authorities. While a student, Barčić did a final proofreading of the 1991 edition of
Besim Korkut's
Bosnian translation of the
Qur'an
The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
. The publishing of the translation of the Qur'an was ordered by King
Fahd of Saudi Arabia
Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; 1920, 1921 or 1923 – 1 August 2005) was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 13 June 1982 until his death in 2005. Prior to his ascension, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 1975 to 1982. He was t ...
and was financed by the Ministry of Hajj and Waqif of Saudi Arabia.
During the war in the 1990s, Barčić was a representative of the
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
-based
International Islamic Relief Organization
International Organization for Relief, Welfare and Development (Welfare; ), formerly known as the International Islamic Relief Organization or International Islamic Relief Organization of Saudi Arabia (IIROSA), is a charity based in Saudi Arabia ...
for the city of
Zenica
Zenica ( ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The ...
. The network established by the Islamic "charity" organisations helped spread material and non-material aid to the
Bosnian mujahideen
Bosnian mujahideen (), also called ''El Mudžahid'' (, ''mujāhid''), were foreign Muslim volunteers who fought on the Bosniaks, Bosnian Muslim side during the Bosnian War (1992–95). They first arrived in central Bosnia in the latter half of 19 ...
. Metodieva notes that the humanitarian assistance of the Islamic organisation was linked to the growth of the Salafist communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Religious activism
He returned in 1996 to spread
Salafism
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist Islamic revival, revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" ...
, calling for "back to the roots" Islam and challenging the
Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Along with
Nusret Imamović, Barčić became one of the principal leaders of the neo-Salafist community that sought to challenge the traditional Islamic order in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The first neo-Salafist group established by Barčić was in the village of
Donja Bočinja near
Maglaj
Maglaj (Маглај) is a town and municipality located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, south of Doboj. It has a popu ...
. The majority of the members there were foreign fighters of the
El Mudžahid detachment of the
Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; ARBiH), often referred to as Bosnian Army, was the military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was established by the government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina i ...
. Barčić, a charismatic figure with a Saudi educational background, was committed to the mujahideen ideology and refuted the legitimacy of the secular institutions, and worked to create a parallel society based on
Sharia law
Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, inta ...
.
When the Salafist community was established in
Gornja Maoča in 2000, it had informal leadership. Its initial leader was Barčić. Barčić's efforts were financed by
Muhamed Porča, a Bosnian cleric with whom he studied in Saudi Arabia and who headed the Al-Tawhid mosque in Vienna, where many Bosnian Muslims settled.
In 2004, Barčić was accused of threatening his former wife and her family with death after she left him because he molested her. He was eventually sentenced to seven months' imprisonment for molesting his former wife and served his sentence in
Zenica
Zenica ( ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The ...
. At the same time, he also received a conditional sentence of one year and three months because of the intrusion into his former wife's family home.
In the following years, the Islamic community was mostly dormant about Salafists' intrusion into mosques, schools, and cultural centres and began to confront them directly in 2007. In February 2007, Barčić and his followers tried to enter the
Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque
Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque (, ) is a mosque in the city of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Built in the 16th century, it is the largest historical mosque in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the most representative Ottoman structures in the Balkan ...
, seen by many Bosnian Muslims as the central institution of their religious life. However, they were again barred from entry by other believers, and the police of the
Sarajevo Canton
The Sarajevo Canton, officially the Canton of Sarajevo (; ; ), is one of the ten cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its cantonal seat is the city of Sarajevo, also the capital city of Bosnia and Herzeg ...
intervened. After the incident, the mosque was locked up to prevent further disruption, and the local imam Sadrudin Iserić forbade the Salafists further entry into the mosque.
Barčić and his followers attempted to enter the mosque for the second time on 22 February 2007 and were barred from entry again. Instead, he held a lecture in front of the mosque, criticising the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina because they departed from the "true teaching of Islam" and demanding the implementation of Sharia law in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and implicitly threatened to establish a parallel Islamic community with Salafist ideology.
Anes Alic thinks that the organiser of the mosque takeover wasn't Barčić but his associate Karray Kamel bin Ali, better known as Abu Hamza, a Tunisian who acquired Bosnian citizenship. Abu Hamza was a military commander of the Bosnian mujahideen and shared a prison cell with Barčić for some time.
Death
Known as a reckless driver who disregarded all civil authority, Barčić sustained serious injuries after losing control of his vehicle and hitting a lamp post near
Tuzla
Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...
around 2:00 a.m. on 30 March 2007. He died at 8:40 p.m. that evening at a hospital in Tuzla. Some media reported he died in an attempted suicide, which hasn't been confirmed.
Barčić was buried in his home village of Barčići. The funeral was led by his brother,
Imam
Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...
Ismet Barčić. His funeral was attended by 3,000 Muslims, some of whom clashed with the police. Among the attendees was
Husein Kavazović
Husein ef. Kavazović (born 3 July 1964) is a Bosnian Islamic cleric serving as Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina since November 2012. He was previously the Mufti of Tuzla.
Biography
Son of Hasan and Saima Kavazović, Husein attended prima ...
, then Mufti of Tuzla and now Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Robert Donia, associate professor of history at the
University of Sarajevo
The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...
, has noted: "Barčić’s truncated career as a Wahhabist gadfly thus evoked a greater response on his death than during his life and served mainly to bring Wahhabism sharply into public focus."
Legacy
Barčić was the founder of the Salafist movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Asya Metodieva writes that he had a formative influence on his successors, namely
Nusret Imamović and
Bilal Bosnić.
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barcic, Jusuf
1967 births
2007 deaths
People from Kalesija
Gazi Husrev Bey's Madrasa alumni
Islamic University of Madinah alumni
Bosnia and Herzegovina prisoners and detainees
Road incident deaths in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina Salafis