Muslims in Eastern Europe

Introduces the centuries-old history of Muslim communities in Eastern EuropeThe history and contemporary situation of Muslim communities in Eastern Europe are explored here from three angles. First, survival, telling of the resilience of these Muslim communities in the face of often restrictive state policies and hostile social environments, especially during the Communist period. Next, their subsequent revival in the aftermath of the Cold War, and last, transformation, looking at the profound changes currently taking place in the demographic composition of the communities and in the forms of Islam practiced by them. The reader is shown a picture of the general trends common to the Muslim communities of Eastern Europe, and the special characteristics of clusters of states, such as the Baltics, the Balkans, the Visegrad states, and the European states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).Key FeaturesPlaces Muslim communities of Eastern Europe within their historical and pan-European context, establishing them as belonging in and to EuropeProvides an overview of the history and current trends in Muslim communities in 21 post-Communist Eastern European countriesAnalyses the situation of Muslim communities in Eastern Europe on a country-cluster basis (North-Eastern Europe: Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Moldova; the successor states of Yugoslavia: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia; South-Eastern Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, Romania; Central Europe: Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia)Provides an overview of the emerging trends in conversion to Islam among Eastern Europeans