Cultural Muslims in the context of "Irreligious"

Islam is by far the most practiced religion in Turkey. Most Turkish people are Sunni Muslims, and most of them belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Smaller numbers belonging to the Alevi, Ja'fari and Alawite minorities. The established presence of Islam in the region that now constitutes modern Turkey dates back to the later half of the 11th century, when the Seljuks started expanding into eastern Anatolia.

While official records indicate the population of Turkey to be 99.8% Muslim, most surveys estimate the percentage to be around 85 to 95%. The Hanafi school of fiqh (maddhab) of Sunni Islam makes up about 90% of the Muslim population, with the remaining Muslim sects consisting of Alevis (close to 10%), Ja'faris (representing 1%) and Alawites (with an estimated population of around 500,000 to 1 million, or about 1%). With a sizeable part of population being Cultural Muslims, there is also a minority of Sufi and non-denominational Muslims.

Islam is the second-largest religion in Europe after Christianity. Although the majority of Muslim communities in Western Europe formed as a result of immigration, there are centuries-old indigenous European Muslim communities in the Balkans, Caucasus, Crimea, and Volga region. The term "Muslim Europe" is used to refer to the Muslim-majority countries in the Balkans and the Caucasus (Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Turkey) and parts of countries in Central and Eastern Europe with sizable Muslim minorities (Bulgaria, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and some republics of Russia) that constitute large populations of indigenous European Muslims, although the majority are secular.

Islam expanded into the Caucasus through the Muslim conquest of Persia in the 7th century and entered Southern Europe after the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the 8th–10th centuries; Muslim political entities existed firmly in what is today Spain, Portugal, Sicily, and Malta during the Middle Ages. The Muslim populations in these territories were either converted to Christianity or expelled by the end of the 15th century by the indigenous Christian rulers (see Reconquista). The Ottoman Empire expanded into Southeastern Europe and consolidated its political power by invading and conquering huge portions of the Serbian and Bulgarian empires, and the remaining territories of the region, including the Albanian and Romanian principalities, and the kingdoms of Bosnia, Croatia, and Hungary between the 14th and 16th centuries. Over the centuries, the Ottoman Empire gradually lost its European territories. Islam was particularly influential in the territories of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, and has remained the dominant religion in these countries.

Religion in Turkey consists of various religious beliefs. While Turkey is officially a secular state, numerous surveys all show that Islam is the country's most common religion. According to the state, 99.8% of the population is initially registered as Muslim. The remaining 0.2% are Christians and adherents of other officially recognised religions such as Judaism. However, because the government registers everyone as Muslim at birth by default, the official statistics can be misleading. There are many people who follow other religions or do not adhere to any religion, yet they are officially classified as 'Muslim' in official records unless they make a contrary claim. These records can be changed or even blanked out on the request of the citizen using a valid electronic signature to sign the electronic application. According to a 2025 report from Pew Research Center, 95% of Turkey self-identified as Muslim. A significant percentage of those are non-observing Cultural Muslims.

Turkey has officially been a secular country since its 1924 constitution was amended in 1928. This was later strengthened and entrenched with the wider appliance of laicism by founder Atatürk during the mid-1930s, as part of the Republican reforms. Strict regulations on religion, including a ban on Islamic attire, were imposed. The rights of Armenian Apostolic, Greek Orthodox, and Jewish citizens were recognized under the Treaty of Lausanne.

Islam is the majority religion in Azerbaijan. Estimates include 97.3% in 2020 by The World Factbook and 99.2% in the 2006 Demographic and Health Survey according to Pew Research Center of the population identifying as Muslim. A majority of them belong to the Shia branch (55–65% of Muslims), while a significant minority (35%–45%) are Sunni. Traditionally, the differences between these two branches of Islam have not been sharply defined in Azerbaijan.

Shia Muslims in the country typically adhere to the Ja'fari school of Shia Islam, while most Sunni Muslims either the Hanafi or Shafi'i school. Due to many decades of Soviet atheist policy, Muslim religious affiliation in Azerbaijan is largely cultural and ethnic rather than religious. Shia Islam is prevalent in the western, central, and southern regions of the country. Traditionally, villages around Baku and the Lankaran region are considered Shia strongholds. In contrast, Sunni Islam is dominant in the northern regions.

Islam is the majority religion in Azerbaijan, with various reports have estimated that 97.3% (CIA, 2020) or 99.2% (Pew Research Center, 2006) of the population identify as Muslim, with the majority (50–65%) being Shias and a significant minority (35–40%) being Sunnis. Traditionally, the differences between these two branches of Islam have not been sharply defined in Azerbaijan, as a major portion of the population are cultural Muslims. As such, the country is considered to be the most secular in the Muslim world.

Shia Muslims in the country typically adhere to the Ja'fari school of Shia Islam, while most Sunni Muslims follow the Hanafi school. Due to many decades of Soviet atheist policy, religious affiliation in Azerbaijan is often nominal, and Muslim identity tends to be based more on culture and ethnicity than on religion. Shia Islam is prevalent in the western, central, and southern regions of the country. Traditionally, villages around Baku and the Lankaran region are considered Shia strongholds. In contrast, Sunni Islam is dominant in the northern regions.

Islam is the second-largest religion in Cyprus, after Christianity, and is also the predominant faith of the Turkish Cypriot community which resides in Northern Cyprus. Before the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the Turkish Cypriot community made up 18% of the island's population and lived throughout the island. Today, most of the estimated 264,172 Muslims are based in the north of the island.

Turkish Cypriot society is formally relatively secular; adherents to the faith subscribe mostly to the Sunni branch of Islam, with an influential stream of Sufism underlying their spiritual heritage and development. Nazim al-Qubrusi, the leader of the Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi order, hailed from Larnaca and lived in Lefka. Another branch among the Turkish Cypriot Muslims is Alevism. There are also a few Turkish Cypriots who are Ahmadi Muslims.

European Islam, or Euro-Islam, is a hypothesized new branch of Islam that historically originated and developed among the European peoples of the Balkans (primarily Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and European Turkey, but also in Bulgaria, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, countries with sizable Muslim minorities). These communities, alongside those in some republics of Russia, constitute a large population which constitute large populations of European Muslims. Historically significant Muslim populations in Europe include Azerbaijanis, Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians, Balkan Turks, Bosniaks, Böszörmény, Chechens, Circassians, Cretan Turks, Crimean Tatars, Gajals, Gorani, Greek Muslims, Ingush, Khalyzians, Kazakhs, Lipka Tatars, Muslim Albanians, Muslim Romani people, Pomaks, Torbeshi, Turks, Turkish Cypriots, Vallahades, Volga Tatars, Yörüks, and Megleno-Romanians from Notia today living in East Thrace, although the majority are secular.

The terms "European Islam" and "Euro-Islam" were originally introduced at a conference that took place in Birmingham in 1988, presided by Carl E. Olivestam, senior lecturer at Umeå University, and subsequently published in the Swedish handbook Kyrkor och alternativa rörelser ("Churches and Alternative Movements"). "European Islam" defines the ongoing debate on the social integration of Muslim populations in Western European countries such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. There are three Islamic scholars who participate in the debate on "Euro-Islam": Enes Karić, Bassam Tibi, and Tariq Ramadan, who adopted the term in the second half of the 1990s but use it with different meanings. The foremost Western, Non-Muslim scholars of political science and/or Islamic studies involved in the debate on "Euro-Islam" are Jocelyne Cesari, Jørgen S. Nielsen, and Olivier Roy.

The headscarf controversy in Turkey was a 20th and early 21st century controversy about women wearing Islamic headscarves. The Republic of Turkey had been a secular state since the constitutional amendment of 1937. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk introduced the secularization of the state in the Turkish Constitution of 1924, alongside his reforms. The suppression of hijab/headscarves and other prominent religious symbols in government institutions and public schools, (similar to policies in France, Quebec and Mexico) led to heated controversy at times in Turkey. Specifically, it resulted in a clash between those favoring the secular principles of the state, such as the Turkish Armed Forces, and religious conservatives, including Islamists. In the early 21st century, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reversed this, and worked to "raise a pious generation" in Turkey, which in turn created a backlash, even lowering the religiosity among the youth.

Between 80 and 90% of Turkey is Muslim, whilst a significant portion of them are Cultural Muslims. The use of veil is 40 to 50% of women in general, while only 35% of the young women are veiling.