The institute is the result of its founder, Adil Zulfikarpašić, a donor (waqf), businessman, politician and promotor of cultural and educational life in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

With his wife Tatjana Zulfikarpašić, he collected and preserved cultural heritage and contemporary production about Bosnia and Herzegovina, ranging from documents, photographs, postcards, maps, to books, encyclopaedias, journals, and other archival and library materials.

The Bosniak Institute was founded in Zurich in 1988, and after the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina the entire stock was moved to Sarajevo, and opened in 2001.

Two endowments (waqfs) are materialised in the Hammam building, first, Gazi Husrev-bey's, established when Islamic culture, education and scholarship were at their outset in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Bosniak Institute.

The collection includes more than 1500 artworks (paintings, engravings, and sculptures) by many Bosnian authors, from Ismet Mujezinović, Hakija Kulenović, Rizah Štetić, Ibrahim Ljubović, Vojo Dimitrijević, Mersad Berber, Affan Ramić, Mevludin Ekmečić, to Safet Zec, Salim Obralić, Mehmed Zaimović, and others.