Croat Muslims
 | This article needs attention from an expert in Ethnic groups. See the talk page for details. (February 2014) |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 12,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Croatia 10,841 (2021)[1] Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,313 (2013)[2] | |
| Languages | |
| Croatian | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Croats, Bosniaks, other Slavic Muslims |
Croat Muslims (Croatian: Hrvatski muslimani) are Muslims of Croat ethnic origin. They consist primarily of the descendants of the Ottoman-era Croats.
Overview
Croats are a South Slavic people. According to the published data from the 2021 Croatian census, 10,841 Muslims in Croatia declared themselves as ethnic Croats.[1] The Islamic Community of Croatia is officially recognized by the state.[3] After World War II, thousands of Croats (even those with the Islamic faith) who supported the Ustaše fled as political refugees to countries such as Canada, Australia, Germany, South America and Islamic countries.[citation needed] The descendants of those Muslim Croats established their Croatian Islamic Centre in Australia in 36 Studley St. Maidstone, Victoria[4] and the Croatian Mosque in Toronto, which is now named Bosnian Islamic Centre,[5] headed by Mr. Kerim Reis.[6][7]
History
| Part of a series on |
| Croats |
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Ottoman period
The
The
From the 16th to 19th century Turkish Croatia bordered
The historical names of many officials in the Ottoman Empire reveal their origin (Hirwat = Hrvat or Horvat, which is a Croatian name for Croat):
In 1553, Antun Vrančić, Roman cardinal, and Franjo Zay, a diplomat, visited Istanbul as envoys of the Croatian-Hungarian king to discuss a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire. During the initial ceremonial greetings they had with Rüstem Pasha Hrvat (a Croat) the conversation led in Turkish with an official interpreter was suddenly interrupted. Rustem Pasha Hrvat asked in Croatian if Zay and Vrančić spoke Croatian. The interpreter was then dismissed and they proceeded in Croatian during the entire process of negotiations.[citation needed]
In 1585, a traveler and writer Marco A. Pigaffetta, in his Itinerario published in London, states: In Constantinople it is customary to speak Croatian, a language which is understood by almost all official Turks, especially military men. Crucially though, the lingua franca at the time among Slavic elites in the Ottoman Empire was still Old Church Slavonic. For Italians traveling through to Istanbul, the language of the Slavic Croats was often the only exposure they had to any of the Slavic languages; indeed, Bulgarian and Macedonian dialects were far more common in Istanbul than Croatian.[citation needed]
Muslims and Croat nationalism
One of the major ideological influences of the Croatian nationalism of the Croatian fascist movement
The Ustaše recognized both
Džafer-beg Kulenović was a Muslim who later became the vice-president of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) on 8 November 1941 and held the position until the war's end. He had actually succeeded his older brother Osman Kulenović in this position. Kulenović later immigrated to Syria. He lived there until his death on 3 October 1956 in Damascus. While in Syria, the Croats in Argentina published a collection of his journalistic writings. In 1950, the Croat Muslim Community in Chicago published a speech he wrote for the Muslim Congress following World War II in Lahore, Pakistan. This twenty-two page pamphlet entitled "A Message of Croat Muslims to Their Religious Brethren in the World" detailed Serb aggression against Croats of Islamic faith and promoted the idea of Croat unity. Only a few months before his death, the Croatian Liberation Movement was formed, with Dr. Kulenović being one of the founders and signatories.
Statistics
The published data from the
| Year | Croatia | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Other republics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948[17] | 3,212 | 25,295 | 564 |
| 1953 | 4,057 | 15,477 | N/A |
| 1991 | 4,254 | N/A | N/A |
| 2001 | 6,848 | – | – |
| 2011 | 9,647 | – | – |
| 2013[18] | – | 1,375 | – |
Religion
Most Croat Muslims, like other Muslim communities (
Gallery
-
TheGazi Husrev-beg in Sarajevo. -
Mosque, built as a museum in 1938 and adapted in 1941 for the Zagreb Muslims by the Croatian fascist leader and politician who led the Ustaše movement Ante Pavelić, today Meštrović Pavilion, Square of Victims of Fascism. -
Memorial in Bleiburg, Austria, to massacred Croat Catholics and Croat Muslims during the Bleiburg repatriations and a large number of civilians. -
The Rüstem Pasha Mosque (center), overlooked by the Süleymaniye Mosque (upper right) dedicated to Suleiman the Magnificent. -
Mosque in the Croatian capital city Zagreb. -
The memorial to the pro-Partisan members of the Handschar Waffen-SS in Villefranche-de-Rouergue. The locals decided to naming one of its streets Avenue des Croates and commemorating "the revolt of the Croats". -
Places of worship for Muslims located in Croatia.
References
- ^ a b "Census of population, households and dwellings in 2021 – population of Republic of Croatia". Croatian Bureau of Statistics. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ Ethnicity/National Affiliation, Religion and Mother Tongue 2019, pp. 918–919.
- ^ "Ugovor između Vlade Republike Hrvatske i Islamske zajednice u Hrvatskoj o pitanjima od zajedničkog interesa". Narodne novine – Službeni list Republike Hrvatske NN196/03 (in Croatian). Narodne novine. 15 December 2003. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
- ^ Google Books The South Slav journal: Opseg 6, Dositey Obradovich Circle – 1983.
- ^ "About Us – Bosnian Islamic Centre | Bosanski Islamski Centar".
- ^ Google Books James Jupp: The Australian people: an encyclopedia of the nation, its people and their origins, 2001, Cambridge University Press, p. 250
- ^ Hrvatski islamski centar – Croatian Islamic Centre Archived 26 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Radushev, Evg (2003). Inventory of Ottoman Turkish documents about Waqf preserved in the Oriental Department at the St. St. Cyril and Methodius National Library. Sv. sv. Kiril i Metodiĭ. p. 236.
- ^ İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971, p. 29. (in Turkish)
- ISBN 978-90-04-12106-5.
- ^ Fischer 2007, p. 207.
- ^ Fischer 2007, p. 208.
- ^ Ramet 2006, p. 118.
- ^ a b c Emily Greble. Sarajevo, 1941–1945: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Hitler's Europe. Ithaca, New York, USA: Cornell University Press, 2011. pp. 125.
- ^ Butić-Jelić, Fikreta. Ustaše i Nezavisna Država Hrvatska 1941–1945. Liber, 1977
- ^ "4. Population by ethnicity and religion". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
- ^ Konačni rezultati popisa stanovništva od 15 marta 1948 godine. Vol. 9. Savezni zavod za statistiku. 1954. p. XVII.
- ^ "Population by ethnic/national affiliation, religion and by sex". Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- ^ "Islamic Centre in Rijeka inaugurated". tportal.hr. 4 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
Sources
- Ramet, Sabrina P. (2006). The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation, 1918–2005. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34656-8.
- ISBN 978-1-55753-455-2.
- Dizdar, Zdravko; Grčić, Marko; ISBN 978-953-6377-03-9.
- Ethnicity/National Affiliation, Religion and Mother Tongue (PDF). Sarajevo: Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2019.