RAIN IN THE CULTURE OF THE BOSNIACS

Abstract

It is especially interesting to note the wealth of reflections in the Bosniac culture made by the Qur’anic tales about rain, which Allah sends down, and about meanings of springs, rivers and seas, both in this and in the future life. The inhabitants of Bosnia have, even before Islam, both spiritually and existentially been reliant on the God’s mercy, which He gives to the mankind through rain as well as on the earth, which, thanks to that rain, produces fruits. According to Dr. Enes Karic, nature, through water, enters culture, while, at the same time, culture, through our living with water, enters nature. According to this rule, we can say that Bosniacs have, especially after Islam, through this relationship with water, as one of the oldest forms of human culture, very early entered culture with supremacy, in terms of the narrow European cultural horizons of that time. Therefore, the sense of culture is also based on the man’s relationship towards water, as a prerequisite to life, but also as something important for a healthy, pleasant and clean life. This awareness in Bosniaks has, no doubt, been formed by the Qur’anic idea about rain as Allah’s precious mercy, by which He gives life to everything on Earth. In Islam, water is, most of all, a symbol of life. Water and life are, therefore, two names for the same thing.