Muslims (ethnic group)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the nationalities sometimes called "Chinese Muslims" and "Nepalese Muslims", or simply "Muslims", see Hui people and Nepalese Muslims.
Muslims
Muslimani
Муслимани
Flag used to represent various Muslim minorities in the former Yugoslavia
Total population
c. 51,000
Regions with significant populations
 Serbia13,011 (2022)[1]
 Bosnia and Herzegovina12,101 (2013)[2]
 Slovenia10,467 (2002)[3]
 Montenegro10,162 (2023)[4]
 Croatia3,902 (2021)[5]
 North Macedonia1,187 (2021)[6]
Languages
Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian and Gora dialect
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Other mainly Muslim South Slavs

Muslims (

ethnocultural tradition. Before 1993, a vast majority of present-day Bosniaks self-identified as ethnic Muslims, along with some smaller groups of different ethnicities, such as Gorani and Torbeši. This designation did not include non-Slavic Yugoslav Muslims, such as Albanians, Turks and some Romani people.[7]

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, a majority of the Slavic Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Bosniak ethnic designation, and they are today constitutionally recognized as one of three constituent nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Approximately 100,000 people across the rest of the former Yugoslavia consider themselves to be Slavic Muslims, mostly in Serbia. They are constitutionally recognized as a distinct ethnic minority in Montenegro.[8]

History

The Ottoman conquests led to many autochthonous inhabitants converting to Islam. However, nationalist ideologies appeared among South Slavs as early as the 19th century, as with the First and Second Serbian Uprising and the Illyrian movement, national identification was a foreign concept to the general population, which primarily identified itself by denomination and province.[9] The emergence of modern nation-states forced the ethnically and religiously diverse Ottoman Empire to modernise, resulting in several reforms. The most significant of these were the Edict of Gülhane of 1839 and Imperial Reform Edict of 1856. These gave non-Muslim subjects of the Empire equal status and strengthened their autonomous Millet communities.[10]

There was a strong rivalry between South Slavic nationalisms.

Štokavian dialect, regardless of religious affiliation, to be Serbs. Josip Juraj Strossmayer, the Croatian Catholic bishop and his People's Party advocated the idea of South Slavic unity, while Ante Starčević and his Party of Rights sought to restore the Croatian state based on the so-called historical right, considering Bosnian Muslims as Croats. In both Croatian and Serbian national ideology, the territory of the Bosnia vilayet was of great importance because both wanted to incorporate it into their future national states. From their point of view, Bosnian Muslims were Croats or Serbs who converted to Islam. In 1870, Bosnian Muslims made up 42.5 per cent of the population of the Bosnia Vilayet, while Orthodox were 41.7 and Catholics 14.5 per cent. Which national state would get the territory of the Bosnia vilayet thus depended on who the Bosnian Muslims would favour, the Croats or the Serbs.[11]

In Bosnia and Herzegovina at that time, the population did not identify with national categories, except for a few intellectuals from urban areas who claimed to be Croats or Serbs. The population of Bosnia and Herzegovina primarily identified itself by religion, using the terms Turk (for Muslims), Hrišćani (Christians) or Greeks (for the Orthodox) and "Kršćani" or Latins (for the Catholics). Furthermore, the Bosna vilayet particularly resisted the reforms, which culminated with the

Omer Pasha Latas forcibly returned the province to the sultan's authority in 1850. The reforms marked the loss of the influence of the ulama (the educated clergy), Sharia was no longer used outside of family matters, and a system of public education was introduced, in addition to religious education. The reforms marked the beginning of journalism and the establishment of modern political institutions, and ultimately the establishment of a provincial assembly in 1865, in which non-Muslims also sat.[12]

The revolt of the Bosnian ayans and the attempted formulation of provincial identity in the 1860s are often portrayed as the first signs of a Bosnian national identity. However, Bosnian national identity beyond confessional borders was rare, and the strong Bosnian identity of individual ayans or Franciscans expressed at that time was a reflection of regional affiliation, with a strong religious aspect. Christians identified more with the Croatian or Serbian nation. For Muslims, identity was more related to the defence of local privileges, but it did not call into question the allegiance to the Ottoman Empire. The use of the term "Bosniak" at that time did not have a national meaning, but a regional one. When Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, national identification was still a foreign concept to Bosnian Muslims.[12]

After World War II, in the

Macedonian speaking Muslims as Macedonians and were concerned that statewide recognition of Muslims as a distinct nation could threaten the demographic balance of the Macedonian republic.[14]

Those loyal to Western Bosnia during the Intra-Bosnian Muslim War retained their Muslim designation

During the

Bosnian war in 1993.[19]

Sometimes other terms, such as Muslim with capital M were used, that is, "musliman" was a practising Muslim while "Musliman" was a member of this nation (Serbo-Croatian uses capital letters for names of peoples but small for names of adherents).

The election law of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, recognizes the results from 1991 population census as results referring to Bosniaks.[20][21]

Population

Ethnic Muslims in Montenegro, according to latest (2011) census

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ "2022 Serbian census" (PDF).
  2. ^ "Popis 2013 BiH". popis.gov.ba. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  3. ^ verska, jezikovna in narodna sestava (2002) od statistični urad republike Slovenije
  4. ^ "Stanovništvo Crne Gore prema nacionalnoj odnosno etničkoj pripadnosti, vjeri, maternjem jeziku i jeziku kojim se uobičajeno govori" (PDF). Monstat.org. 15 October 2024. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Population by Ethnicity/Citizenship/Mother tongue/Religion" (xlsx). Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in 2021. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  6. ^ "1. Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of North Macedonia, 2021 - first dataset" (PDF). State Statistical Office of North Macedonia. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  7. ^ Dimitrova 2001, pp. 94–108.
  8. ^ Đečević, Vuković-Ćalasan & Knežević 2017, pp. 137–157.
  9. ^ Bougarel 2017, p. 7.
  10. ^ Bougarel 2017, pp. 7–8.
  11. ^ Bougarel 2017, p. 9.
  12. ^ a b Bougarel 2017, p. 10.
  13. ^ a b Banac 1988, pp. 287–288.
  14. ^
    ISBN 9780300192582
    .
  15. ISBN 0-253-34656-8
    . Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  16. ^ Sancaktar, Caner (1 April 2012). "Historical Construction and Development of Bosniak Nation". Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations. 11: 1–17. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  17. ISBN 9789150619508
    .
  18. ISBN 9958-815-00-1
  19. ^ Fotini 2012, p. 189.
  20. ^ "Election law of Bosnia and Herzegovina" (PDF).
  21. ^ "CONSTITUTION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA" (PDF). The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  22. ^ 2011 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Serbia
  23. ^ "MONTENEGRO STATISTICAL OFFICE, RELEASE, No: 83, 12 July 2011, Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in Montenegro 2011, p. 6" (PDF). Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  24. ^ Kurpejović 2018, pp. 48, 73, 102, 143–144.
  25. ^ "Population by religion and ethnic affiliation, Slovenia, 2002 Census". Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  26. ^ "1. Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of North Macedonia, 2021 - first dataset" (PDF). State Statistical Office of North Macedonia. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  27. ^ "Population by ethnicity". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2001. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. 2002.
  28. ^ "10. Stanovništvo prema narodnosti - detaljna klasifikacija, po županijama". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2001. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. 2002.
  29. ^ "1. Population by ethnicity – detailed classification". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012.
  30. ^ "4. Population by ethnicity and religion". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-17.

References

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Muslims (ethnic group).
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Muslims_(ethnic_group)&oldid=1279947036"