Islam in Hungary has a long history that dates back to at least the 10th century. The influence of
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...
was especially pronounced in the 16th century during the
Ottoman period in Hungary
Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to:
Governments and dynasties
* Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924
* Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...
.
History
Early history
In the old form of the Hungarian language,
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
were called ''Böszörmény'', cognates with ''Turkish'' Bozulmamış, which in turn descends from ar, مسلم, ''Muslim'', a term preserved as both a
family name
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
, and as that of the town
Hajdúböszörmény
Hajdúböszörmény is a town in northeastern Hungary with a population of approximately 30,000 people.
History
It is also known as a famous college town with an excellent academic atmosphere, as it is home to one of the faculties of the world's ...
.
The first
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic author to speak of this Muslim community was
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) ( ar, ياقوت الحموي الرومي) was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine Greek ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th-13th centuries). He is known fo ...
(575-626
AH/1179-1229
CE), he writes about a famous
Hungarian student who studied in
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
, image_map1 =
...
, according to the student there were 30 Muslim villages in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
. Yaqut writes in his famous geographical dictionary, "Mu'ajam al-Buldan", about his meeting with a Hungarian Muslim youth in Syria who was studying Islam there and brought some details of the history and life of their people in Hungary. The Spaniard Muslim traveler
Abu Hamid al Garnati wrote of two types of Muslims in Hungary, the first being the
Böszörmény
Böszörmény, also Izmaelita or Hysmaelita ("Ishmaelites") or Szerecsen ("Saracens"), is a name for the Muslims who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 10–13th centuries. Some of the ''Böszörmény'' probably joined the federation of the sev ...
of the
Carpathian Basin
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only th ...
and
Volga Bulgars
Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgars, Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic ...
(
Khwarezm
Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ...
ians).
In the 11th century,
St. Ladislaus and later
Coloman Coloman, es, Colomán (german: Koloman (also Slovak, Czech, Croatian), it, Colomanno, ca, Colomà; hu, Kálmán)
The Germanic origin name Coloman used by Germans since the 9th century.
* Coloman, King of Hungary
* Coloman of Galicia-Lodomeria ...
passed laws against the non-Christians (
Synod of Szabolcs
The synod of Szabolcs was an assembly of the prelates of the Kingdom of Hungary which met at the fortress of Szabolcs on 21 May 1092. It was presided over by King Ladislaus I of Hungary. The synod passed decrees which regulated the life of both c ...
). These laws subdued Islam by coercing Muslims to eat pork, go to Church, intermarry, and to forbid them from celebrating Friday. Some of Coloman's laws include:
László (Saint Ladislaus) passed the following law:
These laws discriminated severely against the small minority and eventually led to the disappearance of the community and its professions altogether.
Turkish rule of central Hungary
The Turks entered
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
after the
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and thos ...
in 1526. From 1541, they started to control the central part directly and organized five
eyalet
Eyalets ( Ottoman Turkish: ایالت, , English: State), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were a primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire.
From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government ...
s:
Budin,
Kanije
Nagykanizsa (; hr, Velika Kaniža/Velika Kanjiža, or just ''Kaniža/Kanjiža''; german: Großkirchen, Groß-Kanizsa; it, Canissa; sl, Velika Kaniža; tr, Kanije), known colloquially as Kanizsa, is a medium-sized city in Zala County in southw ...
,
Eğri,
Varat (
Oradea
Oradea (, , ; german: Großwardein ; hu, Nagyvárad ) is a city in Romania, located in Crișana, a sub-region of Transylvania. The county seat, seat of Bihor County, Oradea is one of the most important economic, social and cultural centers in the ...
), and
Temeşvar.
In the 16th century, during the
Ottoman rule
Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to:
Governments and dynasties
* Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924
* Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...
, numerous Muslim personalities were born in Hungary. Among them, the most important were the Ottoman
Grand Vizier
Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...
,
Kanijeli Siyavuş Pasha
Kanijeli Siyavuş Pasha ( ota, کانیجلی سیاوش پاشا, sh, Sijavuš-paša Kanjižanin, died 1602, Istanbul) was an Ottoman statesman from the Sanjak of Bosnia. He was Grand Vizier between 24 December 1582 and 28 July 1584, 15 Apr ...
(from
Nagykanizsa
Nagykanizsa (; hr, Velika Kaniža/Velika Kanjiža, or just ''Kaniža/Kanjiža''; german: Großkirchen, Groß-Kanizsa; it, Canissa; sl, Velika Kaniža; tr, Kanije), known colloquially as Kanizsa, is a medium-sized city in Zala County in southw ...
) who held the function three times between 1582 and 1593, the Ottoman historian
İbrahim Peçevi
İbrahim Peçevi or Peçuyli İbrahim Efendi or ''(in Bosnian)'' Ibrahim Alajbegović Pečevija (1572–1650) (Ottoman Turkish: پچویلی ابراهیم افندى ) was an Ottoman Bosnian historian-chronicler of the Ottoman Empire.
Life
He ...
(Ibrahim of Pécs), and the famous
Mevlevi
The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya ( tr, Mevlevilik or Mevleviyye; fa, طریقت مولویه) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya (a city now in Turkey; formerly capital of the Seljuk Sultanate) and which was founded by the followers of Jalal ...
an
dervish
Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity
A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, ...
Pecsevi Árifi Ahmed Dede, also a Turk native of
Pécs
Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...
.
Most Islamic studies in Hungary were taught according to the
Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...
madhhab
A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE an ...
, or Hanafi school of thought, of
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...
.
Turkish rule in the Hungarian lands ended definitively in 1699, with the signing of the
Treaty of Karlowitz
The Treaty of Karlowitz was signed in Karlowitz, Military Frontier of Archduchy of Austria (present-day Sremski Karlovci, Serbia), on 26 January 1699, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1697 in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the ...
. The 150-year Ottoman period left behind a legacy of Turkish architecture such as mosques,
türbe
''Türbe'' is the Turkish word for "tomb". In Istanbul it is often used to refer to the mausolea of the Ottoman sultans and other nobles and notables.
The word is derived from the Arabic ''turbah'' (meaning ''"soil/ground/earth"''), which ...
s, and public baths (
hamam
A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited f ...
s), as well as changes in the local cuisine, such as the popularization of coffeehouses and the introduction of the
paprika
Paprika ( US , ; UK , ) is a spice made from dried and ground red peppers. It is traditionally made from ''Capsicum annuum'' varietals in the Longum group, which also includes chili peppers, but the peppers used for paprika tend to be milder an ...
, an essential spice in Hungarian dishes.
Modern era
In the 19th century, after the collapse of the
revolution of 1848-9, more than 6,000 emigrated Poles and Hungarians followed General
Józef Bem
Józef Zachariasz Bem ( hu, Bem József, tr, Murat Pasha; March 14, 1794 – December 10, 1850) was a Polish engineer and general, an Ottoman pasha and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European patriot ...
(Murat Paşa) into Turkish exile. Among them were such Hungarian officers such as
Richard Guyon
Richard de Beaufré comte de Guyon (1813 – 12 October 1856) was a British-born Hungarian soldier, general in the Hungarian revolutionary army and Turkish pasha (Kurshid Pasha).
Biography Early life
He was born at Walcot, near Bath, ...
(Kurşid Paşa),
György Kmety
György Kmety ( Felsőpokorágy, – London, ) was a general in the Hungarian Army, and in the Ottoman Army under the name Ismail Pasha.
Career
Kmety's father was a noble but poor evangelist vicar who died in 1818, so his brother (Pau ...
(Ismail Paşa) and
Maximilian Stein (Ferhad Paşa). These personalities were afterwards raised to the post of General.
Guyon is described in the
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
as "the first Christian to obtain the rank of pasha and a Turkish military command without being obliged to change his religion", a sign of modernizing meritocracy under the 19th-century Ottomans.
The council of
Újbuda
Újbuda (lit. ''New Buda'') is the 11th district of Budapest ( hu, Budapest XI. kerület), Hungary. It is the most populous district of Budapest with 137,426 inhabitants (2008). Until the 1890s, Újbuda's present territory was a field south of th ...
has given permission for the Muslim community in Hungary to build the first Islamic centre in Budapest. The new Islamic centre will hold a library containing 50,000 volumes.
In 2013, the Hungarian Islamic Council requested for the
Grand Mufti
The Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is the head of regional muftis, Islamic jurisconsults, of a state. The office originated in the early modern era in the Ottoman empire and has been later adopted in a num ...
of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Husein Kavazović to also become Grand Mufti of Hungary.
Religious law
Hungary's new "Law on the Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion, and on Churches, Religions and Religious Communities" was enacted 12 July 2011 and recognizes only 14 religious groups. Islam is not included in this list and Muslims have to apply to get official recognition under the new law. Under the law, only 14 of 358 registered churches and religious associations will be granted legal recognition, while others will have to reapply for legal registration after two-thirds approval in parliament.
On 27 February 2012, Hungary's parliament amended the country's controversial law on religious organizations by expanding the list of officially recognized organizations to include the Hungarian Islamic Council.
Demographics
According to the 2011 Hungarian census, there were 5,579 Muslims in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, making up only about 0.057% of the total population. Of these, 4,097 (73.4%) declared themselves as
Hungarian, while 2,369 (42.5%) as
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
by ethnicity. In Hungary people can declare more than one ethnicity (sum is greater than the whole), Data from 2011 does not show the Turkish population (which was 1,565 in the 2001 census).
However, the majority of Muslims in Hungary are of Arab or Turkish origin.
Moreover, there is also a growing number of ethnic Hungarian converts to Islam.
The actual number of Muslims in Hungary is likely to be above 5,579 Muslims. Following the war in Syria, an important influx of
asylum seekers
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...
arrived in 2014, 2015 and 2016 where more than 200,000 asylum applications were filed in Hungary. However from 2017 and onwards, Hungarian authorities have registered less than few hundred applications.
Notable people
*
Gyula Germanus
Gyula Germanus (6 November 1884, in Budapest – 7 November 1979, in Budapest), alias Julius Abdulkerim Germanus, was a professor of oriental studies, a Hungarian writer and Islamologist, member of the Hungarian Parliament and member of multiple ...
, writer and politician
*
István Horthy Jr., physicist and architect
*
Ibrahim Muteferrika
Ibrahim Müteferrika ( tr, İbrahim Müteferrika; 1674–1745 CE) was a Hungarian-born Ottoman diplomat, publisher, economist, historian, Islamic theologian, sociologist, and the first Muslim to run a printing press with movable Arabic type ...
*
İbrahim Peçevi
İbrahim Peçevi or Peçuyli İbrahim Efendi or ''(in Bosnian)'' Ibrahim Alajbegović Pečevija (1572–1650) (Ottoman Turkish: پچویلی ابراهیم افندى ) was an Ottoman Bosnian historian-chronicler of the Ottoman Empire.
Life
He ...
Gallery
File:Gül baba türbéje.JPG, The türbe
''Türbe'' is the Turkish word for "tomb". In Istanbul it is often used to refer to the mausolea of the Ottoman sultans and other nobles and notables.
The word is derived from the Arabic ''turbah'' (meaning ''"soil/ground/earth"''), which ...
of Gül Baba
Gül Baba (died 1541), also known as Jafer, was an Ottoman Bektashi dervish poet and companion of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent who took part in a number of campaigns in Europe from the reign of Mehmed II onwards.
Biography
A native of M ...
, several works of Islamic art can be visited: copiess of Koran, prayer rugs, devotional objects
File:Minaret in Érd. S. - Hungary.JPG, Érd minaret
The Érd minaret ( Hungarian: Érdi minaret) is an Ottoman era minaret tower situated in Érd near capital Budapest in Hungary. It is one of only three Ottoman era minarets still surviving in Hungary. The other two are the Eger minaret and the min ...
seen in 2015
File:Szechenyi square new Pecs.JPG, Former mosque of Pasha Qasim
The Downtown Candlemas Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary ( hu, Belvárosi Gyertyaszentelő Boldogasszony-templom), formerly known as the Mosque of Pasha Qasim ( hu, Gázi Kászim pasa dzsámija, tr, Gazi Kasım Paşa Camii) is a Roman Catholic ...
in Pécs
Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...
, now used as a Catholic church
File:Eger 16. század.jpg, Eger
Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque build ...
city in 16th century with mosques and minarets
File:Yakovali Hassan minbar.jpg, Minbar
A minbar (; sometimes romanized as ''mimber'') is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (, ''khutbah''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Hussainiya where the speaker sits and le ...
of the Yakovalı Hasan Paşa Mosque
The Yakovalı Hasan Paşa Mosque ( hu, Jakováli Hasszán dzsámija, tr, Yakovalı Hasan Paşa Camii) is a late 16th-century mosque in Pécs, southern Hungary. It was constructed when the region was part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, around th ...
, Pécs, Hungary
See also
*
Hungarian Islamic Council
*
Gül Baba
Gül Baba (died 1541), also known as Jafer, was an Ottoman Bektashi dervish poet and companion of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent who took part in a number of campaigns in Europe from the reign of Mehmed II onwards.
Biography
A native of M ...
*
Almış (Almas) iltäbär
*
Kaliz
*
Islam in Romania
Islam in Romania is followed by only 0.3 percent of population, but has 700 years of tradition in Northern Dobruja, a region on the Black Sea coast which was part of the Ottoman Empire for almost five centuries (ca. 1420-1878). In present-day R ...
*
Islam in Slovakia
*
Turks in Hungary
The Turks in Hungary, also referred to as Turkish Hungarians and Hungarian Turks, ( hu, Magyarországi törökök, tr, Macaristan Türkleri) refers to ethnic Turkish people, Turks living in Hungary. The Turkish people first began to migrate pre ...
References
External links
Islamic history in HungaryHistory of Islam in Hungary
{{Hungary articles
hu:Iszlám#Az iszlám Magyarországon