Islam is the third most widely professed religion in North Ossetia–Alania. While the majority of

Ossetians The Ossetians or Ossetes (, ; os, ир, ирæттæ / дигорӕ, дигорӕнттӕ, translit= ir, irættæ / digoræ, digorænttæ, label=Ossetic) are an Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the no ...

are

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

(predominantly

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

) and professing their ancestral faith

Uatsdin Assianism (, ''Watsdin'') is a modern Pagan religion derived from the traditional mythology of the Ossetians, modern descendants of the Scythians of the Alan tribes, believed to be a continuation of the ancient Scythian religion. The religion is ...

, according to official estimates, 30 percent of the population of North Ossetia–Alania is

Muslim 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 Abrah ...

(predominantly

Sunni 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 disagr ...

) (most of them are not ethnic Ossetians but Ingush and other).Республика Северная Осетия-Алания: долгий путь к исламу

History

The Digor in the west came under

Kabard The Kabardians ( Highland Adyghe: Къэбэрдей адыгэхэр; Lowland Adyghe: Къэбэртай адыгэхэр; russian: Кабардинцы) or Kabardinians are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of t ...

and

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 influence. It was through the

Kabardians The Kabardians ( Highland Adyghe: Къэбэрдей адыгэхэр; Lowland Adyghe: Къэбэртай адыгэхэр; russian: Кабардинцы) or Kabardinians are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of th ...

(an East Circassian tribe) that Islam was introduced into North Ossetia – Alania in the 17th century.

Islam today

The Ossetian capital of

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz (russian: Владикавка́з, , os, Дзæуджыхъæу, translit=Dzæwdžyqæw, ;), formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () and Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of the North Ossetia-Alania, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Ru ...

houses the

Mukhtarov Mosque The Sunni Mosque or the Mukhtarov Mosque is a historic mosque on the left bank of the Terek River in Vladikavkaz, Russia. The mosque owes its name to the Azerbaijani millionaire Murtuza Mukhtarov who financed its construction in 1900–1908. The a ...

, built in the beginning of the 20th century. Money for the construction of the mosque was donated by the Azerbaijani tycoon

Murtuza Mukhtarov Murtuza Mukhtarov ( az, Murtuza Muxtarov) (1857 – 1920) was an Azerbaijani oil industrialist and millionaire who built the Mukhtarov Palace in Baku and the Mukhtarov Mosque in Vladikavkaz. Mukhtarov was born into a poor family in a vill ...

. The mosque was built in the Egyptian style and has no architectural analogies in the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...

. After the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was ...

in 1917, Islam, like all other religions in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, was suppressed and many mosques and Muslim theological schools were closed. It was only after the collapse of the Soviet Union that a massive religious revival occurred. Islam began to be practiced more openly.

References

External links

The Role of Islam in North Ossetia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Islam in North Ossetia-Alania North Ossetia–Alania North Ossetia–Alania Culture of North Ossetia–Alania North Ossetia

History

Islam today

See also

References

External links