Islamization of Albania information

The Islamization of Albania occurred as a result of the Ottoman conquest of the region beginning in 1385.^[1] The Ottomans through their administration and military brought Islam to Albania through various policies and tax incentives, trade networks and transnational religious links. In the first few centuries of Ottoman rule, the spread of Islam in Albania was slow and mainly intensified during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries due in part to greater Ottoman societal and military integration, geo-political factors and collapse of church structures. It was one of the most significant developments in Albanian history as Albanians in Albania went from being a largely Christian (Catholic and Orthodox) population to one that is mainly Sunni Muslim, while retaining significant ethnic Albanian Christian minorities in certain regions. The resulting situation where Sunni Islam was the largest faith in the Albanian ethnolinguistic area, but other faiths were also present in a regional patchwork, played a major influence in shaping the political development of Albania in the late Ottoman period. Apart from religious changes, conversion to Islam also brought about other social and cultural transformations that have shaped and influenced Albanians and Albanian culture.

^ Ramet 1998, p. 209. "The Ottomans first invaded Albania in 1385. A second Ottoman force was sent to Albania 1394-96, occupying the country. Given both the Ottoman disposition to tolerate religious diversity among loyal subjects and the generally bellicose traditions of the Albanians, Ottoman authorities adopted a conciliatory policy toward Albanian Christians in the early decades of occupation. Still, although conversion to Islam was not required, a Christian Albanian lord could count on winning favor if he converted. If the Ottomans did not believe that religious reasons could compel a Christian to convert to Islam, they nonetheless looked askance when a Muslim converted (or reconverted) to Christianity. This happened in 1443 when Gjergj Kastrioti (called Skenderbeg), who had been reared as a Muslim in the sultan's palace, abandoned the Islamic faith and publicly reverted to the creed of his forefathers. But this conversion was not merely a public gesture of defiance. It was the first act in a revolutionary drama. For, after changing his religious allegiance, Skenderbeg demanded that Muslim colonists and converts alike embrace Christianity on pain of death, declaring a kind of holy war against the sultan/caliph."

[Ramet209-1] Ramet 1998, p. 209. "The Ottomans first invaded Albania in 1385. A second Ottoman force was sent to Albania 1394-96, occupying the country. Given both the Ottoman disposition to tolerate religious diversity among loyal subjects and the generally bellicose traditions of the Albanians, Ottoman authorities adopted a conciliatory policy toward Albanian Christians in the early decades of occupation. Still, although conversion to Islam was not required, a Christian Albanian lord could count on winning favor if he converted. If the Ottomans did not believe that religious reasons could compel a Christian to convert to Islam, they nonetheless looked askance when a Muslim converted (or reconverted) to Christianity. This happened in 1443 when Gjergj Kastrioti (called Skenderbeg), who had been reared as a Muslim in the sultan's palace, abandoned the Islamic faith and publicly reverted to the creed of his forefathers. But this conversion was not merely a public gesture of defiance. It was the first act in a revolutionary drama. For, after changing his religious allegiance, Skenderbeg demanded that Muslim colonists and converts alike embrace Christianity on pain of death, declaring a kind of holy war against the sultan/caliph."

Islamization of Albania information

and 25 Related for: Islamization of Albania information

Islamization of Albania

Islam in Albania

Religion in Albania

Albania

Ottoman Albania

Italian invasion of Albania

Public holidays in Albania

Islamization of Iran

Conversion to Islam

Albanians

Flag of Albania

Demographics of Albania

Principality of Albania

List of wars involving Albania

Languages of Albania

History of Albania

List of supermarket chains in Albania

Spread of Islam

List of heads of state of Albania

President of Albania

Albania national football team

Republic of Central Albania

Muslim Europe

Historiography of Albania

German occupation of Albania

Islamization
Part of a series on

Islamizations Late Antiquity - Middle Ages - Modern Islamization Spread of Islam Islamic missionary activity Islamization of Palestine Islamization of Jerusalem Islamization of Syria Islamization of Egypt Islamization of Iran Islamization and Turkification of Xinjiang Islamization of Bosnia and Herzegovina Islamization of the Sudan region Spread of Islam in Southeast Asia Spread of Islam in Indonesia Islamization of Albania Islamization in Pakistan Conversion to Islam Conversion to Islam in prisons Conversion to Islam in U.S. prisons Conversion of non-Islamic places of worship into mosques List of converts to Islam
v t e

Albanians
Part of a series on

By country
Native Albania Kosovo Croatia Greece Italy Montenegro North Macedonia Serbia Diaspora Australia Bulgaria Denmark Egypt Finland Germany Norway Romania South America Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom United States
Culture
Architecture Art Cuisine Dance Dress Literature Music Mythology Politics Religion Symbols Traditions Fis
Religion
Christianity Catholicism Italo-Albanian Church Albanian Greek-Catholic Church Orthodoxy Islam Sunnism Bektashism Judaism
Languages and dialects
Albanian Gheg Arbanasi Upper Reka Istrian Tosk Arbëresh Arvanitika Cham Lab
History of Albania Origin of the Albanians
v t e