The spread of Islam in theBalkans – I

How the Islamic civilization emerged in the Balkan Peninsula is one of
the most complex problems and requires multi-dimensional research.
Unfortunately, many historic factsconcerning Islam and the Balkan
Peninsula have been "forgotten," or even distorted. This has been the
result of centuries of pressure from the Serb and European historians
and their political establishments .
The two ways that enabled the spread of Islam in the Balkans were :
(1) The military expeditions sent to extend the borders of the state
of Islam, and
(2) The persuasive powers of the Islamic teachings themselves made
people ultimately embrace it .
Insofar as the nations of the Balkan Peninsula are concerned, the
overwhelming historic evidence reveals that military expeditions were
of little significance in the spread of Islam. Thus, the teachings of
Islam were the crucial factor in winning people over. The
Quranicdeclaration that "there is no compulsion in religion," gave
people the feeling of freedom for the first time in centuries. The
very famous Albanian writer, S. Frashëri, observes: "Apart from the
usage of military might to spread Islam, there does exist another way
without turning to invasion or the force of arms, a way that is often
not mentioned by the historians." Arnold Toynbee considers this a
major point and mentions it in his book, too .
Looking back in history, it is easy to understand which way was the
most influential means of spreading Islam; the force of arms or
Islamic teachings. Most of the time, the Muslim armies only opened the
"door" for the Islamic civilization to present itself, and ultimately
the people would see the difference .
Islamic civilization entered the Balkan Peninsula mainly from theWest
through the contacts with Andalusia in Spain, from the South through
Mediterranean Seaand Sicily, and from the Northeast through Hungary.
Even though the evidence is minimal, after a serious analysis, the
abovequestion—how did Islam come to the Balkan Peninsula—would be
finally answered .
After all the research, three are the ways through which the Islamic
civilization gained its foothold in the Balkan Peninsula, and a
further elaboration of themwill follow .
Trade relations
The development of Islamic civilization and of the Muslims themselves
conditioned the expansion of trade. The goods produced were mainly
traded with neighboring nations, however, the traders often ventured
even further to far and unknown places. This is why that since the 9th
century trade relations between Europe and the Middle East through the
Mediterranean Sea has been booming. In these trade relations, the most
daring Europeans were those from Florence, Venice, Pizza, Genoa,
followed by the French, and Catalonians. The European merchants
through Egypt and Syria ventured far into the Far East .
The Illyro-Albanians had established trade relations with the Arab and
Turkish nations, andnot only the port-cities of the Adriatic Sea, but
the rural parts ofthe Balkan Peninsula inhabited bythem as well. Such
strong trade relations had been established since ancient times, and
continued into the pre-Ottoman and Ottoman periods .
The Arab gold and silver coins excavated in Potoci, near Mostar of the
present-day Bosnia-Herzegovina, date back to the time of Marwaan II
(744-750 C) which tells of the extensive trade relations the Muslims
had with the Balkan nations, first the Albanians and later the Slavs .
Port-cities along the Adriatic Sea like Dubrovnik, Tivari, Ulqini,
Durazzo, Valona, Himara, etc., andother Greek and Southern Italian
cities were centers of trade. During the 12th century, the well known
Muslim historians and travelers, Al-Idreesi and Ibn Hawkal, tell in
fine details the social and political situation of those places. They
also describe the road going through the Balkan Peninsula, from the
Aegean Sea along the valley of the Vardar River to the coasts of the
Adriatic Sea .
Usually, the Italian merchants traveled by sea, whereas the Muslims
mostly traveled overland. The merchants from Venice and Florence used
to traderegularly and exchanged their goods mostly in Istanbul and
Gallata. Well known are also the caravans from Dubrovnik to Istanbul,
and vice versa .
Such strong trade relations have had a great impact on the Balkan
nations. Apart from buying and selling, which was the primary
intention, the merchants broughtmany new ideas and changes. This was
intensified further whenthe Muslim merchants started to establish
themselves in some fortified and secured coastal cities. The first
Muslim colonies appeared. Though they were verysmall in the beginning,
they became larger, and even stronger. - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
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