This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Joy (talk | contribs) at 12:42, 16 September 2003 (link to that page). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 12:42, 16 September 2003 by Joy (talk | contribs) (link to that page)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Bosnian Muslims or Bosniaks (natively: Bošnjaci) are Slavs who were converted to Islam during the Ottoman period (15th-19th century). Bosniaks are named after Bosnia, the westernmost Balkan region held by the Turks. Most Muslim inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina declare themselves ethnically Bosniak, and also some Muslims of Serbia and Montenegro (in the Sandžak region).
There are conflicting claims whether these Bosniaks were willingly or forcibly converted to Islam. A large segment of Bosnian population at the time were Bogumils who were considered heretics by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and they are said to have willingly embraced Islam. Many Christian children became Muslims by getting forcibly enrolled as janjičari into the Ottoman army.
Being part of Europe and influenced not only by the oriental but also by the occidental culture, Bosnian Muslims are considered to be some of the most advanced Islamic peoples of the world. The nation takes pride in the melancholic folk songs sevdalinke, the precious medieval filigree manufactured by old Sarajevo craftsmen, and a wide array of traditional wisdoms that are carried down to newer generations by word of mouth, and in recent years written down in numerous books.
They speak Bosnian language, a variant of the common Serbo-Croatian language written in the same form of the Latin alphabet. The main difference of this variant is that it contains many borrowings from Turkish - many of them being Arabic and Persian in origin - due to the Islamic faith of Bosniaks.
See also: History of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina