Islam in Ukraine
Encyclopedia
The majority of Muslims in Ukraine are ethnic Crimean Tatars
and live in the Crimean peninsula
. According to a Pew Forum study, the Muslim population in Ukraine is 393,000, while according to the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine there are 2 million Muslims in Ukraine
.
While ethnic Ukrainians
are predominantly Orthodox
and Uniate Christians, Muslims have lived in the territory that makes up modern Ukraine today for centuries. Muslim settlement in the country is concentrated in the country's southern half, particularly in Crimea, although there were colonies of Lipka Tatars
in other regions such as Volhynia
and Podolia
.
The Crimean Khanate
was established by the Crimean Tatars
in the 15th century. These people were formed from the Turkic
-speaking descendants of both Turkic
and non-Turkic peoples who had settled in Eastern Europe as early as the 7th century.
The Khanate soon lost its sovereignty and fell under the influence of the Ottoman Empire
on behalf of which it was ruled by the local tributary rulers with significant degree of autonomy. In 15th-18th centuries, Crimean Tatars frequently raided Eastern Slavic lands to capture slaves, enslaving an estimated 3 million people, predominantly Ukrainians. The influence of Russia
in the area, initially small, was growing slowly and in the late 18th century after the series of Russo-Turkish Wars the territory was annexed by the Russian Empire
.
The Crimean Tatars were Sunnis
and the Mufti
was regarded as the highest religious figure. All communities were led by and represented before others by local imams.
The Crimean Khanate had Bakhchisaray
as its capital. In the 18th century, when it was conquered by Russia, there were at least 18 mosques in the capital and several madrassas. The Russian Empire began persecuting the Muslim population and nearly 160,000 Tatars were forced to leave Crimea.
For the Muslims who stayed, there were conflicts in ideology among those who adhered to conservative form of religion
, the moderates, and those who subscribed to liberal and Western ideology.
, Muslims were one third of population of Crimea. Nearly all major cities in Crimea had a significant Muslim population.
Crimean Muslims were subjected to mass deportation in 1944 when Joseph Stalin
accused them of collaborating with the Nazi Germany
. Nearly 200,000 Crimean Tatars were deported to Central Asia
, mainly Uzbekistan
but also to Kazakhstan
and some regions of Russian SFSR. The main deportation occurred on May 18, 1944. It is estimated that about 45% of all Crimean Muslims died in 1944–1945 from hunger and disease. The property and territory abandoned by Crimean Tatars were appropriated by the mostly ethnic Russians
who were resettled by the Soviet authorities. This led to demographic changes in Ukraine with huge impact in the future. Although a 1967 Soviet decree removed the charges against Crimean Tatars, the Soviet government did nothing to facilitate their resettlement in Crimea and to make reparations for lost lives and confiscated property. The repatriation of Crimean Tatars to their homeland began only in 1989.
in Crimea and other parts of Ukraine but the proportion is not significant.
Muslims have formed three structures for running their affairs. These are:
Most Ukrainian Muslims affiliate to these organizations which help them join mainstream Islamic anbd Ukrainian daily life. Most Muslims have been trying to form a party to have a united voice in Politics, a so-called Muslim Congress, but so far it has not been achieved. Muslims have formed several charitable organizations helping both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities. These mainly include CAAR Foundation, Al-Bushra, and Life after Chornobyl. There is also the Interregional Association of Public Organizations, Arraid
which has often gained world attention due to its dedication.
have 445 communities, 433 ministers, 160 mosques with many more mosques being built.
In Crimea the Ukrainian Muslims make up to 12% of the population. At least 30 Ukrainian Muslim communities work without official registration (there are nearly 360 registered communities or organizations). Others groups include Chechens or Caucasian
immigrants or settlers, as well as a few Afghans
. Major languages are Tatar
, Turkish
and Caucasian languages such as Chechen
or Avar
. But all communities speak Russian
and many also speak the Ukrainian language
.
.
Among the large Sunnah corpus the only translation of "Forthy hadeeth an-Nawawe" is known (Alexandria, 2006, by M. Yakubovych).
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
and live in the Crimean peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
. According to a Pew Forum study, the Muslim population in Ukraine is 393,000, while according to the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine there are 2 million Muslims in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
History of Muslims in Ukraine
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
are predominantly Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
and Uniate Christians, Muslims have lived in the territory that makes up modern Ukraine today for centuries. Muslim settlement in the country is concentrated in the country's southern half, particularly in Crimea, although there were colonies of Lipka Tatars
Lipka Tatars
The Lipka Tatars are a group of Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians...
in other regions such as Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
and Podolia
Podolia
The region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova, is also a part of Podolia...
.
The Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea , was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was . Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
was established by the Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
in the 15th century. These people were formed from the Turkic
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
-speaking descendants of both Turkic
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
and non-Turkic peoples who had settled in Eastern Europe as early as the 7th century.
The Khanate soon lost its sovereignty and fell under the influence of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
on behalf of which it was ruled by the local tributary rulers with significant degree of autonomy. In 15th-18th centuries, Crimean Tatars frequently raided Eastern Slavic lands to capture slaves, enslaving an estimated 3 million people, predominantly Ukrainians. The influence of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in the area, initially small, was growing slowly and in the late 18th century after the series of Russo-Turkish Wars the territory was annexed by the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
.
The Crimean Tatars were Sunnis
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
and the Mufti
Mufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
was regarded as the highest religious figure. All communities were led by and represented before others by local imams.
The Crimean Khanate had Bakhchisaray
Bakhchisaray
Bakhchisaray is a town in Central Crimea, centre of the Bakhchisaray raion , best known as the former capital of the Crimean Khanate...
as its capital. In the 18th century, when it was conquered by Russia, there were at least 18 mosques in the capital and several madrassas. The Russian Empire began persecuting the Muslim population and nearly 160,000 Tatars were forced to leave Crimea.
For the Muslims who stayed, there were conflicts in ideology among those who adhered to conservative form of religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, the moderates, and those who subscribed to liberal and Western ideology.
Ukrainian Muslims in the 20th century
At the time of the Russian RevolutionRussian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
, Muslims were one third of population of Crimea. Nearly all major cities in Crimea had a significant Muslim population.
Crimean Muslims were subjected to mass deportation in 1944 when Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
accused them of collaborating with the Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Nearly 200,000 Crimean Tatars were deported to Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, mainly Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
but also to Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
and some regions of Russian SFSR. The main deportation occurred on May 18, 1944. It is estimated that about 45% of all Crimean Muslims died in 1944–1945 from hunger and disease. The property and territory abandoned by Crimean Tatars were appropriated by the mostly ethnic Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
who were resettled by the Soviet authorities. This led to demographic changes in Ukraine with huge impact in the future. Although a 1967 Soviet decree removed the charges against Crimean Tatars, the Soviet government did nothing to facilitate their resettlement in Crimea and to make reparations for lost lives and confiscated property. The repatriation of Crimean Tatars to their homeland began only in 1989.
Ukrainian Muslims today
Since Ukrainian independence (1991), more Crimean Tatars have returned to Crimea than during Soviet era. The Muslims are divided into various ethnic groups but the majority are of Tatar origin, of one particular clan or other. There have also been settlement by Chechen refugeesChechen refugees
During the inter-ethnic strife in Chechnya and the two separatist First and Second Chechen Wars, hundreds of thousands of Chechen refugees have left their homes and left the republic for elsewhere in Russia and abroad.-In Russia:...
in Crimea and other parts of Ukraine but the proportion is not significant.
Muslims have formed three structures for running their affairs. These are:
- The Spiritual Direction of the Muslims of UkraineThe Spiritual Direction of the Muslims of UkraineThe Spiritual Direction of the Muslims of Ukraine was established in 1992 in Kiev. In the aftermath of collapse of the Soviet Union,the minority Muslim community sought measure to organize itself to be properly represented in new free Ukrainian society. In 1994,its first congress or meeting was...
- The Spiritual Center of the Muslim Communities
- Spiritual Direction of the Muslims of CrimeaSpiritual Direction of the Muslims of CrimeaThe Spiritual Direction of the Muslims of Crimea is considered the largest Muslim organization in Ukraine. Established in 1991, it currently represents over 70 percent of all Muslims in Ukraine. It is widely regarded as a spiritual centre for Crimean Tatars. The organization publishes its own...
Most Ukrainian Muslims affiliate to these organizations which help them join mainstream Islamic anbd Ukrainian daily life. Most Muslims have been trying to form a party to have a united voice in Politics, a so-called Muslim Congress, but so far it has not been achieved. Muslims have formed several charitable organizations helping both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities. These mainly include CAAR Foundation, Al-Bushra, and Life after Chornobyl. There is also the Interregional Association of Public Organizations, Arraid
Arraid
Arraid is the independent Federation of Social Organizations registered on 7 February 1997 in Kiev, Ukraine. The Federation of Social Organizations "Arraid" is a confederation of nine organizations located in different cities of Ukraine: "Al-Manar" - in Kharkiv, "Al-Masar" - in Odessa, "Al-Nour" -...
which has often gained world attention due to its dedication.
Statistics
Muslims in UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
have 445 communities, 433 ministers, 160 mosques with many more mosques being built.
In Crimea the Ukrainian Muslims make up to 12% of the population. At least 30 Ukrainian Muslim communities work without official registration (there are nearly 360 registered communities or organizations). Others groups include Chechens or Caucasian
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
immigrants or settlers, as well as a few Afghans
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. Major languages are Tatar
Tatar language
The Tatar language , or more specifically Kazan Tatar, is a Turkic language spoken by the Tatars of historical Kazan Khanate, including modern Tatarstan and Bashkiria...
, Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
and Caucasian languages such as Chechen
Chechen language
The Chechen language is spoken by more than 1.5 million people, mostly in Chechnya and by Chechen people elsewhere. It is a member of the Northeast Caucasian languages.-Classification:...
or Avar
Avar language
The modern Avar language belongs to the Avar–Andic group of the Northeast Caucasian language family....
. But all communities speak Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and many also speak the Ukrainian language
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
.
Ukrainian translation of the Qur'an and Sunnah
A few attempts to render the Holy Book of Islam into Ukrainian were processed during the last centuries. Since the first non-direct (source?) translation of Abranchak-Lysynecki (Lviv, 1915), few partial translations were published (Yarema Polotniuk - Vsesvit Journal, 1990), Valeriy Rybalkin ("Stylos", 2002) and Mykhaylo YakubovychMykhaylo Yakubovych
Mykhaylo Mykhaylovych Yakubovych – Ukrainian Arabist, translator and scholar of Islam. Received his PhD from the National University of Ostroh Academy where currently works as a lecturer and researcher in Islamic Studies. Conducted his research on the Medieval Islam during his fellowships in...
.
Among the large Sunnah corpus the only translation of "Forthy hadeeth an-Nawawe" is known (Alexandria, 2006, by M. Yakubovych).
See also
- Crimean KhanateCrimean KhanateCrimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea , was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was . Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
- Crimean TatarsCrimean TatarsCrimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
- CrimeaCrimeaCrimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
- Ochakov
- Mustafa Abdülcemil QırımoğluMustafa Abdülcemil QirimogluMustafa Abdülcemil Qırımoğlu , also known as Mustafa Jemilev , is Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and a member of the Ukrainian Parliament since 1998...
- Islam in RussiaIslam in RussiaIslam is the second most widely professed religion in the Russian Federation. According to a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 6% of respondents considered themselves Muslims. According to Reuters, Muslim minorities make up a seventh of Russia's population...
- Islam in BelarusIslam in BelarusIslam in Belarus has long history. It was introduced into the lands which now constitute Belarus by Lipka Tatars in the 14th -16th centuries. Today Muslim immigrants contribute to Islam in the country.-History:...
- Islam in PolandIslam in PolandThe first ever written account of Poland was recorded by the Muslim Caliphate of Córdoba's 10th-century envoy, Ibrahim ibn Jakub. A continuous presence of Islam in Poland began in the 14th century. From this time it was primarily associated with the Tatars, many of whom settled in the...
External links
- http://gazeta.arraid.org (Ukrainean Muslims Newspaper ARRAID)
- http://www.islam.in.ua (News & publicistic site about Islam & Muslim in Ukraine)
- http://www.islamyat.org (Official website) Religious Administration of Ukraine
- Crimean Tatar Internet Resources
- Crimean Tatars Short History
- Ukrainian translations of the Meanings of the Glorious Qur'an: Problems and Prospects. An article by Mykhaylo Yakubovych
- Yakubovych, Mykhaylo 'Islam and Muslims in Contemporary Ukraine: Common Backgrounds, Different Images', Religion, State and Society, September 2010, 38:3, 291 - 304