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Serb Muslims (Serbian: Срби муслимани, romanized: Srbi muslimani) or Serb Mohammedans (Срби мухамеданци, Srbi muhamedanci), historically referred to as Čitaci (Serbian Cyrillic: Читаци) in the region of Sandžak, are ethnic Serbs who are Muslims (adherents of Islam) by their religious affiliation.[4] Most of them are Muslims from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sandžak region of Serbia who prefer Serbian over Bosniak identity.[5]
The term Čitaci has several particular uses:
Since Serbs were, and still are, predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christians, their first significant historical encounter with Islam occurred in the second half of the 14th century, and was marked by the Turkish invasion and conquest of Serbian lands (starting in 1371 and ending by the beginning of the 16th century). That interval was marked by the first wave of Islamization among Serbs. In some regions, a substantial minority left Christianity and converted to Islam, willingly or by necessity, under the influence of the Ottoman authorities. The most notable Muslim of Serb ethnicity was Mehmed-paša Sokolović (1506-1579), Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (1565-1579), who was an ethnic Serb by birth, and so was Omar Pasha Latas.
Muslims joined the Serbian Army in World War I. The majority were Muslims who had a Serb identity, declaring as Serbs.[6] Among notable soldiers were Mustafa Golubić, Avdo Hasanbegović, Šukrija Kurtović, Ibrahim Hadžimerović, Fehim Musakadić, Hamid Kukić, Rešid Kurtagić, who all fought as Serbian volunteer officers at the Salonica front.[7] Among the most active in the group of Muslims who were engaged in Yugoslav propaganda on Austro-Hungarian Muslim POWs were A. Hasanbegović, Azis Sarić, F. Musakadić, Alija Džemidžić, R. Kurtagić, Asim Šeremeta, Hamid Kukić and Ibrahim Hadžiomerović.[8]
Gajret (known as the Serbian Muslim Cultural Society after 1929) was a cultural society established in 1903 that promoted Serbian identity among the Slavic Muslims of Austria-Hungary (today's Bosnia and Herzegovina).[9] The organization viewed that the Muslims were Serbs lacking ethnic consciousness.[10] The view that Muslims were Serbs is probably the oldest of the three ethnic theories among the Bosnian Muslims themselves.[11] It was dismantled by the Independent State of Croatia during World War II.[12] Some members, non-Communists, joined or collaborated with the Yugoslav Partisans, while others joined the Chetniks.
During World War II in Yugoslavia, a few Muslims joined the Chetniks. They espoused a Serb ethnic identity. The most notable of these was Ismet Popovac, who commanded the Muslim National Military Organization (Muslimanska narodna vojna organizacija, MNVO). The resolution of MNVO states that "Muslims are an integral part of Serbdom".[13] World War I veteran Fehim Musakadić also joined the Chetniks.[14]
Before the 1971 census, those of Slavic Muslim background in Yugoslavia could only legally declare themselves as Serb Muslims, Croat Muslims, or ethnically-undecided Muslims.[15] The overwhelming majority chose the option "undetermined".[16] After 1971, Slavs of Muslim ancestry were recognized as an ethnic group in their own right.
Some prominent Muslims in Yugoslavia openly declared as Serbs, such as the writer Meša Selimović.[17]
During early talks of the partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ejup Ganić remarked that the Bosniaks "are Islamized Serbs", and should thus join the Serb side, at a time when the SDA shifted in favour of siding with the Serbs and continuing the struggle against the Croats.[18] Political analyst Jochen Hippler noted in 1994 that: "Muslims are mostly ethnically Serb, a minority Croat, but this did not save them from being slaughtered by their fellow ethnic groups for being different.".[19]
Serb nationalists usually insisted that Bosnian Muslims were Serbs that had abandoned their faith.[20] Serbian historiography emphasizes the Orthodox Serbian origin of the Bosniaks who are interpreted as relinquishing ties to the ethno-religious heritage after converting to Islam and later denying it by refusing to accept a Serbian identity.[21][22] According to the wartime and post-war Bosniak historiography, Bosnian Muslims within the bulk of Serbian nationalist historiography are presented as the descendants of the mentally ill, lazy, slaves, greedy landlords, prisoners, thieves, outcasts or as Serbs who, confused and defeated, chose to follow their enemy's religion. [23] On the one hand, Bosnian Muslims emphasize that they have no ties with Serbs or Croats, while on the other hand, Serbs emphasize the common origin and role that the occupiers played in the quarrel between the Balkan nations. [23]
According to data from the 2022 Serbian census, of those who declared as ethnic Serbs, 0.08% (4,238) declared Islam as their religion.[1]
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Promoting that policy, in the 1948 census the Bosnian Muslims were permitted to declare themselves as Serb- Muslims, Croat- Muslims, or nationally "undetermined" Muslims, revealing the stance of Communist leaders that held that Muslims ...
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