Muslim Community in Romania

Romania has one of the least numbers of Muslims in all Europe. Muslims make up less that 0.3% of the population. Although small parts of Romania were parts of the Ottoman empire, the population growth of Muslims in the area is really slow, and they make up an estimate of 67.5 thousand of the population.

Majority of the population are followers of Sunni Islam and surprisingly, they are distributed mostly in the two counties of Tulcea and Constanta. The two counties make up the northern Dobruja of Romania. A very small number of Muslims are encountered in the busy town centers such as Bucharest, Galati and Braila.

The total of slightly more than 75 mosques grace the entire land of Romania and some of these were given the status of Historical Monuments. The location of the earliest settlers is disputed by many but is either that of Babadag or that of Southern Dobrujan. The oldest madrasah (Muslim educational institution) was said to have been setup in Romanian land in the year of 1484 under the rule of Bayezid I. This institution was first set up in Babadag, and later it was moved to Medgidia in the year of 1903.

Muslims, especially the Tatars, were forced to leave their homeland by the invading Russians in the year 1877-1878, during the times of the Russo-Turkish War. Reconciliation was later achieved by the government of Ion Bratianu, when a monument in the shape of a mosque dome was built in Carol Park, Bucharest. The number of Muslims in Romania was further hampered by the inter-community wars, which resulted in the death of many Muslims. Before the World War II, the Muslim community was well-tolerated in the land of Romania. However, the post-war period tells a story of much repression. Muslim properties were seized and were converted to state-owned properties, and they were segregated from the national education system and were driven to follow a separate education system. When the quality of this system deteriorated, the system was cancelled and other Muslim education centers, like the madrasah were shut down. As communism took over in Romania, the Sufis were more and more frowned upon and became practically non-existent. This was, however, much less in magnitude as compared to that in other more strongly Christian areas, such as Catholic Rome. The Roman Revolution of 1989 brought good news to the repressed Muslims. Madrasahs were reopened, and the Tatar and Turkish children were allowed to follow their own schools of education.

Most of the Romanian Muslims now live the life of gypsies. They are referred to by the local population as Turkish Gypsies. This is true to a certain extent because they refuse to integrate into the Romanian culture and do not speak the Romanian language, but they speak a mixture of Romanian-Turkish language. Most of this population is concentrated around the areas of Balkans.

Muslims in Romania need to further be involved in their country’s culture, and in doing so, they must have spokespersons in the higher officials who will speak of their needs and rights as citizens.

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