Macedonian Muslims

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The Macedonian Muslims (Macedonian: Македонци Муслимани or Makedonski Muslimani), also known as Muslim Macedonians^[3] or Torbesh (the later name is somewhat pejorative and means the bag carriers), are a minority religious group within the community of ethnic Macedonians who are Sunni Muslims, although not all espouse a Macedonian national identity. They have been culturally distinct from the majority Orthodox Christian Slavic Macedonian community for centuries.

Contents 1 Islamicisation 2 Areas of settlement 3 Demographics 4 Language and ethnic affiliation 5 Political activities 6 Occupation 7 See also 8 References

[edit] Islamicisation

The Macedonian Muslims are largely the descendants of Christian Slavs who converted to Islam during the centuries when the Ottoman Empire ruled the Balkans. The main factor prompting their conversion, was the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire regularly compelled a conquered population to convert. Social and economic factors also contributed to their conversion to Islam. Non-Muslims were regarded by the state and Ottoman society as being of an inferior status. They were treated differently under the law and the taxation system, being subjected to special taxes such as the jizya head tax. Muslims had a lighter tax burden than unbelievers and enjoyed more favourable treatment from the law and the state; the testimony of Christians, for instance, was inadmissible as evidence in legal proceedings. They also benefited from the prestige accorded to the religion of the ruling class of the empire - in practice, Christianity was the religion of a conquered underclass.^[4]

[edit] Areas of settlement

The largest concentration of Macedonian Muslims is in the western part of the country, in the town of Debar and surrounding villages and in the Reka region between Mavrovo, the state border with Albania, Debar and Kičevo. The region is mountaneous, positioned in the slopes of Sar Mountain on the north, and the northern parts of the Deshat on the south. Mount Korab lie on the western border, while Mount Bistra and Stogovo mountains are situated on the eastern one. The region takes its name from the Radika river (reka is the Macedonian word for a river). The region has approximately 10,000 inhabitants. However, there are smaller concentrations of Macedonian Muslims in other places of the country as well.

[edit] Demographics

The exact numbers of Macedonian Muslims are not easy to establish. The writer Ivo Banac estimates that in the old Kingdom of Yugoslavia, before World War II, the Macedonian Muslim population stood at around 27,000.^[5] Subsequent censuses have produced dramatically varying figures: 1,591 in 1953, 3,002 in 1961, 1,248 in 1971 and 39,355 in 1981. Commentators have suggested that the latter figure includes many who previously identified themselves as Turks. Meanwhile the Association of Macedonian Muslims has claimed that since World War II more than 70,000 Macedonian Muslims have been assimilated by other Muslim groups, most notably the Albanians.^[6]

[edit] Language and ethnic affiliation

Like their Christian ethnic kin, Macedonian Muslims speak the Macedonian language as their first language. Despite their common religion, Macedonian Muslims rarely intermarry with the country's other Muslims. Macedonian ethnologists do not consider the Muslim Slavs a separate ethnic group from the Christian Macedonian Slavs, but instead a religious minority within the Macedonian Slav ethnic community.

They should not be confused with the Macedonian Albanians, who are an entirely different ethnic group which is also divided into Muslim and Christian populations.

Some Turkish ethnologists have claimed that the Macedonian Muslims are in fact Slavicized Turks, although this interpretation is not widely supported.^[7] The Macedonian writer Jakim Sinadinovski has similarly claimed that the Macedonian Muslims are not, in fact, Slavic Macedonians; this prompted a strong reaction when his thesis was first published in 1988.^[8]

When the Republic of Macedonia was established in 1946, the ruling Communists encouraged the Macedonian Muslims to adopt an ethnic Macedonian identity,^{[citation needed]} which Macedonian Christians were also compelled to accept.^{[citation needed]} This has since led to some tensions with the Macedonian Christian community over the widespread association between Macedonian national identity and adherence to the Macedonian Orthodox Church.^[9]

[edit] Political activities

The principal outlet for Macedonian Muslim political activities has been the Association of Macedonian Muslims. It was established in 1970 with the support of the authorities, probably as a means of keeping Macedonian Muslim aspirations in control.^[10]

The fear of assimilation into the Albanian Muslim community has been a significant factor in Macedonian Muslim politics, amplified by the tendency of some Macedonian Muslims to vote for Albanian candidates. In 1990, the chairman of the Macedonian Muslims organization, Riza Memedovski, sent an open letter to the Chairman of the Party for Democratic Prosperity of Macedonia, accusing the party of using religion to promote the Albanization of the Macedonian Muslims.[1]. A controversy broke out in 1995 when the Albanian-dominated Meshihat or council of the Islamic community in Macedonia declared that Albanian was the official language of Muslims in Macedonia. The decision prompted protests from the leaders of the Macedonian Muslim community.^[9]

[edit] Occupation

The main occupation of the Macedonian Muslims is cattle breeding and working abroad. Macedonian Muslims are well-known as fresco-painters, wood carvers and mosaic-makers. In the past few decades large numbers of Macedonian Muslims have emigrated to Italy and other Western European countries.

[edit] See also

• Macedonians (ethnic group)
• Greek Muslims
• Muslim Bulgarians
• Pomaks
• Gorani

[edit] References

1. ^ Gallagher, Tom. The Balkans In The New Millennium: In the Shadow of War and Peace, p. 85. (Routledge, 2005)
2. ^ M. Apostolov, "The Pomaks: A Religious Minority in The Balkans", (1996)
3. ^ Kowan, J. (2000) Macedonia: The Politics of Identity and Difference, p.111
4. ^ Jean W. Sedlar, East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500, p. 190. University of Washington Press, 1994. ISBN 0295972904
5. ^ Ivo Banac, The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics, p. 50 (Cornell University Press, 1989)
6. ^ Hugh Poulton, Who Are the Macedonians?, p. 124. (C. Hurst & Co, 1995)
7. ^ Victor A. Friedman, "Language in Macedonia as an Identity Construction Site", in When Languages Collide: Perspectives on Language Conflict, Language Competition, and Language Coexistence, p. 267, ed. Brian D. Joseph (Ohio State University Press, 2003)
8. ^ Jakim Sinadinovski, Macedonian Muslims, Then and Now
9. ^ ^{a b} Duncan M. Perry, "The Republic of Macedonia: finding its way", in Politics, Power and the Struggle for Democracy in South-East Europe, ed. Karen Dawisha, Bruce Parrott, p. 256. (Cambridge University Press, 1997)
10. ^ Hugh Poulton, "Changing Notions of National Identity among Muslims", in Muslim Identity and the Balkan States, ed. Hugh Poulton, Suha Taji-Farouki (C. Hurst & Co, 1997)