Islam as a part of the Lithuanian cultural heritage

1. Islam as a part of the Lithuanian cultural heritage Egdūnas Račius Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas, Lithuania

2. Lithuanian Muslims in figures • As of 2012: • cultural/ nominal Muslims: not more than 7,000 • of them, some: • 3,000 Lithuanian Tatars (of whom only 1,600 identified themselves with Islam in 2001 Census); • 1,500 “Soviet Muslims” (overwhelminglysecular); • 2,000 recent immigrants (Chechens, Turks, Arabs); • 500 converts to Islam (‘revivalist’/ ‘neo-fundamentalist’).

3. 700 hundred years of Islam in Lithuania History of Islam in Lithuania dates back to the middle of the 14th century when the first migrants (recently Islamized Tatars) from the Golden Horde came to the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). The process of immigration of Muslims of Turkic origin to the GDL lasted until the very end of the 16th century.

4. Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 15thc.

5. Settlement, rights, duties Those granted nobility ranks were given tracts of land for cultivation later to be converted into property. Majority, however, were peasants working on estates of the nobility. Freedom of religion guaranteed: Muslims immediately proceeded with building mosques in their villages and soon cemeteries formed around them.

6. Keturiasdešimties totorių village mosque (1815)

7. Raižiai mosque (1889)

8. Nemėžis mosque (1909)

9. Kaunas mosque (1932)

10. Tatar cemeteries

11. State’streatment of Tatars Sunni Hanafi Islam (traditional faith of the Lithuanian Tatars) is recognized by law (adopted in 1995) as one of the nine traditional faiths. The state promotes the fact of the Tatar Muslim community’s long-time residence in Lithuania as a an example of a tolerant and multicultural country.

12. Social perspective Lithuanian Tatars have well integrated (have been successfully acculturated, yet not assimilated) into the local social environment and outwardly do not differ significantly from the non-Muslim majority; Lithuanian society is in general positively predisposed toward Tatars and perceives them as an integral part of both the Lithuanian cultural heritage and society.

13. Overall assessment Lithuanian Tatars (Muslims) have successfully integrated into the Lithuanian society on all, the political, economic, and cultural levels because of the goodwill of the state authorities, accommodating attitudes of the mainstream (Catholic) society, the loyalist nature of the Tatar (Muslim) communities AND the nature of the Tatar practiced Islam .

14. Placing Lithuania in the European context I • Right to practice religion: • organization (registration), • mosques, cemeteries, • religious education, • marriage, • halal slaughtering, • attire.

15. Placing Lithuania in the European context II • Visibility of Islam, • Internal composition of Muslim communities, • Ideological and theological diversity in Muslim communities, • Social reception (Islamophobia and discrimination)

16. Placing Lithuania in the European context III • On the one hand: Lithuania could be advertised as being one of the best places in Europe to practice Islam. • On the other hand: As the Muslim community is tiny and the general society is culturally ignorant of Islam, any significant change in the balance could potentially trigger many upsets and undesired consequences.