Islam in Serbia

Bajrakli Mosque in Belgrade

Islam spread to Serbia during the five centuries of Ottoman rule. The Muslims in Serbia are mostly ethnic Bosniaks, Albanians and minor but significant part of Roma people as well as members of the smaller ethnic groups Muslims by nationality and Gorani.

Demographics

According to 2011 census, there were 228,658 Muslims in Serbia (3.1% of total population, excluding Kosovo). Largest concentration of Muslims in Serbia could be found in the municipalities of Novi Pazar, Tutin and Sjenica in the Sandžak region, and in the municipalities of Preševo and Bujanovac in the Preševo Valley.

Muslims in Serbia (excluding Kosovo)

	census 1921[1]		census 1991		census 2002		census 2011
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Muslims	97,672	2.23	224,120	2.89	239,658	3.2	228,828	3.1

Ethnic groups

• Bosniaks and Muslims by nationality, mostly living in the Sandžak region,
• Albanians in south Serbia.
• Romani, including Serbian-speaking groups from southern Serbia as well as Albanian-speaking groups.
• Gorani, Slavic ethnic group.

Organization

Adherents of Islam in Serbia are organized into two separate bodies, one subordinate to the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the other, founded in 2007, traces its origins to the Principality of Serbia.^[2] In 2012, the reis-ul-ulema Mustafa Cerić of Bosnia published a fatwa against Adem Zilkić, categorizing his actions as Masjid al-Dirar.^[3]

The Islamic Community of Serbia (Islamska zajednica Srbije), with seat in Belgrade, is administered by reis-ul-ulema Adem Zilkić. It is divided into:

• • Mešihat of Serbia, with seat in Belgrade
  • Mešihat of Raška, with seat in Novi Pazar
  • Mešihat of Preševo, with seat in Preševo

The Islamic Community in Serbia (Islamska zajednica u Srbiji), with seat in Novi Pazar, is administered by mufti Muamer ef. Zukorlić, which include:

• • Islamic Community in Raška region or Muftiship of Sandžak, with seat in Novi Pazar, administered by mufti Muamer Zukorlić.
  • Islamic Community in Vojvodina or Muftiship of Novi Sad, with seat in Novi Sad, administered by mufti Fadil Murati.
  • Islamic Community in Preševo Valley or Muftiship of Preševo, with seat in Preševo.
  • Islamic Community in Central Serbia or Muftiship of Belgrade, with seat in Belgrade.

Gallery

• 
  Sketches of ordinary Serbian Muslims.
• 
  Ottoman manuscript from Smederevo, 1526
• 
  Organization of the Rijaset of the Islamic Community of Serbia (as of 2007)
• 
  Organization of the Mešihat of the Islamic Community in Serbia, which is part of the Rijaset of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina (as of 2007)
• 
  Mosque in Sjenica
• 
  Mosque in Preševo

References

1. http://www.rastko.rs/istorija/srbi-balkan/sradovanovic-demography.html
2. "Zilkić ponovo izabran" (in Serbian). Radio Television of Serbia. 13 February 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
3. "Reakcije na fetvu protiv reisa IZ Srbije" (in Bosnian). Al Jazeera Balkans. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2014.

External links

• Islamic community of Serbia (IZS)
• Islamic community in Serbia (IZuS)
• Publishing house of ICinS
• Faculty of Islamic studies in Novi Pazar