ZAGREB MOSQUE - Islamska zajednica u Hrvatskoj

Zagreb Mosque was built by great efforts and persistence of the Zagreb
Muslim community
It is one of the landmarks of
the modern quarter of the city,
but also a sign of religious and
cultural identity, and a symbol
of the permanent presence of
the oldest Muslim community
in central Europe. According
to the 2001 census, among
4,437.460 inhabitants of the
Republic of Croatia, there are
56, 777 Muslims of various
ethnic origin (Bosnian, Croat,
Albanians, Romany and others),
comprising 1.28% of
population. After the Roman
Catholics and Orthodox Christians,
Muslims account for the
third largest religious community.
Almost a third of them
live in Zagreb and are at the
centre of Muslim religious,
social, cultural and educational
life in the Republic of Croatia.
According to the same census,
Zagreb has 779, 145 inhabitants,
among whom are 16, 215
Muslims, living throughout the
city. Muslims comprise 2.08%
of the city’s population, and
are the second religious group
after the Roman Catholics.
Although this is a relatively
small Islamic community, Islam
is a traditional and native faith
in the Republic of Croatia and
in the City of Zagreb, practised
The first Zagreb biography of the
God’s envoy Mohamed a.s. from
the 18 th century
for centuries and enjoying a legal
basis. City communal and
fiscal sources record Muslims
in Zagreb in the middle of the
18 th century, when groups of
Muslim merchants from Bosnia
stayed in Zagreb doing
business; they were attracted
by trade privileges and the
revival in trade after the very
long wars between Christian
Austria and the Muslim Ottoman
Empire. The vicinity
of Ottoman Bosnia incited a
greater interest in Islam within
the city’s intellectual and cultural
circles. Thus, the Austrian