Muslims in Macedonia belong to five ethnic groups: Albanians, Turks, Roma, Bosnians and Macedonian Muslims (also known as Torbeshi, Pomaks or Poturs.) Within these five groups the majority are Sunni, with a minority belonging to 6 Sufi orders (the Helveti, Qadiri, Sinani, Rufa’i, Naqsh-Bandi and Malami.) And just to make things really interesting there are also Bektashi, who are Shiite Muslims.
Macedonian Muslims are, by definition, a minority religious group within the community of ethnic Macedonians who are Muslims.
Got your thinking cap on?
Some of an Equation…
In order to clarify from the get-go and save the cerebral spaghetti: Macedonian Muslims are linguistically distinguished from other large Muslim ethnic groups in the wider region of Macedonia, (such as Albanians and Turks.) They are also culturally distinguished from the majority Orthodox Christian Slavic Macedonian community (and have been for centuries), and to top it all off, not all Macedonian Muslims consider themselves Macedonian by national identity.
So where did they come from?
The Macedonian Muslims are largely the descendants of Orthodox Christian Slavs from the region of Macedonia who converted to Islam when the Ottoman Empire ruled the Balkans. The Ottomans conquered the Balkans in the late 14th century and the conquest introduced Islam to the formerly Christian country in accordance with the Ottoman State’s goal of a “holy war” for the spread and defense of Islam. The goal of the conquest was not to destroy the subjected peoples, but to change their minds!
Give Me One Good Reason to Convert to Islam (and I’ll Give You Ten…)
There were several (good) reasons for converting to Islam in those days. First and foremost was protection (especially in and around Reka) from Albanian gangs that were raiding on a daily basis. The Ottoman Empire offered inhabitants who converted to Islam protection. Then there was the money issue: under Ottoman rule, Muslims paid lower taxes, as Muslims and non-Muslims were not treated equally. The Ottoman legal system incorporated two kinds of laws – Islamic law (sheriat) and Civil law. The cizye tax was imposed on every non-Muslim in the Empire and non-Muslims were not allowed to join the military or the high-level state administration. In a nutshell, being a Muslim had some serious perks in terms of wealth and status.
There are an estimated 55,000 and 80,000 Macedonian Muslims in the Republic of Macedonia today, and they live mainly in the Gora, Zupa, Drimkol, Golo Brdo and Reka regions. Many Macedonian Muslims work in agriculture, and a significant number work abroad. Macedonian Muslims famous for being fresco-painters, wood carvers and mosaic-makers. Over the past few decades, many have also emigrated to Western Europe and America.
Macedonian Muslims speak Macedonian as their first language. Despite their common language, racial heritage and peaceful coexistence, it is extremely rare for Macedonian Muslims to intermarry with Macedonian Orthodox Christians.
Indepence and Identity
Since the 1970’s, the Macedonian Muslims have attempted to defend their identity from assimilation by other Muslim minorities. In 1970 the Association of the Macedonian Muslims was formed with the blessing of the authorities.
The Macedonian state protects the Muslims within its territory in many respects and religious practices are not hindered. Although religious communities and groups are not allowed to own TV channels, private TV stations feature Muslim religious programs and religious materials can be published and printed without problems.
“Dva pati pomisli, ednas kazi (Think twice, say once.)“ Macedonian Proverb
