The Islamic Religious Community of North Macedonia or IRC ( sq, Bashkësia Fetare Islame e Maqedonisë së Veriut or BFI, mk, Исламската Верска Заедница во Северна Македонија or ИВЗ) is an independent religious organisation of

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 ...

in the

Republic of North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. The headquarter of the community is in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

and the current leader, titled

Reis-ul-ulema 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 ...

, is Sulejman Rexhepi.

History

There has been organized Islamic religious life in Macedonia since the time when

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

started administering this region. All(

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 ...

)

who lived in the

were part of the Muslim community headed by the

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

, who replaced the role of the

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

. During the reign of the Sultan Murad II the competences of the caliph were transferred to the ''grand mufti''. Since then, the grand mufti was titled ''Sheykhul-Islam'' and was considered the highest religious authority within the Ottoman Empire. However, every region inhabited by Muslims had its own mufti, who was in lower position than the Sheykhul-Islam. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, North Macedonia was under the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

. The Islamic community of the Kingdom was headed by ''Reis-ul-ulama'', whose office was in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

. The ''Reis-ul-ulama'' responsibility was to organize the Islamic Religious life in Bosnia and Hezegovina, Croatia and Slovenia, whereas in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo the Islamic Religious life was organized by the ''Supreme Mufti'' (that was in a lower position than the ''Reis-ul-ulama''), whose office was in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

. After the creation of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

, the competences of the ''Supreme Mufti'' were transferred to the ''Ulama Majlis'' in

and the competences of the ''Reis-ul-ulama'' were transferred to the ''Ulama Majlis'' in

. The newly formed ''Ulama Majlises'' formed the Rijaset of Islamic Community with its head office in

. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the Islamic Community of Macedonia became part of the Islamic Community of Yugoslav Federation (''Rijaset''), with its office in

. After the

Breakup of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

and the independence of Macedonia, this community continues to act as an independent religious community in North Macedonia, based in

Arabati Baba controversy

In 2002, a group of armed members of the Islamic Community of Macedonia invaded the Shiʻi

Bektashi Order The Bektashi Order; sq, Tarikati Bektashi; tr, Bektaşi or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic movement originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the Anatolian saint Haji Bektash Wali (d. 1271). The community is currently led by ...

's Arabati Baba Tekke in an attempt to claim the Shia tekke as a mosque for their followers, although the facility has never functioned as such. Subsequently, the Bektashi Order of Macedonia has sued the Macedonian government for failing to defend and later, to restore the tekke to the Bektashi community, pursuant to a law passed in the early 1990s returning property previously nationalized under the Yugoslav government. The law, however, deals with restitution to private citizens, rather than religious communities. The ICM claim to the tekke is based upon their contention to represent all Muslims in Macedonia; and indeed, they are one of two Muslim organizations recognized by the government, both Sunni. The Bektashi Order filed for recognition as a separate religious community with the Macedonian government in 1993, but the Macedonian government has refused to recognize them. In March 2008, there were reports that the ICM members squatting on the facility grounds have taken control of additional buildings, have been intimidating visitors to the ''tekke'', and have discharged their weapons on the grounds.WahhabiWatch

Modern period

On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck Albania. The Islamic Religious Community of North Macedonia organised a fundraising effort for victims on 29 November after Friday prayers across all its mosques within North Macedonia.

Structure

Islamic Religious Community of North Macedonia is divided into 13 muftiships: *Muftiship of Skopje *Muftiship of Tetovo *Muftiship of Gostivar *

Muftiship of Kumanovo Muftiship of Kumanovo (Macedonian language, Macedonian Cyrillic: ''Муфтиство Куманово'') is one of the 13 muftiships of Islamic Religious Community of Macedonia in Kumanovo, North Macedonia. Current Mufti is Abedin Imeri (''Абед ...

*Muftiship of Kičevo *Muftiship of Debar *Muftiship of Struga *Muftiship of Štip *Muftiship of Bitola *Muftiship of Veles *Muftiship of Ohrid *Muftiship of Prilep *Muftiship of Resen

References

{{Reflist

External links