95–100% | |
90–95% | |
50–70% | |
30–35% | |
10–20% | |
5–10% | |
4–5% | |
2–4% | |
1–2% | |
< 1% |
Islam is thethird-largest religion or subdivision and second-largest religion inCroatia afterRoman Catholicism andEastern Orthodoxy, which areChristian religions. The religion is followed by1.3% of the country's population according to the 2021 census.[2] Islam was first introduced to Croatia by theOttoman Empire during theCroatian–Ottoman Wars that lasted from the 15th to 16th century. During this period some parts of theCroatian Kingdom were occupied which resulted in someCroats converting to Islam, some after being takenprisoners of war, some through thedevşirme system.[citation needed] Nonetheless, Croats strongly fought against the Turks during these few centuries which resulted in the fact that the westernmost border of the Ottoman Empire inEurope became entrenched on the Croatian soil.[citation needed] In 1519, Croatia was called theAntemurale Christianitatis byPope Leo X.
TheIslamic Community of Croatia (Mešihat Islamske Zajednice u Hrvatskoj) is the main organization of Muslims in Croatia that is officially recognized by the state.[3] The President of the Islamic Community is AzizEffendi Hasanović.[4] As of 2011, 62,977 Muslims live in Croatia. Most of them declare themselves asBosniaks (31,479) while others declare themselves as:Croats (9,647),Albanians (9,594),Roma (5,039),Turks (343),Macedonians (217),Montenegrins (159),Ahmadies (16) and other (2,420).[5]
The first modernmosque in Croatia was built inGunja in 1969.[6] Today there are 4 mosques[7] and 2 Islamic centers in Croatia (inZagreb[8] andRijeka[9]). Historically, during the Ottoman rule, there was a significantly larger number of mosques in Croatia. At one point there were 250 of them, but as of 2014 only 3 structures remained standing.[10] The largest and most representative one of them, Ibrahim Pasha's Mosque, is located in eastern Croatian town ofĐakovo but is today used as theRoman Catholic Church of All Saints.[10] Another mosque in eastern Croatia, which today does not exist, was located inOsijek.[10] It was theKasım Pasha Mosque constructed after 1526 at the site of modern-dayChurch of Saint Michael.[10] Most of the Ottoman structures in the region were systematically destroyed after theTreaty of Karlowitz.[10]
Highest rate of Muslims live in Gunja municipality (34,7 % population), followed byCetingrad (20,62 %),Raša (17,88 %),Vojnić (15,58 %),Vodnjan (14,02 %),Labin (10,68 %),Kršan (7,96 %),Sveta Nedelja (7,47 %),Drenovci (7,27 %) andČavle (6,72 %). As of 2011, there are totally 56 municipalities in Croatia in which no Muslims live, biggest of them beingBednja with 3,992 inhabitants.[11]
TheTurkish Ottoman Empire conquered part of Croatia from the 15th to the 19th century. NumerousCroats converted toIslam, some after being takenprisoners of war, some through thedevşirme system. The westernmost border of Ottoman Empire inEurope became entrenched on Croatian soil. In 1519, Croatia was called theAntemurale Christianitatis byPope Leo X.
The historical names of many officials in the Ottoman Empire reveal their origin (Hirvat = Hrvat or Horvat, which is a Croatian name for Croat):Rüstem Pasha (Rustem Pasha Hrvat - Opuković),Piyale Pasha (Pijali Pasha Hrvat), Memipaša Hrvat, Tahvilpaša Kulenović Hrvat etc.There was some considerable confusion over the terms "Croat" and "Serb" in these times, and "Croat" in some of these cases could mean anyone from the wider South Slavic area.[12]
In 1553,Antun Vrančić, Roman cardinal, and Franjo Zay, a diplomat, visited Istanbul as envoys of theCroatian-Hungarian king to discuss a peace treaty with theOttoman Empire. During the initial ceremonial greetings they had withRüstem 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 spokeCroatian. The interpreter was then dismissed and they proceeded in Croatian during the entire process of negotiations.
In 1585, traveler and writerMarco A. Pigaffetta, in hisItinerario published inLondon, states:InConstantinople it is customary to speakCroatian, a language which is understood by almost all official Turks, especially military men. Crucially though, thelingua franca at the time among Slavic elites in the Ottoman Empire was stillOld 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]
| Year | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | 4,000 | |||
| 1948 | 1,077 | |||
| 1953 | 16,185 | |||
| 1961 | 3,113 | |||
| 1971 | 18,487 | |||
| 1981 | 23,740 | |||
| 1991 | 43,486 | |||
| 2001 | 56,777 | |||
| 2011 | 62,977 | |||
| 2021 | 50,981 | |||
Within the territory of the present-day Republic of Croatia, Muslim believers were registered for the first time during the 1931 census: 1,239 of them were in Zagreb, and their overall number in Croatia was approximately 4,000.[citation needed]
The Quran was translated into Croatian for the first time byDžemaludin Čaušević and Muhamed Pandža in 1937.[13]
During theSecond World War the mufti of Zagreb wasIsmet Muftić. After the war he was tried and eventually publicly hanged by thePartisans in 1945 because he collaborated with the fascist regime of the CroatianWorld War II era dictatorAnte Pavelić.[14][15][16]
In the following censuses in thePeople's Republic of Croatia, registered Muslim believers numbered as follows:
In the 1960s, the Bosnians Muslims community advocated for the recognition of theMuslims as a nationality inSFR Yugoslavia. The1974 Yugoslav Constitution allowed for the official recognition of the Muslims as a nationality, therefore allowing more individuals to declare their alignment with a compromise categorization ofethnic Muslims (Muslimani), in this case separated from a religious basis (muslimani without capital letter). For example,Džemal Bijedić, a communist federal prime-minister was a declared "Muslim" and an atheist. The spike in the number of self-declared "Muslims" during socialist Yugoslavia times should thus be understood as persons having a family Muslim cultural background (similar to the concept ofcultural Christians), rather than practicing believers in Islam.Based on the figures recorded during the 1931 to 1961 census, it may also be concluded that a certain number of Muslim believers declared themselves asCroats orYugoslavs.
After thedissolution of Yugoslavia, an additional increase can be attributed to the influx of Bosnian Muslims that took place during and after the1992-1996 Bosnian conflict.
The2001 Croatian census identified a total of 56,777 adherents of Islam, or 1.3% of the total population of Croatia.[17]
95–100% | |
90–95% | |
50–70% | |
30–35% | |
10–20% | |
5–10% | |
4–5% | |
2–4% | |
1–2% | |
< 1% |
The published data from the2021 Croatian census included acrosstab of ethnicity and religion which showed that a total of 50,981 Muslims (1.32% of the total population) was divided between the following ethnic groups:[19]
Highest number of people following Islam live inZagreb (18,044), however highest rate of Muslims is inIstria County, where 9,965 people (4,79 % of county's population) have faith in Islam. Lowest number of people following Islam is inKrapina-Zagorje County, where are only 200 Muslims, making 0,15 % of the county's population.
| County | Number of Muslims | Percent | Municipalities with most Muslims |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Zagreb | 18,044 | 2.28% | Peščenica-Žitnjak, Sesvete, Novi Zagreb - zapad, Trešnjevka - sjever, Stenjevec |
| Primorje-Gorski Kotar | 10,667 | 3.60% | Rijeka, Viškovo, Crikvenica, Čavle, Kastav, Mali Lošinj, Bakar, Krk, Jelenje, Omišalj |
| Istria | 9,965 | 4.79% | Pula, Labin, Vodnjan, Poreč, Umag, Raša, Rovinj, Buzet, Kršan, Sveta Nedelja |
| Sisak-Moslavina | 4,140 | 2.40% | Sisak, Petrinja, Novska, Topusko, Kutina, Hrvatska Kostajnica, Sunja, Glina |
| Zagreb | 2,961 | 0.93% | Velika Gorica, Zaprešić, Samobor, Sveta Nedelja, Rugvica, Brdovec, Dugo Selo |
| Dubrovnik-Neretva | 2,927 | 2.39% | Dubrovnik, Župa dubrovačka, Ploče, Orebić, Konavle, Metković, Korčula |
| Vukovar-Syrmia | 2,619 | 1.46% | Gunja, Drenovci, Vinkovci, Županja, Vukovar, Vrbanja, Tovarnik, Bošnjaci |
| Split-Dalmatia | 2,282 | 0.5% | Split, Kaštela, Trogir, Makarska, Solin, Omiš, Hvar, Jelsa, Gradac, Supetar, Okrug |
| Karlovac | 2,163 | 1.68% | Vojnić, Karlovac, Cetingrad, Ogulin, Draganić, Slunj, Rakovica, Duga Resa, Krnjak |
| Osijek-Baranja | 1,625 | 0.53% | Osijek, Beli Manastir, Đakovo, Donji Miholjac, Našice, Darda, Čepin, Magadenovac |
| Brod-Posavina | 1,535 | 0.97% | Slavonski Brod, Nova Gradiška, Bukovlje, Sibinj, Oriovac, Stara Gradiška |
| Zadar | 1,207 | 0.97% | Zadar, Vir, Pag, Nin, Biograd na Moru, Obrovac, Pakoštane, Tkon, Preko, Benkovac |
| Šibenik-Knin | 458 | 0.42% | Šibenik, Vodice, Knin, Skradin, Tisno, Bilice, Drniš |
| Lika-Senj | 411 | 0.81% | Gospić, Novalja, Plitvička Jezera, Senj, Udbina, Otočac, Karlobag, Perušić |
| Varaždin | 349 | 0.20% | Varaždin, Lepoglava, Novi Marof, Gornji Kneginec |
| Bjelovar-Bilogora | 335 | 0.28% | Bjelovar, Daruvar, Grubišno Polje, Garešnica, Čazma, Veliki Grđevac, Berek |
| Virovitica-Podravina | 295 | 0.35% | Virovitica, Orahovica, Pitomača, Slatina, Suhopolje, Čačinci, Čađavica, Gradina |
| Koprivnica-Križevci | 280 | 0.24% | Koprivnica, Križevci, Đurđevac, Virje, Drnje, Sveti Ivan Žabno, Kloštar Podravski |
| Požega-Slavonia | 266 | 0.34% | Požega, Pakrac, Pleternica, Lipik, Kutjevo, Kaptol, Čaglin |
| Međimurje | 248 | 0.22% | Čakovec, Belica, Nedelišće, Prelog, Mursko Središće |
| Krapina-Zagorje | 200 | 0.15% | Zabok, Bedekovčina, Donja Stubica, Oroslavje, Krapina, Pregrada, Stubičke Toplice |
Croatia's capitalZagreb has one of the biggestmosques inEurope since 1987. During the existence of theOttoman Empire it had none becauseZagreb, as well as most parts of Croatia, was not occupied by theOttomans during theHundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War.
TheBosniak imamŠevko Omerbašić, was the long-time leader of theMuslim community ofCroatia and theMufti ofZagreb.
A new mosque inRijeka was opened in May 2013.[20]
