On 22 August 2003—on the 10th anniversary of its destruction— Carsija Mosque was fully restored to its previous design, using original building materials and building in the fragments of the destroyed original. On 22 August 2005 the second or Uzinovicka Mosque was restored and re-opened as well. The third or Podgradska Mosque is currently undergoing restoration, while work on the fourth one, Cuprijska Mosque, remarkable for being one of the only two double- story mosques in Bosnia—is expected to commence in summer 2006.

NEW MOSQUES

If Stolac represents a hope of how to go about rebuilding Muslim heritage, there are also examples of mosque-building or rebuilding without regard for traditional Bosnian architecture. Between the end of the war in November 1995 and September 2004, a total of 565 new mosques were built; 265 of them replaced mosques destroyed in the war. The funding for these mosques often comes from Middle Eastern humanitarian organizations. Not surprisingly they reflect the prevalent architectural styles of the donors’ countries. Often huge in size, their monumental proportions only serve to underline their foreignness. Sometimes these new mosques are built in locations which were never used in traditional mosque buildings such as hill tops, making them domineering rather than inviting. Some of them have more than one minaret serving no function or symbolism. Usually their internal decoration is non-existent, the glaring clinical whiteness leaving the visitor cold. Their message is one of confusion, disorientation, and a misplaced pride.

What is particularly worrying is that in some cases this kind of architecture has received backing by the very people who ought to be protecting it. In the case of one such official, his ideas for mosque design are described to involve “knockoffs of Saudi-modern shopping malls architecture with odd touches inspired by the décor of the Love Boat, including portholes!”13

New mosques cannot be seen as contributing to the healing of the traumatized Bosnian Muslim community or to the rebuilding of their identity. Agnes Heller wrote: “Whenever cultural memory is lost, a group of people disappears.”14 According to Bosnian architect Amra Hadzimuhamedovic, these new mosques contribute to the loss of cultural memory. They change the cultural landscape and create the sense of disconnectedness with the place. Perhaps most importantly, new mosques lack the symbolism and beauty of traditional architectural forms and ultimately fail to invoke a sense of the sacred.15 Potentially they even undermine Bosnian Muslim identity by de-Bosnianizing the sense of belonging to the country and its past reflected in the traditional architecture.

The traditional mosque architecture in Bosnia speaks to a Bosnian with the reassuring familiarity of more than five centuries of enriching Islamic influence in the culture of its people—and not only its Muslims. Traditional Bosnian mosque architecture is far from being monotone: from the large domed mosques exuding majesty and quiet confidence of the Ottoman era to some of the eastern Herzegovinian mosques remarkable for their stone roof-tiles and quadrangle minarets, so in tune with the rugged, rocky geography of the region. Particularly picturesque are small mosques graced with wooden minarets and found in villages and some towns. In their simplicity they radiate the warmth and tranquility of the lush Bosnian landscape.