Private Library of Gradacac Muftic Family and Its Founder Mufti of Gradacac Hajjee Hafiz Ahmed Ef. Mulaibrahimovic (Svirac)

Abstract

After Karlovac Peace Agreement1699., in the coming centuries Gradacac experienced political, economic, cultural and religious revival and progress. Gradascevic’ bey family played a most significant role in the political, economic and cultural fields, and Muftic family, the religious very educated ones, played the same role in religious and educational life of Gradacac Muslims and neighboring towns. In the area of Gradacac town there were more private/family and public libraries. There were some very famous libraries as the library of Murat-captain and Hajjee Becir-bey Gradascevic, then Mulaibrahimovic-Muftic, and recently the library of Imamovic, Hodzic, Muhamed-bey Gradascevic family etc. Besides family libraries, there were two public libraries: school library of Svirac Madrasa(secondary islamic religious school) and Fadil-pasha Sherifovic. Private library of Mulaibrahimovic-Muftic family, like others, played a large role in the cultural, religious and educational life gradačačkih Muslims and the wider surrounding region. As integrated and a separate family library this library existed approximately 110 years , from 1934. up 1944. Its establisher and the founder was the famous Hajjee hafiz Ahmed ef Mulaibrahimovic (Svirac), former Mufti of Gradacac town, muderris(school teacher), writer, and imam (islasmic leader). The most important works of this library which have unique values, unfortunately, are lost. That were original works Mufti of Gradacac: travelogue on Hajj and Commentry of Holly Qur’an. The library manuscripts and documents had cultural and historical value. After the Second World War the library stopped being existed, and its books,manuscripts and documents, in many ways, became a part of oriental collections of other libraries and institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.