(Film Screening) Bosnian Muslim Women's Rituals: Singing, Reciting and Teaching in Sarajevo

The film “Bosnian Muslim Women's Rituals – Singing, Reciting and Teaching in Sarajevo” (2016, Directed by C. Raudvere & Z. Spahić-Šiljak) portrays Islamic rituals run by women, but it also tells the story of Islamic education for women in the 20th century, from the first  madrasa for women established in 1933 to the renewed Islamic schools in late 1970. The film documents rituals of of mevlud and tevhid genre and practices surrounded them and present selection of rituals from mosques and private houses as well as interviews with elderly and younger generations of teachers and bulas (i.e. religious leaders and ritual performers). These rituals include recitations of the Qur’an, dhikr, and spiritual songs in Arabic, Turkish and Bosnian language. The core structure of these rituals comes from the Ottoman legacy in the Balkans region, but the form of today’s rituals is also a result of 20th century development.

[Cosponsored by the Markaz Community Center, Women's Community Center, Feminist Studies]