1.
Islam in Europe
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Islam first gained a foothold in continental Europe in 711 with the Umayyad invasion of Hispania. They advanced into France but in 732, were defeated by the Franks at the Battle of Tours, over the centuries the Umayyads were gradually driven south and in 1492 the Moorish Emirate of Granada surrendered to Ferdinand V and Isabella. Islam entered Eastern Europe in what are now parts of Russia and Bulgaria in the 7th and 13th century, following the Muslim conquest of Persia, Islam for the first time penetrated into regions that would later become part of Russia. The Ottoman Empire expanded into Europe taking huge portions of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries, over the centuries, the Ottoman Empire also gradually lost almost all of its European territories, until the empire collapsed in 1922. However, parts of the Balkans continue to have populations of native. Transcontinental countries, such as Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have large Muslim populations and this is also the case in a number of regions within the Russian Federation such as the Northern Caucasus, Crimea, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and the Astrakhan Oblast. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries substantial numbers of non-native Muslims immigrated to Western Europe, by 2010 an estimated 44 million Muslims were living in Europe, including an estimated 19 million in the EU. They are projected to comprise 8% by 2030 and they are often the subject of intense discussion and political campaigns. Such events have also fueled growing debate on Islamophobia, attitudes toward Muslims, Muslim forays into Europe began shortly after the religions inception, with a short lived invasion of Byzantine Sicily by a small Arab and Berber force that landed in 652. Islam gained its first genuine foothold in continental Europe from 711 onward, al-Andalus has been estimated to have had a Muslim majority by the 10th century after most of the local population converted to Islam. This coincided with the La Convivencia period of the Iberian Peninsula as well as the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain, pelayo of Asturias began the Christian counter-offensive known as the Reconquista after the Battle of Covadonga in 722. Slowly, the Christian forces began a conquest of the taifa kingdoms of al-Andalus. By 1236, practically all that remained of Muslim Spain was the province of Granada. In the 8th century, Muslim forces pushed beyond Spain into Aquitaine, in southern France, in 725 Muslim forces captured Autun in France. From 719 to 759, Septimania was one of the five areas of al-Andalus. The last Muslim forces were driven from France in 759, but maintained a presence, especially in Fraxinet all the way into Switzerland until the 10th century. At the same time, Muslim forces managed to capture Sicily and portions of southern Italy, Sicily was gradually conquered by the Arabs and Berbers from 827 onward, and the Emirate of Sicily was established in 965. They held onto the region until their expulsion by the Normans in 1072, the Christians belonged to the Eastern Rite
2.
Islam in Armenia
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Islam began to make inroads into the Armenian Plateau during the seventh century. Arab, and later Kurdish, tribes began to settle in Armenia following the first Arab invasions, with the Seljuk invasions of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Turkic element eventually superseded that of the Arab and Kurdish. Many Armenians were also forced to convert to Islam, on the penalty of death, the Muslim Arabs first invaded Armenia in 639, under the leadership of Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah,18,000 Arabs penetrated the district of Taron and the region of the Lake of Van. Prince Theodoros Rshtuni led the Armenian defense, in about 652, a peace agreement was made, allowing Armenians freedom of religion. Prince Theodoros traveled to Damascus, where he was recognized by the Arabs as the ruler of Armenia, Georgia, by the end of the seventh century, the Caliphates policy toward Armenia and the Christian faith hardened. Special representatives of the Caliph called ostikans were sent to govern Armenia, the governors made the city of Dvin their residence. Although Armenia was declared the domain of the Caliph, almost all Armenians, although not all, the Muslim element in Armenia grew progressively stronger during the medieval period. The Ottoman Empire ruled in accordance to Islamic law, as such, the People of the Book had to pay a tax to fulfill their status as dhimmi and in return were guaranteed religious autonomy. While the Armenians of Constantinople benefitted from the Sultans support and grew to be a prospering community, during times of crisis the ones in the remote regions of mountainous Western Armenia were mistreated by local Kurdish chiefs and feudal lords. They often also had to suffer raids by nomadic Kurdish tribes, Armenians, like the other Ottoman Christians, had to transfer some of their healthy male children to the Sultans government due to the devşirme policies in place. The boys were converted to Islam and educated to be warriors in times of war, the Persians Safavids, established definite control over Armenia and far beyond since the time of Shah Ismail I in the early 16th century. Many Armenians joined the Safavid functions, in the civil administration, especially amongst these elite soldier units, the ghulams, many of them were converted Armenians, alongside the masses of Circassians and Georgians. His successors continued to do more of these deportations and replacements with Turcomans, by the time the Persians had to cede their centuries long suzerainty over Armenia, the majority of the population in what is now Armenia were Muslims. With the historical provinces being subsumed within the borders of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, since Armenia gained its independence in 1991, the majority of Muslims still living in the country are temporary residents from Iran and other countries. In 2009, the Pew Research Center estimated that less than 0. 1% of the population, in the territory of the modern Armenian republic, only a single mosque, that of the Blue Mosque, has survived to the present-day. The first printed version of the Quran translated into the Armenian language from Arabic appeared in 1910, in 1912 a translation from a French version was published. Both were in the Western Armenian dialect, a new translation of the Quran in the Eastern Armenian dialect was started with the help of the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran located in Yerevan. The translation was done by Edward Hakhverdyan from Persian in three years, a group of Arabologists have been helping with the translation
3.
Islam in Belarus
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Islam in Belarus has a long history. It was introduced into the lands which now constitute Belarus by Lipka Tatars in the 14th -16th centuries, today, there are 45,000 Muslims in Belarus representing 0. 5% of the total population. In 1994, the First All-Belarusian Congress of Muslims was held, as a result, the Muslim Religious Community of the Republic of Belarus was founded. Ever since it has been headed by Dr. Ismail Aleksandrovich, in 1997 there were 23 communities including 19 of those in the Western regions of Belarus. Belarus is the country in Europe to have jailed a newspaper editor for publishing the Danish cartoons of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. On January 18,2008, Alexander Sdvizhkov was jailed for three years for incitement of religious hatred, today there are mosques in Smilovichi, Ivye, Slonim, and Novogrudok in the Grodno region, in Kletsk in the Minsk region, and in Vidzy in the Vitebsk region. From 1900 to 1902 a mosque was constructed in Minsk, sixty years later it was destroyed by the Communists. On November 11,2016 a replica of the mosque was opened in Minsk, Religion in Belarus Freedom of religion in Belarus Belarusian Cathedral Mosque site Islamic Religion & Culture in Belarus
4.
Islam in the Czech Republic
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According to the 2010 census, there are around 3500 Muslims in the Czech Republic, compared to 495 in 1991. First documented visit of a person with knowledge of Islam was made by Íbrahím ibn Jaqúb and his memoirs were later published to become one of the first accounts about Central Europe in Islamic world. During both sieges of Vienna, reconnaissance groups of Ottoman armies reached Moravia, strong trade links between Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire emerged during 19th century. Traditionally, influence of Islam on culture of Czech lands has been small, a law 1912 by the Austro-Hungarian monarchy recognised Islam as a state religion and officially allowed its presence in what is now the Czech Republic. The first community was established in 1934 and disbanded in 1949, an attempt to set up a new community in 1968 failed. In 1991, the Center of Muslim communities was established, in 1998 the first mosque was opened, in Brno and a year later another, in the capital, Prague. Attempts to open mosques in cities have been stopped by local citizens. In 2004 Islam was officially registered in the Czech Republic, the community is eligible to obtain funds from the state. Most of the Muslims are from Bosnia-Herzegovina and former countries of Soviet Union, a significant and influential part are the middle-class people of Egyptian, Syrian and other Middle Eastern ancestries. A few hundred Muslims are Czech converts, president Miloš Zeman is among those who have expressed fear that Islamic terrorism could threaten the Republic. In August 2016, for the first time, a Czech citizen was charged on suspicion of trying to join the forces of the so-called Islamic State, Czech society has also seen discrimination towards Muslims. Miloš Mendel, Jiří Bečka, Islám a české země, Olomouc, ISBN 80-7220-034-8 Miloš Mendel, Bronislav Ostřanský, Tomáš Rataj, Islám v srdci Evropy, Praha, Academia,2008. ISBN 978-80-200-1554-9 Portal of Islam in the Czech Republic History of Islam in the Czech Republic
5.
Islam in Estonia
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Estonia has one of the smallest Muslim communities in Europe. According to the census of 2011, the number of people who profess Islam was 1,508 in Estonia, the number of practicing Muslims is small and, in the absence of a mosque, the Turath Islamic Cultural Center serves as a center of worship. The overwhelming majority of Muslims immigrated to Estonia during the Soviet occupation of Estonia between 1940 and 1991, since 1860, the Tatar community started showing activity, the centre being in the city of Narva. A Muslim congregation was registered there under the independent Republic of Estonia in 1928, a house built for funds received as donations was converted into a mosque in Narva. In 1940, the Soviet authorities banned both congregations, and the buildings of the congregations were destroyed during World War II, there are no mosques in Estonia, in Tallinn an apartment is adapted for prayer purposes. The Muslim community in Estonia is politically moderate and, unusually in the global context, mis on Islam islam. ee Overview of Islam in Estonia Halal food in Estonia
6.
Islam in Finland
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Islam is a minority religion in Finland. The first Muslims were Tatars who immigrated mainly between 1870 and 1920, after that there were decades with generally a small number of immigration in Finland. Since the late 20th century the number of Muslims in Finland has increased due to immigration. Nowadays, there are dozens of Islamic communities in Finland, there are about 50, 000–60,000 Muslims in Finland. There is also an indigenous Finnish Muslim community, the Muslim geographer Al-Idrisi accurately mentions Finland in his works, he also noted that the King of Finland has possessions in Norway. Al-Idrisi also mentions the Port of Turku reflecting the Port of Turkus status as a capital city, the Baltic Tatars arrived in Finland as merchants and soldiers at the end of the 19th century. They were later joined by family members. The Finnish Islamic Association was founded in 1925, in practice, this society only accepts people from Tatar origin, or Turkic origin in general, as members, excluding non-Turkic speaking Muslims. The Finnish Tatarss Islamic congregations have a total of about 1,000 members these days, the number of immigrants, and Muslims as well, in Finland rose dramatically in the early 1990s. Soon new immigrants established their own mosques and societies, in 1996 these groups came together to form a cooperative organ - the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Finland. It is estimated that approximately 1,000 Finns have converted to Islam, the vast majority of these are women who have married Muslim men. There are dozens of independent Islamic societies in Finland, the oldest one is Finnish Islamic Association which was established in 1925. It has about 700 members of all are Tatars. The society has mosques in Helsinki, Tampere and Lahti, the only building established only as mosque in Finland is Järvenpää mosque. The Islamic Society of Finland was established in 1987 and its members are mainly Arabs, but also Finnish converts. The society has a mosque and Koran school in Helsinki, the Helsinki Islamic Center is currently the biggest society with almost 2,000 members. Furthermore, there are a dozen other Islamic societies in Helsinki region, most of mosques are multilingual, but the most commonly used languages are usually English and Finnish. Religious services are held in Arabic, numbers are based on the Statistics Finland
7.
Islam in Hungary
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Islam in Hungary has a long history that dates back to at least the 10th century. The influence of Sunni Islam was especially pronounced in the 16th century during the Ottoman period in Hungary, in the old form of the Hungarian language, Muslims were called Böszörmény, a term preserved as both a family name, and as that of the town Hajdúböszörmény. The Spaniard Muslim traveler Abu Hamid al Garnati wrote of two types of Muslims in Hungary, the first being the Böszörmény of the Carpathian Basin, in the 11th century, St. Ladislaus and later Coloman passed laws against the non-Christians. These laws subdued Islam by coercing Muslims to eat pork, go to Church and intermarry, §47 We command all Ismaelite villages to build a church and finance it. After the church is built the village should move and settle elsewhere in order to become similar to us in living together and also in Christ. The Turks entered Hungary after the Battle of Mohács in 1526, from 1541 they started to control the central part directly and organized five vilayets, Buda, Kanije, Eğri, Várad and Temesvár. In the 16th century, during the Ottoman rule, numerous Muslim personalities were born in Hungary, most Islamic studies in Hungary were taught at the Hanafi madhhab or school of Sunni Islam. In the 19th century, after the collapse of the revolution of 1848-9, more than 6,000 emigrated Poles, among them were such Hungarian officers such as Richard Guyon, György Kmety and Maximilian Stein. These personalities were afterwards raised to the post of General, the council of Újbuda has given permission for Muslim community in Hungary, to build the first Islamic centre in Budapest. The new Islamic centre will hold a library containing 50,000 volumes, in 2013 Hungarian Islamic Council requested for the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina Husein Kavazović to also become Grand Mufti of Hungary. Hungarys new Law on the Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion, Islam is not included in this list and Muslims have to apply to get official recognition under the new law. On 27 February 2012, Hungarys parliament amended the countrys law on religious organizations to expand the list of officially recognized the Hungarian Islamic Council. According to the 2011 Hungarian census, there were 5,579 Muslims in Hungary, of these,4,097 declared themselves as Hungarian, while 2,369 as Arab by ethnicity. In Hungary people can more than one ethnicity, so some people declared Hungarian. According to the Magyarországi Muszlimok Egyháza there are c.32,000 Muslims in Hungary, Islam History in Hungary History of Islam in Hungary
8.
Islam in Iceland
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The Nordic country of Iceland has 875 people registered with the official Muslim organisations in the country. This corresponds to 0. 27% of the population of Iceland, the earliest mention of Iceland in Muslim sources originates in the works of Muhammad al-Idrisi in his famous Tabula Rogeriana, which mentions Icelands location in the North Sea. From around the thirteenth century, a fantastical version of the Islamic world is prominent in medieval Icelandic romance. This event is known in Icelandic history as the Tyrkjaránið, an estimated 400-800 Icelanders were sold into slavery. Islam started to gain presence in Icelandic culture around the 1970s, partly through immigration from the Islamic world, some of the immigrants simply came of their own accord, others came as refugees, including groups from Kosovo. The Koran was first translated into Icelandic in 1993, with an edition in 2003. Salmann Tamimi estimates that when he came to Iceland in 1971 there were perhaps seven Muslims living there, as of 2013, however, Muslim Association of Iceland has 465 members. The Islamic Cultural Centre of Iceland has 305 members, the first generation of Muslims born in Iceland probably began with people like Salmanns own children, such as Yousef Ingi Tamimi. Icelands Muslim population is of diverse origins, including people born in the Arab world, Albania, Africa, the Muslim Association of Iceland was founded in 1997 by Salmann Tamimi, a Palestinian immigrant, it was officially recognised on February 25. Since 2010 the chair has been Ibrahim Sverrir Agnarsson, as of 2014, the association has 465 members. More than half were born in Iceland, perhaps 40-50 were born to non-Muslim parents, the Muslim Association of Iceland currently runs the Reykjavík Mosque, a Sunni mosque on the third floor of an office building in Ármúli 38, Reykjavík. It has two imams and offers daily and nightly prayers attended by a mix of local Icelanders and visiting Muslims and it also offers weekly Friday prayers for Jumuah. In 2000 the Muslim Association applied to purpose-build a mosque in Reykjavík, after a long process, prayers are said in Arabic, but English and Icelandic are also widely used due to the diverse nature of the congregation. The Association regularly runs courses in both Arabic and Icelandic, the Islamic Culture Centre of Iceland was founded in 2008 by Karim Askari, originally from Morocco, and as of 2014 has 305 members. The Centre hired Ahmad Seddeeq, originally from Egypt, as Imam in 2011, the Islamic Cultural Centre of Iceland runs a mosque in Ýmishúsið on Skógarhlíð in Reykjavík. Many public expressions of Islamophobia have in the decade of the twenty-first century been focused on opposition to the creation of a purpose-built Reykjavík mosque. Óttar M. Norðfjörðs 2010 novel Örvitinn eða, Hugsjónamaðurinn satirises Islamophobic attitudes, many Icelandic Muslims prefer not to join a formal organisation, considering their relationship with God a personal one. In 2011 the Muslims of Iceland attracted the interest of Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera was interested in how Ramadan is honored in the higher latitudes where the night can be of unusual length when compared to the majority-Muslim lands
9.
Islam in Latvia
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The presence of Muslims in Latvia was first recorded in the early 19th century. The Muslims had mainly Tatar and Turkic backgrounds, and most had been brought to Latvia against their will and these included Turkish prisoners of war from the Crimean War and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877. The total Muslim population in Latvia is estimated at about 2,000 by Pew Forum, virtually all Muslims in Latvia are Sunni. There is also a presence of Ahmadi Muslims. In 1902, a Muslim congregation was established and recognized by the government. The community elected Ibrahim Davidof as its leader and a hall was inaugurated. The majority of Muslims residing in Latvia in the part of the 20th century were conscripted in the Russian army. After release from service, most would leave for Moscow, during the creation of the Soviet Union and amid civil war, many refugees entered Latvia, including Muslims of various ethnicities. They were however known to Latvians as Turks, in 1928, Husnetdinov, a Turkic priest, was elected leader of Riga Muslim community. He held that post until 1940
