European Islam in the context of "Cretan Turks"

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⭐ Core Definition: European Islam

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.

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European Islam in the context of Islam in Europe

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.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Islam in Europe
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Roman Catholic Church → Eastern Orthodox Church → Muslim → Mosque → Bosanska Krupa → Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina → Branches of Islam → European peoples → Balkans → Albania → Bosnia and Herzegovina → Kosovo → East Thrace → Bulgaria → Montenegro → North Macedonia → Republics of Russia → Russia → Azerbaijanis → Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians → Balkan Turks → Bosniaks → Böszörmény → Chechens → Circassians → Cretan Turks → Crimean Tatars → Gajal → Gorani people → Greek Muslims → Ingush people → Khalyzians → Kazakhs → Lipka Tatars → Muslim Albanians → Muslim Romani people → Pomaks → Torbeshi → Turkish people → Turkish Cypriots → Vallahades → Volga Tatars → Yörüks → Megleno-Romanians → Notia → Cultural Muslims → Birmingham → Umeå University → Social integration → Islam in France → Islam in Germany → Islam in the United Kingdom → Islam in the Netherlands → Islamic scholar → Enes Karić → Bassam Tibi → Tariq Ramadan → Political science → Islamic studies → Jocelyne Cesari → Jørgen S. Nielsen → Olivier Roy (political scientist) →