Islam in Slovakia

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In 2010, there were an estimated 10,600 Muslims in Slovakia representing 0.2% of the country's population. In the 17th century a small part of central southern Slovakia was occupied by Ottoman Turks for some time after Turkish settlements were established for example in Novohrad region .

History

Decades after the Hungarian defeat of Mohacs (1526) Turkish troops occupied Štúrovo (Párkány) and other parts of today's southern central Slovakia and encouraged the Protestant Christian groups while Habsburg Austrian troops occupied and recatholized the northern and western parts. Later on the Turks seized some further territories in southern central Slovakia and pillaged in territories up to Nitra. Finally, however, when the Turks lost the Battle of Vienna and the Ottoman vassal Imre Thököly was defeated in Slovakia, between 1687 and 1699 Turkish Ottoman rule in Hungary was finally broken.

Muslim demographics

Most of the Muslims in Slovakia are refugees from former Yugoslavia (Bosnians and Albanians) or workers from modern Turkey (Turks ), beside them a few Arab students. Most of the Muslims live in the capital Bratislava, smaller communities also exist in Košice and Martin. A few of the immigrants became Slovak citizen and additionally 150 Slovaks converted to Islam since the end of Communism (1990) and the independence (1993).

Slovakia is the last member state of the European Union without a mosque. In 2000, a dispute erupted about the building of an Islamic centre in Bratislava: the capital's mayor refused such attempts of the Slovak Islamic Waqfs Foundation.

In 2015, amidst the European migrant crisis, Slovakia agreed to admit 200 Christian asylum seekers, but refused to accept Muslims under an EU scheme to share migrants between member states. Slovak Ministry of Interior Affairs explained this decision by the absence of Muslim places of worship in Slovakia which will allegedly complicate the refugees' integration in Slovak society. The decision was criticised by the EU which doubted its legality and expressed concern for its discriminatory nature.

Gallery

• An Essay on Statements in Logic WDL2982.pdf

  "An Essay on Statements in Logic" by Safvet beg Bašagić (Collection of Islamic Manuscripts in the University Library of Bratislava).

• The Fathiyya Essay on Using the Mughayyab Quadrant WDL2993.pdf

  Treatise on astronomy, surveying, and mathematics by Badruddin al-Maridini (died 1506); (Collection of Islamic Manuscripts in the University Library of Bratislava).

• An Essay on the Tilt of the Mujayyab Quadrant WDL2994.pdf

  Ibrahim al-Halabi (died 1776) is about the sine, quadrant and parallel circles; (Collection of Islamic Manuscripts in the University Library of Bratislava).

• 

  A copy of Saadi Shirazi's works (Collection of Islamic Manuscripts in the University Library of Bratislava).

External links

• Muslims in Slovakia work for positive integration
• Protestants and Muslims without legal status