The HUSEIN ĐOZO'S THEOLOGICAL VIEWS

Abstract

Although Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a traditional center of Islamic scholarship and thought, it holds a privileged position in its geography, both historically and today, due to its Islamic past. Indeed, Muslim scholars from Bosnia and Herzegovina have undertaken significant roles in the theoretical and practical interpretations and activities of Islam conducted in the Balkans and Europe over the last two centuries. The Balkans constitute a central hub for the definition and interpretation of Islam in every sense. Here, too, some scholars generate ideas in the field of Islam, engaging with classical Islamic sciences on one hand, while simultaneously offering new interpretations in the face of evolving and changing conditions without compromising the religion's fundamental aims. Husein Đozo is one such scholar.

This article examines Husein Đozo's reformist Islamic thought through his works. Living in a multi-religious and multi-cultural society, within the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in the heart of Europe and, in 1963, within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Husein Đozo's unique ability to subject Islamic thought to a reformist interpretation within this environment was undeniably one of the most important figures, indeed the foremost, to embrace the reformist movement in the former Yugoslavia in the second half of the 20th century. His reformist thought acquired a "local" dimension in Yugoslavia, becoming a legacy for future generations.

Husein Đozo's theological views were examined under topic main headings of theology, including the existence and unity of Allah, faith, attributes of Allah, fate and destiny.