Islam in Finland
Encyclopedia
Islam is a minority religion in Finland
. The first Muslim
s were Tatars
who immigrated mainly between 1870 and 1920. After that there were decades with generally a small number of immigration in Finland. Since the late 20th century the number of Muslims in Finland has increased rapidly due to immigration. Nowadays, there are dozens of islamic communities in Finland, but only a minority of muslims have joined them. There are less than 50,000 muslims in Finland. There is also an indigenous Finnish Muslim community.
s and societies. In 1996 these groups came together to form a cooperative organ - the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Finland. It is estimated that approximately 1,000 Finns have converted to Islam. The vast majority of these are women who have married Muslim men.
There are dozens of independent islamic societies in Finland. The oldest one is Finnish Islamic Association which was established in 1925. It has about 700 members of whom all are Tatars. The society has mosques in Helsinki
, Tampere
and Lahti
. The only building established only as mosque in Finland is located in Järvenpää
.
The Islamic Society of Finland was established in 1987. Its members are mainly Arabs, but also Finnish converts. The society has a mosque and Koran school in Helsinki. The Helsinki Islamic Center is currently the biggest society with almost 2,000 members. Furthermore there are a dozen other islamic societies in Helsinki region, some of them are not officially registered.
Most of mosques are multilingual, but the most commonly used languages are usually English and Finnish. Religious services are held in Arabic.
(language, 2009).
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. The first Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s were Tatars
Finnish Tatars
The Tatars of Finland are a Turkic people who espouse the Muslim faith. They number approximately 1000 and form a well-established and homogeneous religious, cultural and linguistic minority. The Tatars are the oldest Muslim minority in Finland and throughout the Nordic countries and the Finnish...
who immigrated mainly between 1870 and 1920. After that there were decades with generally a small number of immigration in Finland. Since the late 20th century the number of Muslims in Finland has increased rapidly due to immigration. Nowadays, there are dozens of islamic communities in Finland, but only a minority of muslims have joined them. There are less than 50,000 muslims in Finland. There is also an indigenous Finnish Muslim community.
First wave muslims
The Baltic Tatars arrived in Finland as merchants and soldiers at the end of the 19th century. They were later joined by other family members. The Finnish Islamic Association was founded in 1925. In practice, this society only accepts people from Tatar origin, or Turkish origin in general, as members, excluding non-Turkish Muslims. The Tartars’ Islamic congregations have a total of about 1,000 members these days.Second wave muslims
The number of immigrants, and muslims as well, in Finland rose dramatically in the early 1990s. Soon new immigrants established their own mosqueMosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s and societies. In 1996 these groups came together to form a cooperative organ - the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Finland. It is estimated that approximately 1,000 Finns have converted to Islam. The vast majority of these are women who have married Muslim men.
Islamic societies
| Name | Registered | Home | Members |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finnish Islamic Association | 1925 | Helsinki | 567 |
| Islamic Society of Finland | 1987 | Helsinki | 1 097 |
| Helsinki Islamic Center | 1995 | Helsinki | 1 817 |
| Tampere Islamic Society | 1998 | Tampere | 837 |
| Islamic Rahma Center in Finland | 1998 | Helsinki | 575 |
| Islamic Society of Northern Finland | 2000 | Oulu | 361 |
| Resalat islamilainen yhdyskunta | 2001 | Vantaa | 486 |
There are dozens of independent islamic societies in Finland. The oldest one is Finnish Islamic Association which was established in 1925. It has about 700 members of whom all are Tatars. The society has mosques in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Tampere
Tampere
Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...
and Lahti
Lahti
Lahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...
. The only building established only as mosque in Finland is located in Järvenpää
Järvenpää
Järvenpää is a town and municipality of Finland.-History:Järvenpää was separated from its parent community Tuusula in 1951. Järvenpää was granted the status of a market town after the separation. Neighbouring districts Kellokoski and Nummenkylä were not added to the municipality of Järvenpää and...
.
The Islamic Society of Finland was established in 1987. Its members are mainly Arabs, but also Finnish converts. The society has a mosque and Koran school in Helsinki. The Helsinki Islamic Center is currently the biggest society with almost 2,000 members. Furthermore there are a dozen other islamic societies in Helsinki region, some of them are not officially registered.
Most of mosques are multilingual, but the most commonly used languages are usually English and Finnish. Religious services are held in Arabic.
Muslim majority ethnic groups by language
Numbers are based on the Statistics FinlandStatistics Finland
Statistics Finland is the national statistical institution in Finland, established on 4 November 1865 to serve as an information service and to provide statistics and expertise in the statistical sciences. The institution employes over 1000 experts from varying fields....
(language, 2009).
- Somali languageSomali languageThe Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....
(11,681) - Arabic languageArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, (9,682) - Albanian languageAlbanian languageAlbanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
(6,736) - Turkish languageTurkish languageTurkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
(5,068) - Persian languagePersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
(4,548)
External links
- Report on Islam: Finnish Islam arises slowly (in Finnish).
- Finnish Islamic Congregation (in Finnish).
- Some of the mosques in Finland (map)