Muslim Romani people are people who are ethnically Roma and profess Islam. There are many different Roma groups and subgroups that predominantly practice Islam, as well as individual Romani people from other subethnic groups who have accepted Islam. Xoraxane Roma in Balkan Romani language, are non-Vlax Romani people, who adopted Sunni Islam of the Hanafi madhhab at the time of the Ottoman Empire. [1] Some of them are Derviş of Sufism belief, and the biggest Tariqa of Jerrahi is located at the largest Arlije and Gurbeti Muslim Roma settlement in Europe in Šuto Orizari, locally called Shutka in North Macedonia have their own Romani Imam [2] and the Muslim Roma in Šuto Orizari use the Quran in Balkan Romani language. [3] Many Romanlar in Turkey, are members of the Hindiler Tekkesi a Qadiriyya-Tariqa, founded in 1738 by the Indian Muslim Sheykh Seyfullah Efendi El Hindi in Selamsız. [4] Roma Muslims in Turkey and the Balkans are mostly cultural Muslims or nominal Muslims. [5] [6]
Muslim Roma hold religious male circumcision ceremonies (Bijav Suneti) with great pomp and festivities. [7] The boys are mostly circumcised at the age of five, because the number 5 (panč) is a sacred symbol among the Romani people. It is a custom among Muslim Roma that the foreskin must be buried. [8] They believe the foreskin will come back to men on the Day of Resurrection, based on a Hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari 6524: The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "You will be raised on the Day of Judgement barefooted, naked, and uncircumicized (with foreskin)", burying the foreskin is also a tradition of South Asian Muslims. [9] During the ceremony, the child’s hand and feet are held by his Kirvo (godfather). A Kirvo pays the cost of the circumcision ceremony. [10] The Tradition of a Kirve who is similar to a Sandek, is also practised in Alevism and Yazidism in Turkey. [11] Islam among Roma is historically associated with life of Roma within the Ottoman Empire, because Muslim Roma were preferred in the Ottoman Empire and were settled in the Balkans and Rumelia, taken from the Anatolia Eyalet and the Egypt Eyalet. Although Muslim Roma paid a Jizya in the first centuries of the Ottoman Empire, an exception were the Muslim Roma in Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina, who were exempt from taxes by the order of Selim II. After the Edict of Gülhane all Muslim Roma became exempt from paying the Taxation in the Ottoman Empire and became fully accepted Muslims. [12] In 1874, the Ottoman Empire gave equal rights to other Muslims. [13] The Turkish historian Reşat Ekrem Koçu, explained that a Group of Lom people who lived in Istanbul convert closed to Islam in the 19th century. [14] Correspondingly, significant cultural minorities of Muslim Roma are found in Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, Republic of North Macedonia, Bulgaria, (by mid-1990s estimates, Muslim Roma in constituted about 40% of Roma in Bulgaria. [15] ), (a very small group of Muslim Roma exists in the Dobruja and Wallachia region of Romania, comprising 1% of the country's Muslim Romani population [16] ), [17] Croatia (45% of the country's Romani population, who came from Bosnia [18] ), Southern Russia, Greece (a small part of Muslim Roma concentrated in Western Thrace), Northern Cyprus, Southern Serbia (geographical region) and Crimea (Crimean Roma). The majority of Muslim Roma in the former Yugoslavia speak Balkan Romani and South Slavic languages, while many speak only the language from the host country's like the Albanized Muslim Roma Groups from Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia, speak only the Albanian language and be called Khorakhan Shiptari, they have fully adopted the Albanian culture, [19] other created an own identity like Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians, and some deny their Romani Background, especially in Kosovo and claimed to be Albanians or Turks. [20] [21] Turkish language is used by the Turkish Roma, only a view speak Kurbetcha , Rumelian Romani or Sepečides Romani. Some Muslim Roma also used the word Gypsy for themselves because they did not perceive it as a derogatory term. Muslim Roma culture is based on the Islamic culture. Under Ottoman Rule, the Christian and Muslim Roma were separated, by the order of Suleiman the Magnificent. Muslim Roma were forbidden to marry Christian Roma and live together or to do business. Muslim Roma men served in the Military of the Ottoman Empire, especially in the Ottoman military band. [22] Significant differences between Muslim and Christian Roma emerged through the centuries. Orthodox Christian Vlax Romani see themself as the čáče Roma (true Roma) and do not consider Muslim Roma to be part of Romani society and call them Turks and explain they "slice the foreskins from their members". Muslim Roma, however, see Christian Roma as foreign and call them Dasikane (Servant, slaves). Also the phrase Amare Roma (Our Roma) and Cudza Roma (foreign Roma) is used vice versa. There is a huge cultural gap between the two religious groups. [23]
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Muslim Roma have found themselves under double discrimination in regions where Islam was a minority religion, experiencing both Antiziganism and anti-Muslim sentiment. [24]
At the Greek War of Independence, Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) and Balkan Wars (1912–1913), Muslim Roma flee together with other different Muslim Groups to Istanbul and East Thrace, as Muhacir. [25]
At the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey, Muslim Turkish Roma from Greece have also been resettled in Turkey. In Turkish, they are called Mübadil Romanlar. [26] [27] [28] [29] [30]
In 1950–1951 Muslim Turkish Roma from Bulgaria came to Turkey and settled in Çanakkale and surroundings. [31]
From 1953 -1968, Muslim Turkish Roma and Turks from Yugoslavia emigrated to Turkey, [32] [33]
Because of the relative ease of migration in modern times, Muslim Roma may be found in other parts of the world as well. Turkish Roma from Turkey and also other Muslim Roma from ex-Yugoslavia, came to West Europe as Gastarbeiter, but seen by the Host population as Turks or Yugoslavs. [34] Muslim Roma from Bosnia and Kosovo went at the time of the Yugoslav Wars to Italy, and live especially in Florence. [35] Xoraxane (Muslim Roma) from former Yugoslavia went to USA, settled mostly in New York, [36] [37] and South America. [37] Since 2007, Turkish Roma from Bulgaria went as workers to West Europe [38]
Most Muslim Roma are Sunni, but they are not exclusively Sunni. For example, there are some Shia Roma communities in Serbia. [39] Turkish Roma are mostly Sunni. [40] Under Ottoman rule, Roma Muslim had a lower social status than non-Roma Muslims, but above that of non-Muslims. [41] However, other Muslim Roma are well-integrated with and accepted by their Muslim non-Roma brothers.
Xoraxane (also spelled as Khorakhane, Xoraxane, Kharokane, Xoraxai, etc. - meaning Lovers of the Koran) is an antiquated religionym, confessionym, and umbrella term for Muslim Roma in the Balkans [42] or alternatively all Muslim Roma in Southern Europe and West Asia similar to how the term Turks was used for non-Turkish Muslims. They are many groups of Xoraxane Roma, named after their old traditional professional activities, also divived in sedentary and nomadic groups. [43] Not all Roma adherents of Islam are considered Xoraxane.
The sedentary Arlije are the main group of the Romani people in North Macedonia. They are one of the many subgroups considered Xoraxane.
The Crimean Roma (also called Çingene) are a community of Tatarized Roma who traditionally practice Islam. They are often considered to be both a subgroup of the Roma and a subgroup of the Crimean Tatar people due to assimilation, although the term oraxane is rarely, if ever, used for them anymore
The Zargari are a Roma subgroup settled in Zargar, Iran and neighboring villages who observe Shia Islam and speak in a Balkan Romani dialect. Their exact origins are debated among scholars.
British Romani businessman Alfie Best Jr. converted to Islam in 2023. [44] As Islam is not an ethnoreligion, it accepts converts regardless of their ethnic background, which includes Roma from non-Muslim backgrounds.
Muslim Roma women wear beautiful silk Dimije also known as Turkish salvar, at weddings, circumcision ceremonies, and other festivals. Even on weekdays, quite a few older women, but also some younger women, wear the şalvar.[ citation needed ]
Belly dance and Romano Hora (dance), Roman Havaları 8/9 tact, Zurna, Davul, Clarinet are performed. In the Ottoman Empire, especially young handsome Romani Guys were taken as Köçek-Dancers while young Romani female-dancers were named Çengi. [45]
The Dom are descendants of the Dom caste with origins in the Indian subcontinent which through ancient migrations are found scattered across the Middle East and North Africa, the Eastern Anatolia Region, and parts of the Balkans and Hungary. The traditional language of the Dom is Domari, an endangered Indo-Aryan language, thereby making the Dom an Indo-Aryan ethnic group.
The Ashkali, otherwise known as Hashkali and/or Balkan Egyptians, are Albanian-speaking Muslim ethnic cultural minorities, which mainly inhabit Kosovo and southern Serbia, as well as Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. Prior to the Kosovo War of 1999, the Balkan Egyptians or Ashkali people registered themselves as Albanians. While some Ashkali speak Romani, Egyptians usually do not. The two groups are not clearly delineated. Though they differ linguistically and culturally from the Roma, they have often been grouped together under the acronym RAE.
Gurbeti are a sub-group of the Romani people living in Cyprus and North Cyprus, Turkey, Crimea, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and the former Yugoslavia whose members are Eastern Orthodox and predominantly Muslim Roma. The Gurbeti make up approximately two thirds of the population of Roma in Mačva, many of whom work in agriculture. In Kosovo, other Romani groups viewed the Gurbeti negatively.
The Romani people are a distinct ethnic and cultural group of peoples living all across the globe, who share a family of languages and sometimes a traditional nomadic mode of life. Though their exact origins were unclear, recent studies show Kashmir in Northwest India is the most probable point of origin. Their language shares a common origin with, and is similar to, modern-day Gujarati and Rajasthani, borrowing loanwords from languages they encountered as they migrated from India. In Europe, even though their culture has been victimized by other cultures, they have still found a way to maintain their heritage and society. Indian elements in Romani culture are limited, with the exception of the language. Romani culture focuses heavily on family. The Roma traditionally live according to relatively strict moral codes. The ethnic culture of the Romani people who live in central, eastern and southeastern European countries developed through a long, complex process of continuous active interaction with the culture of their surrounding European population.
Albanisation, Albanianisation (UK), Albanization, or Albanianization (US) is the spread of Albanian culture, people, and language, either by integration or assimilation. Diverse peoples were affected by Albanisation including peoples with different ethnic origins, such as Turks, Serbs, Croats, Circassians, Bosniaks, Greeks, Aromanians, Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians, Romani, Gorani, and Macedonians from all the regions of the Balkans.
Romani people in Bulgaria constitute Europe's densest Roma minority. The Romani people in Bulgaria may speak Bulgarian, Turkish or Romani, depending on the region.
The Lyuli, Jughi or Jugi are a branch of the Ghorbati people living in Central Asia, primarily Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and southern Kyrgyzstan; also, related groups can be found in Turkey, and the Balkans, Crimea, Southern Russia and Afghanistan. They speak ethnolects of the Persian and Turkic language and practice Sunni Islam. The terms Lyuli and Jugi are considered pejorative. They have a clan organization. Division into sub-clans is also practiced. The Lyuli community is extremely closed towards non-Lyuli.
Albanian nationalism is a general grouping of nationalist ideas and concepts generated by ethnic Albanians that were first formed in the 19th century during the Albanian National Awakening. Albanian nationalism is also associated with similar concepts, such as Albanianism ("Shqiptaria") and Pan-Albanianism, that includes ideas on the creation of a geographically expanded Albanian state or a Greater Albania encompassing adjacent Balkan lands with substantial Albanian populations.
The Romani people of Greece, or Romá, are called Tsinganoi, Athinganoi (Αθίγγανοι), or the more derogatory term Gyftoi. On 8 April 2019, the Greek government stated that the number of Greek Roma citizens in Greece is around 110,000. Other estimates have placed the number of Romani people resident in Greece as high as 350,000.
Its members are referred to as Turkish Gypsy, Türk Çingeneler, Turski Tsigani, Turkogifti (τουρκο-γύφτοι), Țigani turci, Török Cigányok, Turci Cigani. Through self-Turkification and assimilation in the Turkish culture over centuries, this Muslim Roma have adopted the Turkish language and lost Rumelian Romani language, in order to establish a Turkish identity to become more recognized by the host population and deny their Romani background to show their Turkishness. During a population census they declared themselves as Turks instead as Roma, however Turks consider them as fake-Turks, and Christian Romani do not consider them as part of the Romani society. They are cultural Muslims who adopted Sunni Islam of Hanafi madhab and religious male circumcision at the time of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate and Ottoman Empire.
Xoraxane is a historical umbrella term to refer to the Muslim Roma population in the Balkans, or alternatively, all Muslim Roma in the areas of Southern Europe and West Asia. They are non-Vlax Romani people, who adopted Sunni Islam of the Hanafi madhhab at the time of the Ottoman Empire. They are colloquially referred to as Lovers of the Koran. There are several subgroups Roma considered to be Xoraxane Roma, named after their old traditional professional activities, also divived in sedentary and nomadic groups.
The Romani people in Turkey or Turks of Romani background are Turkish citizens and the biggest subgroup of the Turkish Roma. They are Sunni Muslims mostly of Sufi orientation, who speak Turkish as their first language, in their own accent, and have adopted Turkish culture. Many have denied their Romani background over the centuries in order to establish a Turkish identity, to become more accepted by the host population.
The Basketry Museum of the Roma is a folk museum in the Thrylorio/Trala/Tralangere Village of the municipality of Komotini of the Rhodope regional unit, in Western Thrace Greece. The museum collection represents examples from Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Romani people in North Macedonia are one of the constitutional peoples of the country.
Sepečides Romani, also known as Sevlengere Roma, is the Romani dialect of the traditionally basketweaving Roma originally from Thessaloniki. Their ancestors lived there as nomads during the Ottoman Empire until the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. The Sepečides dialect is considered to be non-Vlax. It belongs to the Southern Balkan group of Romani dialects, although the RomArchive claims the language is practically extinct.
Romani people in Germany are estimated at around 170,000–300,000, constituting around 0.2–0.4% of the German population. One-third of Germany's Romani belong to the Sinti group. Most speak German or Sinte Romani.
Albanian nationalism in North Macedonia traces its roots in the wider Albanian nationalist movement which emerged as a response to the Eastern Crisis (1878) and proposed partitioning of Ottoman Albanian inhabited lands in the Balkans among neighbouring countries. During the remainder of the late Ottoman period various disagreements culminated between Albanian nationalists and the Ottoman Empire over socio-cultural rights. The Balkan Wars (1912–13) ending with Ottoman defeat, Serbian and later Yugoslav sovereignty over the area generated an Albanian nationalism that has become distinct to North Macedonia stressing Albanian language, culture and identity within the context of state and sociopolitical rights. Pan-Albanian sentiments are also present and historically have been achieved only once when western Macedonia was united by Italian Axis forces to their protectorate of Albania during the Second World War.
Kosovo is the birthplace of the Albanian nationalist movement which emerged as a response to the Eastern Crisis of 1878. In the immediate aftermath of the Russo-Ottoman war, the Congress of Berlin proposed partitioning Ottoman Albanian inhabited lands in the Balkans among neighbouring countries. The League of Prizren was formed by Albanians to resist those impositions. For Albanians those events have made Kosovo an important place regarding the emergence of Albanian nationalism. During the remainder of the late Ottoman period various disagreements between Albanian nationalists and the Ottoman Empire over socio-cultural rights culminated in two revolts within Kosovo and adjacent areas. The Balkan Wars (1912–13) ending with Ottoman defeat, Serbian and later Yugoslav sovereignty over the area generated an Albanian nationalism that has become distinct to Kosovo stressing Albanian language, culture, and identity within the context of secession from Serbia. Pan-Albanian sentiments are also present and historically have been achieved only once when part of Kosovo was united by Italian Axis forces to their protectorate of Albania during the Second World War.
The ethnonym Turks has been commonly used by the non-Muslim Balkan peoples to denote all Muslim settlers in the region, regardless of their ethno-linguistic background. The majority of these, however, were indeed ethnic Turks. In the Ottoman Empire, the Islamic faith was the official religion, with Muslims holding different rights from non-Muslims. Non-Muslim ethno-religious legal groups were identified by different millets ("nations").
The sedentary Arlije are the main group of the Romani people in North Macedonia, and the majority live in Šuto Orizari Municipality. They are Muslim Romani. There are various subgroups of the Arlije, named after their traditional occupations, living in North Macedonia, Kosovo, and southern Southern Serbia, and Montenegro. Beside Macedonian and Albanian, they speak the Arli dialect of Balkan Romani. The word Arlije is derived from the Turkish word yerli, as does the name Erlides (Greek: Ερλίδες, of a similar group living in Greece, and the Sofia-Erli in Bulgaria. The biggest settlement of Arlije is in Šuto Orizari in North Macedonia. In East Thrace at Turkey, they are called Yerli Romanlar and only speak Rumelian Turkish.
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