The contribution of Academic Mehmed Begović in the field of Sharia law

Abstract

UDK 348.97
         28-74

This article offers a general view into the works of Academic Mehmed Begović in the field of Sharia law, aiming to identify a specific close interest field of his research, and contextual, methodological, and style characteristics of his writings on specific disciplines of Sharia law. The subject of the analysis is primarily, his most significant works on Sharia law, “Sharia Family Law”, “The Waqfs in Yugoslavia”, and many other works published during the monarchic rule, and later in socialist Yugoslavia.  We reached the conclusion that his voluminous opus makes Begović one of the most significant authors in the field of Sharia law in the period between the two world wars. The topics of his interest were largely dictated by the scope of the applied Sharia law in old Yugoslavia, the reformist orientation of the author, and the secularization of the legal system of new Yugoslavia. As a result, most of his writings deal with disciplines like Islamic legal history, Sharia family law, inheritance law, waqf law, and the reform of legal institutions, which pertain to these disciplines in the legislation of contemporary Muslim countries. As major methodological characteristics of his treatment of the Sharia system, we identified: using terminology and the organization of the European legal system, applying historical, sociological, and comparative-legal methods, and referencing Western authors in Islamic legal studies.