Hadži Nadžija Karabegović Agušević was born in the 1925 in Novi Pazar in a wealthy patriarchal family. When she was just nine, both of their parents died. In the successive decades she dedicated her fortune to help orphans, the poor and ill people, students and all needed ones. She also participated in unselfish manner in re-construction works made to religious objects.

As time was running out, she faced the question of how to keep the things going on also after her death. Especially during the Balcans war in the nineties she realized that the number of needed people will be on continuous increase.

As soon as I graduated on Prague Charles University in the 1972, I started side by side with my mother Hadji Nadžija to work in humanitarian sphere.

The ideas and contacts I gained through observing European humanitarian organization I am integrating into our social work aimed to help old, unhealthy, orphans and refugees from areas affected by war who found the shelter and safety in Novi Pazar.

When she died in the 2002 the institution of Hadji Nadžija Karabegović Agušević Foundation was registered.

Among the main targets of the foundation comes helping to citizens who find themselves in social indigence, especially to old, unhealthy and handicapped people, as well as children missing their parents care by providing financial and material aid, free medicines and other forms of support to the needed citizens being unable to procure themselves the means of support livelihood; students scholarship for students who are unable to bear the financial burden of their study, as well as many other socially beneficial projects.

As the needs of the foundation still by far exceeds its possibilities, we invite all people of good will to joint us in our humanitarian efforts.

In case of any questions, pls do not hesitate to contact us.

Vakuf by another name foundation is an institution occurring in all religious systems. The one most familiar to our people is Islamic vakuf which left his ineffaceable footprint in our region. Saying this we mean foundation in every sense of the word. There has always been compassion for other people who needed to be helped such as poor, students, pilgrims, sick people, orphans, etc. That means that different religious, cultural and social organizations have been bearers of vakuf. Towns existed thanks to vakufs. They were usually founded by the sultan to whowse order the mosque and surrounding buildings have been constructed. Then the domestic citizens continued to develop the town. The foundations have been founded by the sultan himselves and his dynasty members, vezirs, begler-begs, Sandžak- begs, judges to say medium cadre but very often also by normal people and even sometimes by freed slaves and women. E.g. two women weavers from Sarajevo built the fountain.

The first census from XVI century mentions 22 vakufs out of which number 4 are attributed to women. One of them called Girshah founded the vakuf giving her modest property to as she said "good people and to the poor ones". Others rised their foundations for mosques and for Kur’an study or they constructed mosques and mesdjids themselves. The highest cadres such as sandjak-begs have been foundining the residence complexes, so-called imarets. In original sense of the term imaret means a public canteen where national dishes have been prepared and served.

In our areas the tradition of vakuf takes for centuries and it must be preserved and welcome. We should be grateful to these people who understand that there is no progress without human kindness and goodness.

Dr Olga Zirojević

I think it should be said that the hope exists until there exist people who want to help other people. As a humanist I appreciate this project and I am very pleased to be honoured to take part in the official opening.