Mehmed Teufik ef. Azabagić

Mehmed Teufik ef. Azabagić (Tuzla, 1838 – Tuzla, 1918) is a Bosniak theologian, the second in order of reis-ul-ulema in the Austro-Hungarian period. Mehmed Teufik ef. Azabagić, son of Osman Bey, was born in Tuzla in 1838. He comes from a rich family from Tuzla, Azabagić. He completed his primary and secondary education in Tuzla, and then went to study Islamic sciences in Istanbul. He graduated in 1868, and then returned to Tuzla. He has held all positions in the Islamic community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was an imam, a khatib, a preacher, and then the manager of a mosque in Sarajevo, when he was transferred to the same position in Tuzla, where he also held the office of kadi. After Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, he was appointed mufti of Tuzla. In the position of reis-ul-ulema Mehmed Teufik ef. Azabagić was from 1893 to 1909. He was appointed on October 25, 1893, and the ceremonial handing over of the mensura and enthronement took place on November 20 of the same year, in the Konak residence, after a prayer in the Tsarevo mosque in Sarajevo. By obtaining religious and religious-educational autonomy, Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina prepared to adopt a new statute of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to elect a reis-ul-ulema according to it. Reis-ul-ulema Azabagić estimated that it would be best for him to retire, which he did in 1909. He lived the rest of his life in Tuzla. He died at the age of 80 on May 22, 1918. He was buried in the harem of the Jalska Mosque in Tuzla.