Five centuries ago, to this day, the Ghazi Khusraw Bey Mosque in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, continues to attract attention with its historic building and architectural beauty.
Khusrau Bey was born in 1480 AD from a dynasty known as the King and the Rule. His Bosnian father, Farhad bin Abdullah, was a wali of the city of Saraz in Greece, and his mother is Princess Seljukah, daughter of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II, the granddaughter of Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih.
His father was killed in 1486 in a battle near the city of "Adana" in Anatolia while he was a commander in the army of Sultan Bayezid II, and that is why Khusraw received early attention from his grandfather the Sultan and his maternal uncle, so he was raised and raised in the Ottoman Palace in Istanbul, which contributed to the refinement of his personality and administrative, political and military capabilities.
From a young age, Khusraw showed a propaganda and a willingness to take responsibility, which enabled him to carry out many important diplomatic tasks and works for the state. In 1503, an official envoy on behalf of the Ottoman Empire was sent to the Prince of Russia, and accompanied his uncle Muhammad bin Bayezid during his tenure over Crimea, then he was appointed in 1519 as governor of the city of Smederevo Serbian, then became governor of Bosnia in 1521.
On the military front, Khosrau was distinguished by a rare courage as a soldier, and by a notable superior as a military commander. After he became governor of Bosnia, he built a strong Bosnian army, in which he participated in many battles, and was at the head of the Bosnian army (under the banner of the Ottoman Caliphate) in the Battle of Mohaks against the Kingdom of Hungary in 1526, which ended with the victory of the Ottomans and the entry of Hungary under the authority of the Ottoman Empire, He also participated in the first Siege of Vienna in 1529, but his most prominent military participation was his efficient contribution to the conquest of Belgrade, which was the reason why the sultan granted him the nickname "invader".
Al-Ghazi Khusrow Bey was martyred in 1541 in one of the battles against the Serbs near "Montenegro", and was buried - according to his will - in Sarajevo to the left of the mosque bearing his name.
The personality of Ghazi Khusraw Bey was evident during his tenure in Bosnia. Although he was generously spent in the works of righteousness with a distraction of piety and piety, at the same time he excelled in administration, politics and state leadership.
Ghazi Khusraw Bey
Al-Ghazi Khusraw took care of you in establishing educational, economic and service institutions. He also established and developed the Islamic Waqf system to ensure self-financing for these institutions. At the top of these institutions comes the mosque he built in 1530 in the most beautiful regions of Sarajevo, and its design was attributed to Ajam Ali, the chief architect in the Ottoman Empire, who made it An artistic and architectural masterpiece, in addition to providing all the necessary facilities, such as places of ablution, writers to teach the Qur'an, a library, and others.
In one of the documents of the endowment of the invader Khosrow Bey in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, he says, "Every wise and sane person realizes that this world is transient and not a house nor a dwelling place, but a path that leads one to the home of salvation or hell, and the wise man is the one who does not deceive this world ...".
Elsewhere he says, "Good deeds prevent evil, and the best good deeds are charity, and the best deeds of righteousness are what grows and continues, and it is clear that from all charitable works, the endowment is the most enduring." He added, "As long as this world remains, the benefit of the endowment will not stop and its benefit will continue until the Day of Resurrection, God willing."
Khosrow Bey Mosque
Al-Jazeera Net spoke to Mansur Malikic, the imam of the Al-Ghazi Mosque, Khusraw Bey, who said that despite the passage of hundreds of years, "the mosque is still lofty, and it plays its role in preserving the Muslims of Bosnia, and it is also a beacon that attracts tourists and those who want to know Islam, especially from countries." European. "
And he added, "We still, thank God, adhere to all that was mentioned in the endowment documents that the invader left us with. They lost you, and one of his most important commandments is the interest in the Holy Qur’an, education, reading, and preservation. The writers are still working, as we seal the Qur’an daily in the mosque after the noon prayer, and we pray His acceptance and compassion. "
Clock and school tower
Next to the mosque, he built the clock tower, which is considered a unique landmark not only because of the splendor of design and construction, but also because of the uniqueness of the clock in the way it works. The watch is supervised by a person called the "timer", who is chosen from those who trust and know.
The current temporary, Mansour Zlatar, told Al-Jazeera Net that "the clock works according to the lunar calendar, and it is the only one of its kind in Europe, where the watch appears midnight at sunset in Sarajevo, meaning that the day begins with sunset," and he adds, "Despite my old age, I go up once Every week to the 76-degree clock tower to fill the spring, this is a great honor for me that I will not lag behind as long as I stay alive. "
In front of the mosque, Ghazi Khusrow Bey built a school that is the first educational institution in the Balkans. Dozens of scholars, intellectuals and governors in Bosnia and Herzegovina graduated from it. He also established a library of Islamic manuscripts and books, which plays a distinctive role in educational, cultural and research life in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Europe and the world at large.
Water network
Al-Ghazi Khusraw took care of you to maintain the cleanliness and cleanliness of Sarajevo, so he ordered the establishment of a network to supply it with fresh water. According to historians, Sarajevo is one of the first European cities to know the system of drinking water networks, and thus preceded famous European capitals such as Vienna (1553), Paris (1602) and London (1609) .
And the economic side received the attention of Al-Ghazi Khusraw Bey. He built dozens of shops that stopped them to spend on endowments. He also built dozens of shops designated for craftsmen. He also built a closed market called “Bazistan Market” that contains dozens of stores, and built a hospice to provide food for free to the needy of the people of the country, and for travelers and transients. .
Endowment management
Ghazi Khusraw Bey has defined a precise system for the administration of the endowment, and the headmaster of the endowment, Mustafa Vaterniak, says, "I am from the progeny of Murad Bey Tardic, son of Abdullah. My grandfather was a Croatian Christian, then he converted to Islam and joined the Ottoman army, participated in important military sites and demonstrated great competence in management and leadership. Al-Ghazi Khusraw Bey, appointed him as the headmaster of the endowment, but stipulated in the endowment documents that the endowment administration remains in the family of my grandfather Murad Bey, and we pass it on to the generation after generation, but he stipulated that the beholder be an intellectual capable of management and known as righteousness and virtue. He added, "My father held the position, and after his death I was chosen by the Islamic sheikh in Bosnia and Herzegovina."
"We are applying what was stated in the" Waqf documents "written by Al-Ghazi Khusraw Bey to organize the endowment administration, which specifies the mechanism of its use and how it is preserved and developed," Vatterniak added.
This is even if the interest of the invader Khosrow Bey was focused mainly on building the state and re-developing it culturally, economically and services, but he was concerned with preserving religious freedoms and rights for all sects and boredom of the Bosnians, so in 1532 he issued a document of government called "a sleeping order" in which he guaranteed religious freedoms For all residents of Bosnia, it stipulates the right of the Bosnian Christians to build churches and places of worship.
Al-Ghazi Khusrow Bey came to Bosnia 60 years after the beginning of the Ottoman rule, his administration of the state was not a traditional administration, nor was it less efficient than his leadership of the army, and he was able to make Sarajevo a distinctive cultural and economic center, so he deservedly deservedly called his era "the golden age."