Evolution of Political Islam in Romania at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century

Islam represents one of the eighteen officially recognized religious denominations in Romania. Using a multidisciplinary approach, this chapter identifies three main categories of actors related to Islam: the traditional Turkish-Tatar community represented by the Muftiate, a relatively small Arab community developed mainly by university students during the last decade of the communist period and groups of migrants/asylum seekers originating from conflict regions. The Turkish-Tatar community from the Eastern Dobruja region has been the subject of several recent studies because its leading organization, the Muftiate, is the exclusive representative of Muslims in Romania. This complicates the situation for non-Turkish/Tatar or non-Hanafi Muslims, but since religious freedoms are relatively well-established in Romania, the status quo does not prevent other Muslims from practicing their religion separately.