IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
in BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
was introduced by
Lipka TatarsThe 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 the 14th -16th centuries, and now also includes
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
immigrants.
The Islam in Belarus initially spread from the 14th to the 16th centuries. The process was encouraged by several Lithuanian princes, who invited the Tatar Muslim from the
CrimeaCrimea or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the only autonomous republic of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name.The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history...
and
Golden HordeThe Ulus of Jochi or the Golden Horde is an East Slavic designation for the Mongol—later Turkicized—Muslim khanate established in the western part of the Mongol Empire after the Mongol invasion of Rus' in the 1240s: present-day Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus...
as guards of state borders. Already in the 14th century the Tatars were settling into a more sedentary way of life.
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
in BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
was introduced by
Lipka TatarsThe 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 the 14th -16th centuries, and now also includes
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
immigrants.
History
The Islam in Belarus initially spread from the 14th to the 16th centuries. The process was encouraged by several Lithuanian princes, who invited the Tatar Muslim from the
CrimeaCrimea or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the only autonomous republic of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name.The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history...
and
Golden HordeThe Ulus of Jochi or the Golden Horde is an East Slavic designation for the Mongol—later Turkicized—Muslim khanate established in the western part of the Mongol Empire after the Mongol invasion of Rus' in the 1240s: present-day Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus...
as guards of state borders. Already in the 14th century the Tatars were settling into a more sedentary way of life. By the end of the 16th century over 100,000 Tatars had settled in Belarus and
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
, including those hired as guards, voluntary immigrants, and prisoners of war.
The Tatars follow Sunni Islam. Interethnic marriages with Belarusians, Poles, Lithuanians, and Russians are common, but have not resulted in total assimilation.
Originating from different ethnic associations, Belarusian (and also Polish and Lithuanian) Tatars lost their native language over time and switched mainly into Belarusian, Polish and Russian. However, religious practice is conducted in the
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
.
Modern times
In 1994, the First All-Belarusian Congress of Muslims was held. As a result, the Muslim Religious Community of the Republic of Belarus was founded. Ever since it has been headed by Dr.Ismail Aleksandrovich.
In 1997 there were 23 communities including 19 of those in the Western regions of Belarus.
Mosques
First mosques appeared on the territory of Belarus during the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1994, the mosque in Slonim was opened, and in 1996 one in Smilovichi. In July 1997 in memory of the 600th anniversary of settlement of Tartars in Belarus, there took place a ceremony of opening a mosque in Novogrudok. In the 19th century the mosque in the town of Ivye was built; it is considered a monument of Belarusian wooden architecture. Today there are 4 functional mosques in Belarus and a 5th one is under construction. In 1997, the foundation stone was laid for a future mosque in Minsk. There were 27 Muslim communities in Belarus by mid-2002.....
According to Mr. Kanapatsky, the Islamic Association will concentrate its efforts on building a mosque in Minsk, as well as on renovating the mosque in Smilovichi and Muslim cemeteries throughout the country. Apart from Smilovichi, there are mosques in the towns of Ivye,
SlonimSlonim Slonim Slonim (Belarusian: Сло́нім is a city in Hrodna voblast, Belarus, capital of the Slonim District. It is located at the junction of the Shchara and Isa rivers, 143 km southeast of Hrodna. The population in 1995 was 53,100....
, and Novogrudok in the
Grodno regionHrodna Voblast or Grodno Oblast is a voblast in northwestern Belarus....
; in
KletskKletsk is a city in the Minsk voblast of Belarus, located on the Lan river. , it had ca. 10,000 inhabitants.- History :...
in the Minsk region; and in Vidzy in the Vitebsk region.
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