Publisher: Edinburgh University Press (January 16, 2018)

Series: The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys

The history and contemporary situation of Muslim communities in Eastern Europe are explored here from three angles. First, survival, telling of the resilience of these Muslim communities in the face of often restrictive state policies and hostile social environments, especially during the Communist period. Next, their subsequent revival in the aftermath of the Cold War, and last, transformation, looking at the profound changes currently taking place in the demographic composition of the communities and in the forms of Islam practiced by them. The reader is shown a picture of the general trends common to the Muslim communities of Eastern Europe, and the special characteristics of clusters of states, such as the Baltics, the Balkans, the Višegrad states, and the European states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

About the Author

Egdūnas Račius is a Professor of Islamic studies at Vytautas Magnus University (Kaunas, Lithuania). He is the Reviews Editor of the Journal of Muslims in Europe and a co-editor of the Yearbook of Muslims in Europe.

Table of Contents

• 1. Autochthonous Islam of Eastern Europe – populations, practices, institutions

• 2. Historical overview

– Mongol-Tatar invasion of Eastern Europe and its consequences
– Russian possessions in Eastern Europe and its Muslim population
– Ottoman possessions in South-Eastern Europe

• 3. North-Eastern Europe

– The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and its legacy
– Russia
– Ukraine
– The Baltic States
– Belarus
– Moldova

• 4. Successor states of Yugoslavia

– The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its legacy
– Bosnia and Herzegovina
– Montenegro and Serbia
– Kosovo
– Macedonia
– Slovenia and Croatia

• 5. South-Eastern Europe

– Albania
– Bulgaria
– Romania

• 6. Central Europe

– Poland
– Hungary
– The Czech Republic and Slovakia

• 7. Islam in Eastern Europe, Eastern European Islam: new faces, the new challenges

Reviews

– “A long overdue account of a dimension of Islam in Europe which has generally been ignored in western discussions. Providing comprehensive coverage of the subject in a way that is accessible to a university audience, this has the potential to become the foundational text in the subject.” (Jørgen S. Nielsen, University of Copenhagen)

Source: Edinburgh University Press

With 32 participants and 22 reports young scholars worked during 5 days. Among the lecturers was a guest from Brussels, Professor Muhammad Badie, who is also a Sharia specialist; a well-known Ukrainian scholar, translator and Islamologist, Associate Professor of the National University of Ostroh Academy Mykhailo Yakubovich; Mufti of the Spiritual Directorate of the Muslims of Ukraine Ummah Said Ismagilov; Head of the Eastern Philosophy Department of the Department of Religious Studies at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Oleg Yarosh; a fellow of the Institute of Eastern Studies of the Historical Faculty of Poznan University (Poland) Mariusz Marshevsky; an Azerbaijani historian, political scientist, theologian and publicist Teymur Atayev.

The discussion was devoted to current processes that take place in the cultural, scientific, religious environment of Muslims in Ukraine, in the post-Soviet space, as well as in countries of Western Europe and the Middle East. The participants will discuss issues related to the history of Islam, cultural phenomena, intellectual developments, Islamic philosophy, and theology.

The school operated from June 30 to July 5 at the Islamic Cultural Center of Odessa.

Source: Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU)