Islam and Muslims in Contemporary Ukraine: Common Backgrounds, Different Images
Journal: Religion State & Society
Year: 2010

Abstract Abstract Islam in Ukraine has its roots in the Middle Ages and is mostly associated with the Crimean Tatars. Muslims were repressed in the Soviet period, when most of the Tatars were deported from their homeland to Central Asia. Ukrainian independence opened a new era in the development of Islam; the last two decades (1989–2009) were the formative period for Muslim religious institutions. On the basis of the most recent sources, I argue that the Ukrainian part of the Islamic umma has be