Diversity Within Islam and Its Institutional Representation in Poland

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the Muslims in Poland, with a special focus on their institutional representation. This religious minority encircles a diverse populace in terms of the path in Islam they adhere to, ethnicity, country of origin, but also the legal status they have in Poland. It includes Muslim Tatars, former students from Arab countries who have been living in this country for decades, as well as transient groups war refugees from Chechnya, Afghanistan or the Balkans, esp. Bosnia and Herzegovina. The author argues that institutionalized entities of religious character which associate Muslims in the country, organize their presence in religious terms and represent them, reflect major divisions within the Muslim populace in the country. A key factor is the duration of their settlement-it is concomitant to, if not more important than, tensions between the Sunnis and Shiites.

Ritual Slaughter and Feelings of Threat Amongst Polish Young Adults. A Study on University Students’ Attitudes in the City of Bialystok

“…The city of Bialystok where the project was conducted is the biggest and most important city in the region of Podlasie with approximately 300,000 inhabitants, and the capital of the Podlasie voivodeship, a large administrative unit in northeastern Poland. Over the centuries the region had been influenced by various political and cultural forces and takes pride in its ethnic and religious diversity including the Jewish heritage, an Orthodox minority and two secluded Tatar villages, kruszyniany and Bohoniki, within the voivodeship (more on Polish Tatars in: Chazbijewicz et al, 1997;Warmińska, 1999 andDziekan, 2005;Cieślik and Verkuyten, 2006;kubicki, 2006;Biernacka 2017). In those villages, Islam is still fostered by a few families, which makes them objects of ethnographic interest.…”