Jugosłowiańska Islamska Wspólnota Wyznaniowa / Wspólnota Islamska w dokumentach Państwowej/Związkowej Komisji do spraw Wyznań w latach 1945–1971

Abstract

Yugoslavian Islamic Religious Community/Islamic Community in the documents of the State/Federal Commission for Religious Affairs in 1945–1971 In Yugoslavia, Muslims were the third largest religious group after Orthodox Christians and Catholics. However, this group was not only composed of the Islamised Slavs from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), but also Albanians, Turks, and others. After the communists took power in the country, one of the new government’s priorities was to establish relations with this minority. The body that coordinated state policy towards religion, collected materials, and analysed the present religious situation in the country was the State/Federal Commission for Religious Affairs (D/SKVP) existing in the period from 1945 to 1971. Analysis of the documents from D/SKVP helps us to identify the elements of state politics towards Islamic Religious Community/Islamic Community in Yugoslavia. Throughout the discussed period (1945–1971), IVZ/IZ was the most conciliatory from the large religious associations in Yugoslavia in relation towards the authorities. It is confirmed by a relatively small number of documents related to Muslims and gathered in D/SKVP reaching only a few percent of total amount of materials. The leaders of IVZ/IZ became more assertive in relations with the authorities since the mid-1960’s when the government implemented liberalisation of religious politics. In Yugoslavia a kind of religious revival took place which was manifested, among others, in rebirth of religious structures and, to a large extent, their turn towards nationalism.