Slovenian Muslims: who they are, organisation and national-legal standardisation through anthropological evaluation

ABSTRACT:

Article presents Slovenian Muslims through anthropological evaluation of statistics about migration of Muslims to Slovenia in the period of Yugoslavia and after its disintegration (economic migrations in the period of SFRY, refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, non-aligned movement and migrations of students from Near-Eastern and African states), and through evaluation of statistics of the last population census in 2002. The analysis of the latter is concentrated on data about the number of Muslims, their regional dispersal and expressed affiliations. Statistical presence of Muslims in Slovenia is supported with description of their efforts to preserve Muslim identity from the initial period of settlement in Slovenia. A special focus is on analysis of institutionalisation of those efforts. Anthropological evaluation of the part of Slovenian legislation that regulates the field of religion and some Islamic practices is presented. The analysis shows that Slovenian legislation in principle ensures equality and freedom of religion, yet in practice the latter is often less freely enjoyed by Muslims due to widespread islamophobia.

KEY WORDS: Muslims, Islam, migrations, Slovenian Islamic Community, legislation, rights, islamophobia