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'"Muslims by nationality"' (''Muslimani'', Муслимани) was a term used in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to describe mainly native Slavic Muslims. In connection to the national rebirth and awakening in Yugoslavia during the 1990s they are now officially historically^[1] recognized as Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However some people still consider themselves to be Muslims by nationality, and to a lesser extent Gorani and Torbesh in Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia.

Contents

History

Population

References

See also

History

The Constitution of SFRY recognized ''narodi'' (nations—native peoples which were explicitly named in the Constitution, giving them special privileges) and ''narodnosti'' (nationalities—minorities).
In a debate that went on during the 1960s, many Bosniak communist intellectuals argued that Muslims of SFRY are in fact a native Slavic people that should be recognized as a nation. But the name ''Muslims'' was sometimes rejected - to quote Bosniak politician and president Hamdija Pozderac:
(''In discussion with Josip Broz Tito in 1971 about constitutional changes which recognized Muslims, later Bosniaks.'')
The Yugoslav "Muslim by nationality" policy was considered by Bosniaks to be neglecting and opposing their Bosnian identity because the term tried to describe Bosniaks as a religious group not an ethnic one. As a compromise, the Constitution was amended in 1968 to list ''Muslims by nationality'' recognizing a nation, but not the name. ^[1]
Sometimes other terms, such as ''Muslim with capital M'' were used (that is, "musliman" was a practicing Muslim while "Musliman" was a member of this nation; Serbo-Croatian uses capital letters for names of peoples but small for names of adherents).
After the 1990s, most of these people, around two million, mostly located in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region of Sandžak, declare as ethnic Bosniaks^[3] (''Bošnjaci'', sing. ''Bošnjak'').
On the other hand, some still use the old name ''Muslimani'' (Muslims), especially outside Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Population

★ In Serbia, the census of 2002 that covered Central Serbia and Vojvodina (but not Kosovo) registered 19,503 Muslims by nationality and 136,087 Bosniaks^[4].

★ In Montenegro census of 2003, 24,625 (3.97%) of the population have declared as Muslims by nationality, while 48,184 (7.77%) have declared as Bosniaks.

★ In the Republic of Macedonia, the census of 2002 registered 17,018^[5] Bosniaks and the number of Muslims by nationality was much less than that. It is also important to note that most members of Pomaks and Torbesh ethnicities also declared as Muslims by nationality prior to 1990.

★ The Croatian South Slavic Muslim community, is around 50,000, and is divided between 3 identities. Around 10,000 of them declare themselves as 'Croats' of Islamic faith, 20,000 as 'Muslims by Nationality' , and another 20,000 as Bosniaks.

★ In 2002 Slovenia census, 21,542 persons have declared as Bosniaks, and 8,062 as Bosnians, while 10,467 as Muslims by nationality.^[6]

References

1. Imamović, Mustafa (1996). Historija Bošnjaka. Sarajevo: BZK Preporod. ISBN 9958-815-00-1
2. Imamović, Mustafa (1996). Historija Bošnjaka. Sarajevo: BZK Preporod. ISBN 9958-815-00-1
3. The New Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina
4. Statistics Office of Republic of Serbia. Population by nationality
5. Statistics Office of Republic of Macedonia - Државен завод за статистика:Попис на населението, домаќинствата и становите во Република Македонија, 2002: Дефинитивни податоци (PDF)
6. Statistics Office of Republic of Slovenia - Statistični urad Republike Slovenije: 7. Prebivalstvo po narodni pripadnosti, Slovenija, popisi 1953, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 in 2002

See also

★ Bosniaks

★ Slavic Muslims

★ Muslim minority of Greece