According to the 2010 census, there are about 3,500 Muslims in the Czech Republic (less than 0.1% of the country's population), by comparison, in 1991 there were 495 Muslims.
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History
The first documented visit of a person familiar with Islam was made in 964-965 by a Jewish merchant and traveler Ibrahim ibn Yacoub , born in Muslim Spain. During his travels, he wrote travel notes, later they became one of the first stories about Central Europe in the Islamic world.
During the sieges of Vienna , intelligence units of the armies of the Ottoman Empire reached Moravia . Later, in the XIX century, there were strong trade relations between Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.
Traditionally, the influence of Islam on the culture of the Czech lands was small.
Modern Age
In 1912, a law was passed in Austria-Hungary that recognized Islam as the “state religion” and officially authorized its presence in the Czech Republic. The first association of Muslims ( Muslimské náboženské obce pro Československo ) was created in 1934 and existed until 1949. An attempt to create a new association of Muslims in 1968 failed. In 1991, the “Center of Muslim Communities” (Ústředí muslimských náboženských obcí) was established in the Czech Republic. In 1998, the first mosque opened in Brno [1] , and a year later the second, in the capital, Prague [2] . Attempts to open mosques in other cities face active resistance from the local population. In 2004, Islam was officially registered in the Czech Republic as a religion. In this regard, the Muslim community has the right to receive financial support from the state.
Most Czech Muslims arrived in the early 1990s from Bosnia and Herzegovina or in the late 1990s from the countries of the former Soviet Union, mainly from the Caucasian regions of the Russian Federation. A significant part of the Czech Muslims are immigrants from Egypt , Syria and other countries of the Middle East , who are most often the children of those who studied in higher educational institutions of the country during the times of Czechoslovakia and decided to stay. Also, several hundred ethnic Czechs voluntarily converted to Islam [1] .
Islamic fundamentalism concerns
Czech President Miloš Zeman was one of those who expressed concern that Islamic terrorism could threaten the Czech Republic [2] . In August 2016, a Czech citizen was first accused on suspicion of trying to join the forces of the so-called Islamic State [2] .
Notes
- Ý Panýrková, Petra: Konvertité k islámu v České republice , University of Pardubice , 2009.
- 2 1 2 Czech Man Is Charged With Attempted Terrorism , New York Times (2 August 2016). The appeal date is August 3, 2016.
- Miloš Mendel, Jiri Bečka, Islám a české země , Olomouc, Votobia, 1998. ISBN 80-7220-034-8
- Miloš Mendel, Bronislav Ostřanský, Tomáš Rataj, Islám v srdci Evropy , Praha, Academia, 2008. ISBN 978-80-200-1554-9