I. The hungarian Islam from the Beginning

 

About the Kabar, the Bissani and other tribes

The one analysing the history of Hungarian Islam has to go back in time before the Hungarian conquest of present-day Hungary, when Hungarians still lived in Levedia in Eastern Europe. In this period of time the Hungarian tribes belonged to the Kazar Empire or rather they belonged to its vassals. In Kazaria, a large amount of the traders and Kazar notabilities were Muslims, not to mention the large part of the soldiers of Kazan, whom mostly came from Hvarezm. These Hvarezmis appeared in the Hungarian tribe union in the 9th century. We do not know the exact situation of their appearance. Next to the seven conquering Hungarian tribes, 3 Kabar tribes joined the union. These Kabar tribes in one opinion broke away from Kazaria, but according to another source they escaped from there. The Emperor Constantine writes about the above-mentioned as follows: "It is known, that the so called Kabar came from the Kazar clan. It happened that there was a revolt against the government, which caused a civil war. The previous government had returned, by whom many had been killed, others had escaped and settled down with the Turkic people (note: Hungarians) on the land of Bissani, and they became friends and started to call themselves Kabars". From the words of the Emperor the fact can be concluded that the leaders of the Hungarians chose a leader of their own out of the united tribes of three Kavar or Kabar tribes. The task of this leader or prince was to keep the connection with the leaders of the leading Hungarian tribes. Kabars were surely an inferior tribe, which can be proved by the fact that as an armed auxiliary nation they served in the area of front and back defence. So they were the first to go in a battle, and also they were the last to leave it. Kabars became a double language speaking nation, and next to their own Turkic language, they could speak Hungarian too. By 950 the Turkic language slowly disappeared. Out of the conquering Hungarians the rate of Kabars was 20-30 %. Besides the Kabars other Muslim nations had joined the tribal union like the Hvarezmi.

In the Latin sources "Saracenus" meant Islamic or Muslim. The Hungarian equivalent of this is Bezermin (böszörmény) or rather Saracen (szaracén). The three Kabar tribes were mostly Muslim. Sámuel Aba, who was a king of Hungary, was of Kabar origin, too. His ancestors were the princes of the three Kabar tribes. The Emperor Constantine of Byzantium, called the Kabars as Kavars. According to Anonymous Kabars got lands in the Mátra for settling down. From the 13-14th century it's known, that the lands of the Aba clan were in this area too. (For example there is still a village there called Abasár). This was the time when Sámuel Aba got married to one of the youngest sisters of King Saint Stephan. Naturally a condition for Sámuel Aba for this marriage was to become a Christian. Thanks to this marriage, our first king entered into a strong alliance with Kabars. Sámuel Aba established the Monastery of Abasár at the time of his wedding.  With the marriage and becoming a Christian, Sámuel Aba lost his title of chieftain, but at the same time he became a member of King Saint Stephan's court, which meant that he became a member of the advisory body which lead the policy of the country. As the relative of the king he had an important position in it. He received the title of palace lieutenant which title was given on the basis of a German example. This title was the later position of palatine. Stephan knew that the Christianity of Sámuel Aba was superficial, so after the death of his son, Prince Emery, he did not appoint Sámuel Aba as his successor but the truly Christian Peter. King Stephen forced the Kabars or "Black Hungarians" to serve as guardians of the borders. Naturally because of lack of information and sources, there are many different opinions about the early age of Hungarian Muslims.

After the Conquest of the Carpathian Basin, Muslim immigrations were all voluntary. This immigrants came from the areas of Maghrib and Hvarezm.  During the kings from the House of Árpád, two different legal opinions characterised the status of the Hungarian Muslims. Either they could practice their religion, especially the soldiers, or they became Christian under pressure and practiced their Islam in secret.

When they were fighting against the Bulgarians living along the Danube river, these Muslims were at the head of the Turkic forces and invited the ex-Muslims from among the enemies to return back to their traditional belief, to Islam.  "If they have been under the Turkic's protection, they would have sent them back to the lands of Muslims."  Muslims could freely practice their traditional belief in Hungary before the time of Christianity. This was typical for any nomad state. Al-Barki writes about this fact as follows: Turkic "ransom Jews and Muslims if they are in captivity in any province of the neighbourhood. Hungarians take good care of their guests."  

The Kaliz group were an important part of the nation who arrived from the area of Hvarezm.  Names of settlements where they lived is still to be found on the map of Hungary: Káloz (Fejér county 1326: Kaluz, Kálócfa, Zala county 1426 Kalozfalua, Budakalász, Pest county, 1332-1337, Kaluz). Hungarians were in contact with the Kaliz even before the conquest of the Carpathian Basin. The Hvarezmi people spoke the Iranian language and many of them lived in Kazaria and in the city of Bulgar. Later the Old Iranian language was changed to Turkish. From the 12th century we have more information about the Kaliz people. A historiographer from Byzantium, Kinnamos relates the battle in 1150 between the Hungarians and Byzantium, and he also mentions that other ethic groups, who had different beliefs, were fighting on the Hungarian side. These groups were the Kaliz and the Bissani.  According to him, the Kaliz nation had the same religion as the Persians.  The trade road between the Danube and the Tisza rivers was named after this nation ("Kaliz Road")

The Alan and Uz tribes were mentioned as Muslim immigrants in the 10th century (they arrived with the second wave of Bissani immigration). Hungarians called the Alans "varsány". It can be presumed, that the settlements or personal names including the word varsány connects to the Muslim Alans.   

 

Bulgarians living along the Volga river

During the reign of Prince Taksony, between 960 and 972, many Muslim Bulgarians from the Volga region of present-day Russia moved to our country with their leaders, called Billa and Bulcsu. The name of Billa possibly derives from the Islamic name of Bilal. The Bulgarians from the Volga region had to escape because of an internal power struggle.  They settled down in the area of today's 15th March Square in Central Budapest. A smaller group of them settled down in other parts of Pest County (Bille and Bócsapuszta). Their successors were the members of the Etyei clan. In 962 Prince Taksony sent a Muslim Bulgarian delegate whose name was Salek to Italy. It's possible that this name comes from the name of Saleh. In this age, armed auxiliary nations of Muslims were settled down in the area of Orsova by the Danube river (in present-day Romania). Ibn Rusta and Gardezia, the Arab travellers relate the state and life style of the Volga Bulgarians as follows:. "Bulgarians live near the Slavonic and Kazar tribes, along the Atil (Volga) river, which runs into the Kazar (Caspian) Sea. The king of the Bulgarians is called Almus and he is a Muslim. The rest of the Bulgarians are Muslims too. They have mosques and Quranic schools as well as muezzins and imams. They dress like Muslims their burial-grounds are similar to that of the Muslims."  These studies date from the 10th century. Ibn Fadlan wrote that the Bulgarian prince asked the Baghdadi caliph to send religious scholars to help his nation.

The delegate of the Bulgarian prince was a Kazar Muslim whose name was Abdallah Ibn al-Hazari. I would also mention that the direct neighbours of the Kazar were the Eastern Hungarians, whom were found later by the 13th century Christian monk, Julianus.   

 

The Bissani tribe (besenyő)

Many Bissanis also arrived to our homeland. Before the conquest of the Carpathian Basin they were our enemies but as they lost battles against Byzantium and Kiev, their state fall apart and became very weak. During the kings of House of Árpád, the Bissanis were unanimously Muslims and they were settled down in Pest, Moson, Fejér and Szepes counties. One part of them ware soldiers, but there were traders and farmers, too. We have to mention the Bissani Prince of Tonzuba who arrived to our country with his nation during Saint Stephan's reign. They belonged to the early Bissani migrants and they possibly weren't Muslims but there could have been some Muslims already with them. As he refused to become a Christian he and his wife were berried alive near the pier of Abád. His soldiers were settled down in different areas.

After 1100 many Bissani immigrated to our country. The reasons for this were that they lost many battles against Byzantium and also the Hungarian kings welcomed them as auxiliary army. Not to mention the fact that we had many problems with Byzantium, who tried to expand their territories.  
It took a long time to assimilate the Bissani. They were soldiers and they lived in closed societies blocking the road to their assimilation.  Only by the 15th century, they started to speak Hungarian, to wear Hungarian dresses but they still were aware of their origin. At the age of Árpádian kings we can surely say that 150 settlements were of Bissani origin.

 

Bezermins (böszörmény)

According to the famous 13th royal notary, priest and historiographer, Anonymus, they arrived to our country in the 10th century. Bezermin (in Hungarian böszörmény) actually meant all Muslims and according to Anonymus, they were Bulgarians from the Volga region or "Black Hungarians". Our oldest data come from proper names, and the oldest common names are bezermen, buzermen. 13-14th century toponyms are Buzermen, Bezermen, Bozermen. Nowadays we still know places named after them, for example: Berekböszörmény (Hajdu-Bihar county, since 1291), Hajdúböszörmény (Hajdú-Bihar county, since 1246).  Professor Melich considered these Muslims as descendants of the Bissani, Kuman and Palóc tribes. Others take them for Kazars or Bissanis. Many consider them as Turkish-speaking Muslims.  

Before the attack of the Tartars on Hungary, many travellers (for example: Carpini Plano) considered the Bissani as a nation speaking the Kuman language and following the Saracen religion (ie. Islam).  The final source of the word "böszörmény" is Muscleman. This means that büsürman, bisirman, büsürmen and böszörmény (Bissani) all derive from a Turkish word meaning Muslim.

These above-mentioned Muslim ethic groups were mainly archers, light horse fighters and traders. Their settlements were usually by the important trade routes.  Their bigger settlements were in the area of Mezőföld and Mátra, and also in the Southern part of the country.  In the area by the borders they were settled down with the purpose of defending it. Smaller colonies were all around the country, and Muslim traders lived in almost all settlements.   

 

The Kazar Empire and Islam

Before coming to Central Europe, Hungarians were under Kazar occupation. Since we had a strong connection with these Muslim nations later on, we have to analyse this period of time more in detail.  Constantine wrote as follows: "Hungarians lived together with the Kazars for 3 years, and they fought in all battles with the Kazars." Many researchers stated that the period when Hungarians and Kazars lived together lasted for 20 to -300 years. This makes us conclude that the Hungarians depended from Kazars.

Typical for this relationship is that their leader, the kagan, gave to Levedi, a Hungarian chief of that time, a wife of noble origin "because of her fame and background to provide him with a child". After occupying Derbent lying on the Northern edge of the Caucasus mountains, the army of the Caliphate moved on towards the north.  The Kazar Empire was a typically nomad one and it ruled over the territory between Middle Asia and the Crimean peninsula. They met Islam in Middle Asia and on its land there lived many Muslim traders. The first unsuccessful battle was between 642-652.  In 642 Muslim Arab battalions attacked Balanyar the Kazar capital of that time.  There were many little battles, but then in 652 a big Muslim battalion attacked the capital city.  The strengthened Kazar capital resisted; the incoming Kazar cavalry defeated the besiegers. During the battle the leader of the Muslims has been also martyred.  In the second Kazar-Arabian war (722-737), first the Kazars could defeat the Arabs, but later on the Kazar Emperor lost the war.  In 722, the Kazars defeated the Arabs. Then the Arabic leader started another battle against Derbent. The Kazars got prepared for the besiege by organising a large battalion. Their leader was Bartchik, the son of the kagan (the Kazar king).  
Finally the Arabs occupied the Kazar positions. They occupied Balanyar, and the Kazar defenders of the town escaped to Semender.  In 725, Jarrah, the Arab military leader, turned back just before getting to Semender and started his next military expedition.

First he went against the Alans, but before anything could have happened, the new Caliph called him back and replaced him by Maslamah.  Maslamah, the legendary leader, occupied one of the main gorges of the Caucasus, Dariel in 727.  After the initial success, the Caliph called him back.  Jarrah reappeared in the Caucasus and he went against the new capital, Sarijin, through the Dariel gorge, but he couldn't reach any success. In 730 the war renewed between the Kazars and Arabians. The leader Bartchik, with a battalion with 300 thousand soldiers attacked the Arabians through the Dariel defile. On the third day of the battle, the Arabian defeated. Jarrah prostrated, his wives and children fall into Kazar's' hand. Kazars used their successful position and they started to chase the escaping enemy, and also managed to get close to Mould. Possible this was the golden age for the Kazar's army power.

Arabs could not accept their defeat. Said took the lead of the organisation of the war against the Kazars. He had only a few successful battles, but the Arabs made of him a legendary figure. After him, Malaga was again the one who organised the battles against the Kazars. He crossed Derben, and reached Semendery without having any bigger trouble.  At this point a new leader was placed to the front of the Arab battalion, his name was Marwan (732).  After the usual battles, in 737, he started the final campaign. He crossed unexpectedly the Dariel and Derbenti gorges. The Kazars had to escape towards the north. The Arab battalions followed them and destroyed everything on their way on the land of the Burtas.

The Arabs caught the Kagan by the Volga river. The Arab leader decided to negotiate instead of a decivise siege. In his tricky position, the kagan of the Kazars accepted Marwan's terms and conditions which meant that he had to revert to Islam. After this the Arabs left Kazaria. This happened in 737. Kazaria survived. In the next 100 years they were managing all smaller nations in the area. At this time Islam got more and more popular around the area.

I would like to notify that later the kagan of the Kazars together with his near collaborators converted to Judaism, but that religion was restricted to this little group and they were joined only by the refugees fleeing anti-Jewish pogroms in the Empire of Byzantium.

During the cohabitation with the Kazars, the Hungarian as the Kazars started to have two chiefs.

Masoudi writes about the Kazar Empire as follows:

"(in the capital city) besides the Grand Mosque having a minaret taller that the royal castle itself there are several smaller mosques completed by schools where children learn how to read the Holy Quran. If once the Muslims agreed with the Christian, the king of the Kazars would not have power over them."

Muslims form the leading strata of the Kazar Empire since they are from among the king's body guards.They come from the region of Khvarezm and fled to the Kazar kings soon after the wars and epidemics broken out soon after the spread of Islam. Their judges are also from their religion. Ibn Haukal writes about them as follows:

"They dwell in tents made out of felt and only a few of them are of mud brick. They have market places and bath houses and half of the population of that neighbourhood is Muslim. It is said that they outnumber ten thousand people and they have over 30 mosques."

From Ibn Fadhlan's writings:

"Lots of Muslims live in this city. They Kazars comprises of Muslims, Christians and pagans, Jews are few in number, but their king is one of them, and the majority of them is Muslim or Christian."

There were Muslims even among the Hungarians as stated in Ibn Fadlan's writings:

"they arrived on the land a people of Turkic origin named Bashgurd.One of them who reverted to the Muslim faith was them as a slave."

The mainly Islamised Cumanes and Tatars settled down in Hungary after the Tatar raids in 1241.

 

About the Cumanes

In the East, the Cumane- Kiptchak tribes pushed by the Mongols formed a new nomadic state located from the Caspian to the borders of the Hungarian Kingdom.

From among the Cumanes there both Christians and Muslims, but till the Mongol raids the majority of them conserved their ancestral worship. At that time they took a couple of words from the Islamic terminology such as "sátán" (from the Arabic sheytan) which would not be possible if they were in contact only with Christian missionaries. Prior to the Mongol Age we have no precise indication of Muslim presence among the Cumanes. The Cumane diplomacy lived its hey-days when the Mongol invaders arrived. Lead by Kumarmis Koltsy son of Kontchek a delegation was sent to Baghdad in 1223 to form a defence alliance. Its precondition could have been the acceptance of Islam. Following a same agreement the Cumanes of Wallachy converted to Christianity. The Cumane territories had a vivid trade relationship with Egypt and Syria.

The main product of the time was the humans themselves in the northern territories who bought by the Muslims as slaves. The Ayyubides formed soldiers and body guards from the Turkic slaves traded from the North. They became later the Mamluks (mamluk in Arabic means traded slave). The first arrival of the Mongols forced the Cumanes and the Russian to unite themselves on the Kiptchak Plains. Without success. Jebe and Subotay, the Mongol leaders won the battle near the Kalka river against them. Losing this battle, the Cumane chief Kotony (aka Kuthen) moved with his people to Wallachy. As the geopolitical situation did not favour the Cumanes they sent a delegation to the Hungarian king, Bela IV. They asked him to protect them. For this purpose he also offered his significant armed forces. The mob in Buda tortured Kotony to death and Cumane troops devastating the country left it towards the South

The Tatar invasion left a terrific devastations behind and our king, Bela Iv., had to invite colonisers (so called hospeses) and this is why we call him the second founder of the Hungarian state. Again Muslim immigrants came in from the East and Cumanes also came back from the Balkans upon hearing the king's calling word. People living under as much as 40.000 tents moved in the country. The settled them down between the Danube and Tisza rivers and along the Körös and Maros rivers. On the designated area they were let to nomadise, they could keep their traditional dresses and life style. As free men they were obliged to mobilise if the king wanted, they had privileges similar to the nobles. But they had to convert to Christianity, the king sent ten Dominican fathers to them. The conversion was difficult because seemingly the Cumanes were very much attached to their Muslim faith. The king thought that the Cumanes were very important and marry his son to a Cumane lady. Most probably this lady was a noble one, according to many, she must have been the Kotony's daughter. This marriage strengthened the Cumane influence in the Court. The Cumane light cavalry always played a major role in the king's military campaigns, it was with their help that he won the battle against Friedrich, the Austrian prince. He and his son, István V., preferred the Cumanes that much that the Pope's envoys pronounced themselves against this practice. A prove that the Cumanes were Muslims is that a Cumane fighter could have up to four wives till the Ladislas IV.'s reign.

Ladislas Iv. was also known as Cumane Ladislas since his mother (Elisabeth the Cumane) was from a Cumane noble lineage. Ladislas was born in 1262 and became the fiancé of the daughter of the Anjou king of Naples. The first years of Ladislas's reign was characterised by the struggle for power of the aristocrats. Even sometimes the king himself was also humiliated: caught and put in prison. The situation was even aggravated by the internal difficulties within the German-Roman Empire. Ladislas supported Robert the Hapsburg against the Czech king, Ottokar. In 1278 he wins a major battle at Dürnkrut with the help of the Cumanes against Ottokar who remains on the field dead.

Fighting this anarchy Cumanes were Ladislas's first allies to such an extent that he started to imitate their traditions.

He ate with them and wore their dresses.

He married three Cumane girls: Ayduna, Kuptchetch and Mandola. The Pope could not stand the situation and sent a delegation to the country. The Cumane leaders, Uzur and Tolon also participated to the negotiations. The Cumanes were granted noble titles and liberty, their judge became the nador who was second only to the king, but the Cumanes had to settle down, to accept baptism, to renounce to violence and to set their captives captured in the country itself free. The promises of the king did not come true and he returned to his preferred ones and continued living as before. Even he captured the papal delegation and give them to the Cumanes. Nothing violent happened because at the end the king himself also got captured. After the next negotiations the king was forced to act against the Cumanes even though the Cumanes were strengthened by Aldamur's army coming from Wallachy in the Hod Battle in 1280. A part of the Cumanes remained in the country, they were forced to convert to Christianity, the rest retired to Wallachy. That was the time when Cumanes were started to be called as "Nyögér"

Ladislas fights the Mongols back and settles them down. King Ladislas had an identity crisis and none could tell that he is actually a Christian European king. He loved the Cumanes and Mongol and his way of life was similar to theirs. We cannot state that he reverted to Islam though. He loved a Cumane, his mother was Cumane his friends were Cumanes, he fought with the Cumanes. and his killer was also a Cumane. As usual in spring 1290, he went to visit the Cumanes and for an unknown reason he was killed by three of them. He was buried in the nearby episcopal centre: Csanád. The murder was revenged by the nador Mije, a Muslim converted to Christianity and his sister Edua, who was a lover of the king.

 

About the monk Julianus's eastern travels

Julianus, this 13th century monk and traveller, writes about Muslims, the neighbours of Hungarians as follows: "They went from here to another city, to the house of a Mohammedan, who received them in the name of God. The monk called Gerhardus died was buried here. Then the monk Julianus knowing not how to get further became a slave of a Mohammedan priest and his wife who prepared to travel to Great Bulgaria."

He also mentions a settlement named Suvar whose inhabitants are Muslims and was to be found before land of Volga Bulgarians. He also adds: "The Tatars are their (Eastern Hungarians) neighbours. This is why they are allies. The aforementioned monk met there the leader of the Tatars who could speak Hungarian, Russian, Cumane, German and Saracene (Arabic)."

According to this the Eastern Hungarians who remained in our original home country could have detailed information about Islam, lived in peace with Muslims, and for sure a segment of them became Islamised.

 

The Tatars

Before we analyse the mainly Muslim Tatar immigrants to Hungary we have to give an overview of the Mongol Empire and the Golden Horde.

 

 

Mongolian Empire

Jinghis khan or as he was originally called, Temurjin was over 40 years old when in 1206 he managed to unite all Mongol tribes. Then the Mongols elected him as a the Great Khan and got the name Jinghis.

Jinghis organised a nomadic military state based different military units and went on conquering the whole world. In 1219-1221 he devastated Central Asia, ventured into India and then destroyed the nomads of Southern Russia (Alans and Cumane-Kiptchaks). In 1223 along the Kalka river, the Mongols won the battle against the Russians and then returned to their ancient lands. Jinghis died aged over 70 in 1227 due to an injury caused by his falling from a horse during a battle. After Jinghis's death not his first born son Jotchi became the Great Khan, but the third one Ogodey. In 1236 Batu (Jotchi's son) lead an attack on the West. They won against the Cumanes and the Volga Bulgarians. That was the very moment when Magna Hungaria (the country of the Eastern Hungarians) got destroyed. They sieged and destroyed Moscow and Vladimir. In 1238, the Russians lost again at the Sit river. Headed by Batu and Subotay, the Mongols attacked Hungary and after Bela IV.'s defeat, they invaded it for a couple of years. Then the majority of the Mongol army was made of Turkic people, they were mainly Tatars. This is why Hungarians tend to call this event as Tatar invasion. Jotchi's second son, Berke, Jinghis's grandson was the first khan to revert to Islam.

Then the enforced Mongol aristocracy became Muslim as well. Berke's homeland lied to the north from the Caucasus. The Muslims coming from Iran or Central Asia could not proceed to the Golden Horde lead territories only by entering it through Berke's home land. After all Islam came to Berke from the south. The news that Batu' younger brother became a Muslim was already known in Batu's lifetime.

Halitch and Lodomeria revolted against the Tatar rule, but was easily fought back by Berke. Bela IV. then could vision a second Tatar invasion because Berke proposed him in a letter after calming down the situation in Halitch to marry their children and to support his military campaigns. Berke in return did not want to tax Hungary and proposed peace as well. It is also true that he wrote that if the Hungarian king refuses his offer then he destroys Hungary. In this situation Bela seeked a papal council who only morally supported him and prohibited and alliance with Berke. Bela tried to postpone his decision. Berke's attention was caught by his southern border, so he did not have enough time and energy to attack the Hungarians and Poles. It is worthy to note the names of the khans who came after Berke: Mengu-Temur (1267-1280), Telebuga (1287-1291) and Nogay, the emir.

Their names are connected to the Muslim Tatar immigration to Hungary. Lead by Nogay and Telebuga, the Tatars got to the city of Pest. It could happen so because of king Ladislas'S supposed secret invitation. The intrusion of Nogay's Tatars did not cause a national tragedy. They came from the north, destroyed the northeastern counties, and surprised by the resistance of the Sicules in Transylvania, they left the country. Two years later Nogay allied with Ladislas, but when the king got captured, he retired. Many of Nogay's troops themselves were also captured. Other Tatar clans came into the country peacefully. They numbered several thousands and the vast majority of them was Muslim. For long time they enjoyed privileges similar to the Cumanes to whom they got assimilated because of the nearness of their languages.

 

Abu Hamid al-Andalusi al-Garnati's notes on the Muslims of Hungary

Al-Garnati was born in al-Andalus, in Granada in 1080. He travelled around the then known world, he got to Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, Khvarezm, the Volga Bulgarian lands and Kiev, but what is the most important for us is that he spent three years in Hungary (1150-1153) during king Geza II.'s reign

He calls Hungary Bashgird or Unkuriyya in his travel notes. He names the Hungarians Bashgirds. He writes as follows: ".. I spent three years among them.I bought a girl slave born in captivity.she was 15 years old, she was more beautiful than the Moon, she had black hair and eyes, her skin was white. She knew how to cook and count. I also bought another Rumi (European) girl who was eight years old and coasted 5 dinars.From the first one I had a son who died later on. I set her free and gave her the name Maryam, I wanted to bring her to Sajsin, my permanent residence." He writes about the Muslims of the country as follows: "Thousands of Maghribi live here as well as thousands of Khvarezmi. The Khvarezmi serve the king (they could have been Kaliz or Ishmaelite) they show themselves as Christians, but they are Muslims in secret. Contrary to this the Maghribis serve the Christians only in case of war and profess Islam openly (most probably they were Turks)."

"When I visited the descendants of the Maghribis they received me with great honour. I taught them religious knowledge. and with great effort I tried to repeat with them the prayer and other Islamic practices" We can deduce of this that the majority of Muslims of Hungary were Christianised but practiced Islam in secret. Others were mainly soldiers, the were openly Muslim. They might have gained those privileges from the king. The Muslims of Hungary were not trained in religion, few were the ones who graduated from madrassahs came back and taught Islam. But the Islamic faith was there in the spirits and this is why the job of Christian missionaries was so hard.

It is to be noted that rules of heritage were also explained by al-Garnati. We can supposed that the various ethnic groups had the right to follow certain rules coming from their Islamic religion. Another proof is that al-Garnati writes that "they did not know about the Friday prayer, but now I taught them it together with the Friday sermon." The importance of the Muslim minority can be characterised by the following "Today Friday prayer is observed at more than ten thousand places, openly or secretly, since their country is huge."

It is noteworthy to read what he writes about the archers of the king and their origin. "The Bashgird king usually destroys Byzantin territories. I told the local Muslims to do everything for the Holy War together with the Bashgird king because God will count it as a virtue on the Resurrection Day. They went then out with him on the land of Constantinople and captured a high number of Muslims from the Cumane army. I asked some of them: why did come to fight along with the Emperor of Byzantium. They answered: all of us, we got 200 dinars and we did not know that on this land there are Muslims as well. I arranged that they could return to Byzantium and then to Cumania." Cumania was a kiptchak empire including southern Russia, Wallachy, Moldavia. This is also a proof for saying that the region was highly Islamised even before the Mongols. Al-Garnati should have a high respect with the king if the Muslims were sent home after his intercession. According to al-Garnati Muslims of Hungary waged Jihad against Byzantium and those killed on the battle field become shahid (martyr) and worthy of gaining Paradise. The emperor of Byzantium settled down Muslim Turks in the Vardar river valley. These Muslims also fought in battles and seek refuge in the Kingdom of Hungary where they could practice their religion freely when they forced to convert in Byzantium.

Those soldiers were settled down as privileged border guards. In al-Garnati's description we can compare the situation of the local Muslims with those residing in Byzantium: "The head of Constantinople has came to seek peace with a huga amount of treasure and Muslim slaves as gift.

One of those captives who returned to Hungary told me -says al-Garnati- that the king of Constantinople asked him why the king of the Bashgards (ie. Hungarians) entered and destroyed his country since before he did not use to do so. He gave the king the following answer: the king of the Bashgirds has a high number of Muslim soldiers who could keep their religious practices and they were the ones who convinced him to attack and destroy your country. The king of Constantinople then replied saying that he also has Muslim subjects, but they do not help him in the fights. Then he was told that it is so because you force them to profess Christianity. Then the king said: from now on, I would not force any Muslim to come to my religion and I would build mosques for them to let them fight on my side.

Al-Garnati's description shows how Muslim soldiers were well treated and free to practice their religion and culture. This also proves why Hungary was so appealing for Muslim immigration. On the top of that is that Muslim leaders had a good contact with the king himself.

Al-Garnati had a good personal relationship with king Géza II.

Let us cite some quotations from him about this matter:

"he follows the same religion as the Frank (ie. Inhabitants of Western Europe) even though he leads military campaigns against the countries of the Franks and takes captives from among them. All nations fear his attacks and he has lot of soldiers and he is great in bravery."

"When he heard that I prohibited Muslims from drinking wine and I let them to have female slaves besides the four wives they can have, he said this was not reasonable since wine strengthens the body and the eye and women are decreasing their force. He said that the rules of Islam are not in harmony with reason. I told the interpreter to tell the king that the law of the Muslims differ from that of Christians. Christians drink wine with the food instead of water and do not become drunk, and indeed wine strengthens him. But Muslims drink wine it is to get drunk, his reason leaves him and becomes like a mad committing adultery, killing people and says things and acts against God. All of his good manners disappear, he give his horse and arms to anyone, spends his wealth on his desire.

These Muslims here are your soldiers, if commended them to attack they would not possess horses, arms or wealth since they spent it on drinking. And you, if learnt about this, you have to kill them or let them do so and give them horses and arms again what they would loose again.

As far as female slaves are concerned, polygamy well worthy for Muslims because their blood is hot. Do not forget that they are your soldiers and if they get more children from their wives and female slaves you would have more soldiers!

The king said: listen to the old man because he is wise, marry as much as you wish and do not contradict him. King Géza was the one who opposed Christian priests and let Muslims to conclude multiple marriages, this king loves Muslims.

The great Eastern enemy of Constantinople was Islam. At the same time Islam was an ally in Hungary. The force of the Muslim soldiers made the king more powerful against the inner and outer enemies and section of the population depended only from the king.

Géza II.'s predecessors used the economic talent and the military force of the Muslims. On the other hand Géza found a harmony not to put in danger the internal peace of the country. We can see that the early Hungarian kings also known as the Árpád dynasty could keep their Muslim subjects happy if they prompted from the Christian jurisprudence. Muslims had rights but they also had duties as well. We are sura that until to Mongol invasion Muslims enjoyed equal rights with non-Muslims, and in some cases they were even privileged. Géza II.'s reign meant the summit of Islam in Hungary.

Al-Garnati's notes are well completed by the description given by Yaqut about Hungarian Muslims. Yaqut met Hungarian Muslims in Aleppo around 1220. When he asked about Hungary they answered as follows:

"As far as our country is concerned, it lies over Constantinople, in one of the empires of the Franks whose name is Hunkars (Hungarians). We, Muslims, we are the subjects of our king and form around thirty villages, all of them almost correspond to a country (city), but the king of the Hunkars does not permit us to build a wall around them because he fears that we would revolt against him. We live surrounded by Christian nations. Their tongue is that of the Franks, the also wear their dresses, we serve in the army together with them, and we manage all military campaigns with them against all tribes since we fight only those who fight the Muslims.

According to the description most Hungarian Muslims were of the Hanafi school of thoughts. The Hungarian Muslims dressed as their fellow Christian countrymen and spoke Hungarian. The difference was there only in religious matters. It is also probable that the assimilation of diasporic Muslims has been finished until this time.

 

 

Slow religious assimilation and the era of decline

Before presenting the facts and details concerning the assimilation process of Muslims of Hungary, I would give a summery of the best days of Muslims.

Those professing Islam openly represented 5 to 8% of the overall population, 3 to 4% might have been the number of those who were Christianised but kept their Muslim faith in secret. The Hungarian kings tried to follow an assimilation policy but their laws about it were not or were only implemented in a contradictory way. Since we cannot speak about a Muslim minority living in one block, the ones living in the heart of the country were easily assimilated contrarily with those guarding the borders. This legal process started in times of king Ladislas I. That was the time of the first calls for crusade to take the Sacred Sepulcher back by Christians. King Ladislas was supposed to lead this campaign, and he stopped in it only by his sudden death.

King Ladislas mentions in a law that who are named Wzbegs (Uzbek)".This nation was surely a Muslim one serving the king, if they were found serving any private individual, then they should have been re-conducted to the king

King Ladislas drafted a law saying:

"About merchants who are named Ishmaelite. If merchants who are named Ishmaelite are caught after their baptise that they have returned to their original law based on circumcision, should be removed from their dwellings and go to exile to another village. And those who are proved innocent, they must be left in their dwellings."

We can see that king Ladislas punishes only the ones after getting baptised return to Islam. Muslims could still freely observe their religion. The Crusade started in the time of king Colomon, and a part of the troops crossed Hungary on their way towards Jerusalem. The enlightened king was the first to try to assimilate Muslims into the Christian majority.

"About the punishment of Ishmaelite who want to keep their religion If someone finds Ishmaelite fasting or when eating refraining from eating pork or washing themselves or any other sinful habits, so those Ishmaelite should be sent to the king, and the one accusing them should get a share of the Ishmaelite's wealth."

Fasting meant the fasting of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. We can see that the authors of this law were aware of Islam, they even knew about the prohibition of pork. Muslims though were not mistaken for Jews. Washing themselves meant the ritual ablution before praying. We know that the men of the early Middle Ages were not the fans of hygiene, it was visible if someone washed himself five times a day.

"About relocating Ishmaelite We order or Ishmaelite villages to build a church and provide it with donations from its own territory. When this church is built, the half the inhabitants should move out of this village and settle down elsewhere as they have the same habits today we have while cohabitating with us, they would agree with in the same Christ, the same divine church as well."

This is well planned assimilation policy in a very simple way: splitting Muslim villages into two, by building a church with them, forcing them into a new and Christian environment. Those Muslims differed from other Hungarians only in their religious practice. They shared with mainstream society the same language. Even if they had second one, this tongue should have been a mixed one containing a certain number of Hungarian words. This is -of course- a fiction such as the thought that they used Arabic terms because of their religion.

"- Marrying the daughters of Ishmaelite.
No one should offer his daughter from among the Ishmaelite to someone from his tribe, only to the ones from our nation."

King Colomon again interferes deliberately with Muslims' private lives knowing that a Muslim woman can only marry a Muslim man when Muslim man can marry ladies from among the "People of the Book" (ie. Jews or Christians).

Since the society was a patriarchic one, this way they assured that child would get a Christian education and Ishmaelite girl would sooner or later seeing the influence of her environment and family would convert as well.

"- About the eating habits of the Ishmaelite.
If an Ishmaelite receive guests, he and his guests should eat pork."

The king might have taught that pork would mean an ethical break for the Ishmaelite and make their conversion faster. This rule was not applied for Jews.

Colomon nevertheless prohibited Jews from entering mixed marriages, having Christian slaves but never aimed at their full assimilation. The Catholic Church was the one which opposed Muslims privileges first, and forced the king in a continuous way to promote Christianity. The Church reclaimed Muslims' right collect taxes and duties and wanted to give this privileges to Christians. Many of the notable Muslims converted to Christianity because of this, but in secret kept professing Islam. The Church also wanted to take the right to judge Muslims and Jews from the king. Because of this a long-lasting conflict appeared between the king and the Church. We can note something: nothing is mentioned in these laws about their implementation and the punishments. Not even in later royal decrees. That means that the central power needed independent economic advise and light cavalry.

This is why later on Géza II. imported 500 Saracene fighters to help Barbarossa.

We have seen earlier that in the Hungarian Kingdom the royal power was central. But in the time of the Aranybulla or Golden Bill (the first constitution in the history of Hungary and Europe which gave in 1222 certain rights to the noble-run local authorities on the level of the counties) this central authority lost power, the nobles and the Church could force then the king to lift Muslims' privileges.

Andrew II. (1205-1235) gradually introduced a new economic policy. Its basis was the redistribution of royal lands and its taxation and rent.

The royal income was based on rents (salt mines, duties, money production). With this system the Church lost parts of its revenue. Non-Christian, meaning Muslim and Jewish investors became less fragile and less exposed to the traditional Christian religious authorities. Because of this, king Andrew was under pressure from the clergy. We should keep in mind that those who produced the coins had an impact on its value.

In 1217, before the king left for a Crusade, the nobles and the Church put pressure on him. The Church then started to report on the local Muslims and Jews and even the Pope was interested in this issue. At the same time the Church slowly converted certain Muslim elements and became richer this way.

Hungarian Muslims remained tolerant which is included in the religion. To support this I would like to quote the Holy Quran's 2. chapter's 256. verse: "there is no compulsion in religion." On the other hand Muslims also increased in number due to the mixed marriages since polygamy was authorised to them thanks to earlier royal decree. Our king several times drafted laws punishing the ones who converted to Christianity but in fact practiced Islam.

The Golden Bill was the document which spelt the break of the Muslim economic power:

"- Against Ishmaelite and Jews bearing titles.
The heads of the Chamber, the moneychangers, the salt sellers and tax collectors must be the nobles of the Empire, they cannot be Ishmaelite or Jews."

This was a real assault against the Muslim notabilities loyal to the king. In the 13th century nobles opposed to the king and the clergy knew perfectly well who represented the interests of the king. Together with the Roman Pope, the launched a religious attack on Muslims.

They gained the sympathy of the ordinary people for their Islamophobic campaign since no one really loves tax collectors and the like. In Christian churches agitation against the "pagans" was considered normal.

To prove how important was the issue of the economic power of Muslims for the Church, we would like to quote the Pope's letter: "Saracenes and Jews rule there the Christians, and many Christians under this weight and witnessing the happiness and freedom of the Saracenes join them and convert to their faith. Christians marry Saracene women and vice versa."

Andrew II. did not completely implemented neither what the Church wanted nor the laws of the Golden Bill. Because of this, when in 1231 the Golden Bill was re-discussed, Muslims were cited once more.

- Against Jews and Saracenes bearing titles.
Money producing institutions, salt chambers and other government authorities cannot be lead by Jews or Saracenes.
The Golden Bill had to be re-declared and its text was also changed as we see.

The foreign bishop of Esztergom, Robert, using his power octroyed on him, in 1232 introduced the severest punishment and put the whole country under a so called interdictum (medieval religious law prohibiting land ownership for certain people). The explains the reasons of his decision to the bishop of Veszprém in a letter: "the king assembled his children around him. and issued a law and promised to govern according to this law. It was included in it that no Jew or Ishmaelite can lead the chambers or any other national authority.

But this law was not respected, derivations increased in number.Some Christians even converted to the Saracene faith, because they saw that their fate is better than that of the poor Christians, and because of this several thousand souls were lost in the region.But his councillors who promoted Saracenes, we will fulminate. And the palatine Dénes for other reasons as well."

Sámuel, the head of the Chamber was not saved either, he was accused of heresy because he as well he also supported Muslims. A senior Christian priest writes about the Muslims as follows: "We forbid Christians to trade or conclude a contract or to get in contact in any ways with a Saracene until the moment when Saracenes release the ones who converted to Christianity and the ones who intend to do so, be them the sons of Hungarians, Bulgarians, Cumans or any other nation who reside with us slaves or free men."

It is noticeable that Jews who are mentioned in the law are not cited as causes of the interdictum. They tried to isolate Muslims.

For Muslims, breaking of all ties with the outside world would meant bankruptcy if those severe and irrational law applied. The bishops of the Hungarian Church were still not happy enough.

Difficulties of Muslims followed difficulties. In 1233 when king was already old and widowed the clergy made him to accept the so called Bereg Agreement which meant according to Henrik Marczali the zenith of Church power in Hungary.

- Against Jews and Ishmaelite bearing titles
We do not appoint Jews and Saracenes or Ishmaelite to be leaders of chambers, money producing institutions, salt agencies and other public institutions.

And we do not appoint them as councillors next to them, nor we commit any trick to let them oppress Christians.

- Differentiation of Jews
We will rule that Jews and Saracenes or Ishmaelite must wear signs to distinguish them from Christians.

- Against having Christian slaves
We also rule that we do not permit Jews and Saracenes or Ishmaelite to buy or possess in any form Christian slaves.

- Yearly control of these decisions
And we promise that we and our successors we would send the palatine or any other person we wish, a person who is a faithful Christian and we will make to witness that he would apply our law.

The bishop in whose territory there are or would be Jews, Pagans or Ishmaelite to lift Christians from under the Saracene rule or the cohabitation with them.

- Punishing Christians living with Saracenes or Jews
And after all this one finds a Christian living with Saracenes or Christians who live as slaves of the Saracenes or women living with Saracenes under the pretext of a marriage or any other means. These Christians such as those Jews or Pagans should be deprived of their wealth and the king should make the slaves of Christians."

I think that these Draconian laws show how under the pressure of the clergy to king aimed at the total assimilation and favoured conversions. This way there was two options for Muslims: either to convert or to migrate. We can also notice that Muslims at that time possessed considerable wealth. In the control, the Church played a major role, that also meant that no Ishmaelite could not roll out.

I would like to note that king Béla IV. asked from the Pope a derogation concerning the employment of some Ishmaelite in his Court. He was obliged to use their economic know-how.

First of the rules is that the king would not make a Jew or an Ishmaelite office-bearer or their councillors to oppress Christians.

It do not let them to purchase or have Christian slaves. It also declares that they must different from them. Those Jews, Ishmaelite and Pagans who continue to possess slave or to have a Christian wife get punished. The king supported Muslims serving him several times, but since 1233 he could not oppose the rules of the Bereg Agreement any more. 51 out of the 61 articles of the Bereg Agreement deal with "Unbelievers". Restrictions were drafted in such a geopolitical situation when the Christian mini-states of the Middle East struggled for their survival against the Muslim countries.

It is interesting to note that Crusaders were looking for the help of the Mongols against Muslims. How strong it can be, this is a fact.

Muslims of Hungary were integrated into the overall society. When the chance for their independent religious bodies ceaesed they became ethnic-Hungarians and Christians.

In 1266 the name of the Ishmaelite Mike is still mentioned who possessed lands in Tömörkény (Arad county).

Muslims also lived in Transylvania where even in the 14th century one of their settlement is known In 1279 the Council of Buda once more ruled that Bezermins cannot collect taxes and duties.

Islamic practices vanished under king Louis I., he destroyed the last mosque made of wood in the Nyírség region around 1350.

Muslims converted by force became soon partisans of the Christian Reform movements.

Road from the "Remonstrances" (St. Stephen's letter to his son in which praises foreigners and invites his son to protect them and to give them freedom) to the assimilation-aiming laws was long. Though at the time of the latter followers of Islam became linguistically and dress-wise Hungarians, only their religion differed.

Naturally their wealth attracted envy both from the side of the Church and the nobles.

Saint Stephan only wanted to convert the Pagan Hungarians he did not really care about Muslims or Jews. And -of course- the idea of the Crusade was still not there. That is the reason why the Muslims could survive and prosper.

Hungary was the westernmost country (excluding Al-Andalus) where Muslims were present in big mass. Hungary meant a cultural frontier where Western Christianity met with Byzantium and Islam. Jews could live here in a much more free manner than in the Western European countries, by far there were not as much anti-Jewish pogroms as in the developed Catholic West.

Remnants from that time

Names of settlements, textual fragments and coins evoke the Muslim presence during the Árpád dynasty. We can take as example the above-mentioned names. The Muslim population was mainly of Turkic decent, but Iranians were also to be found. In the case of settlement names Kovár-kazár, Kozár-Kazar's and Kabar or Besenyő, Böszörmény or Káliz, all refer to Muslims. Before the Mongol invasion, 210 settlements were inhabited by Muslims. Réthy László in his book published in 1880 about the Ishmaelite coiners and Bessarabia makes an important comment: "Saracenes or Ishmaelite traders did not disappear from the country after the Mongol invasion, rather they became Hungarianised and they continued exercing their profession until the reign of king Louis I. (1387-1437) with an even shining proficiency."

This statement is based on the fact that the Saracene brothers Jacob and John are mentioned in 1352 as earls of Pécs and Szerém. The Szerecseny clan from Mesztegnye has in its coat of arms a Saracene head which appears on several coins from the time of king Louis I. Many of the Hungarian royal coins bear Eastern influence on them from the 12th century on. Under the auspices of the Ishmaelite coiners coins become oriental, symbols of the moon and Arabic inscription with Kufi scripts saying "Ilahi" meanig that God is one, is common. On king Stephan IV.'s copper coins other things also appear such as the first verse of the Holy Quran's first chapter (Al-Fatiha) which says "bismillahir-rahmanir-raheem" meaning "in the name of God the most compassionate, the most merciful".

I would like to publish here the results of some excavations proving our contact with Islam.

-In the royal tombs of Szeged Ismael ben Ahmed's coins from Balkh (906) were found.

Inscriptions of those coins are: "There is no other divinity but the one Allah who has no partner." And it bears around it: "Allah's is the command and in its proper time believers would rejoice because of Allah's help." (Quran, 30:3-4)

-In the tomb in Galgóc coins by Nasr ben Ahmed (918-919) from Samarkand were found.

These were very frequently used Samanid coins from Central Asia in the 10th century. We can them global currency of that time since they were widespread from the Altay region to Central Europe. Their name was dirhem.

-In the Bodrogvécs cemetery other Samanid coins were discovered.

Those dirhems were produced by Ismael Ahmed (892-907) and Nasr ben Ahmed (913-993) in Balkh and Samarkand.

-Dirhems were also found near Kecskemét.

After king Louis I. reign the inner part of the country has seen only the occasional Muslim traders for one and a half century, but the Ottoman Empire appeared on our southern border.

 

Words referring to Muslims in the medieval Hungarian

Kavar
Kazar's
Kabar
Fekete magyar
Türk
Böszörmény
Izmaelita
Káliz
Saracenus
Szerecsen
Besenyő
Úz
Varsány
Alán
Tatár
Kun
Bulgar
Hetény
Nyögér
Hvárezmi
Fekete komán

 

Literature in Hungarian

Abu-Hámid al-Garnáti utazása Kelet- és Közép-Európában
Adorján Imre: Mohamedánok a magyarok között
Arthur Koestler: A tizenharmadik törzs
Fodor István: Jegyzetek
Goldziher Ignác: Az Iszlám
Kristó Gyula-Makk Ferenc: Az Árpádok
Kristó Gyula: Nem magyar népek a középkori Magyarországon
Ligeti Lajos: A magyar nyelv török kapcsolatai a honfoglalás előtt és az Árpád-korban
Róna-Tas András: A honfoglaló magyar nép
Udvarvölgyi Zsolt: A magyar iszlám vallásszociológiája
Vásáry István: Az Arany Horda

 

Annexes

Map of the nations in Eastern Europe during the 9th century

 

Muslim ethnic groups under the Árpád dynasty

 

This is how ancient Hungarian Muslim could have looked like (Their dressing was similar to other shaman belief nations because of their eastern aspect)

 

Coins with Arabic inscriptions from the medieal Hungary

98. VS On the right side - II Béla, on the left - IV Stephen with lilies sceptre and orb
Title: Béla Rex and Sts Rex. Under the half moon (illallah=In the name of God)
RS Virgin Mary with lilies sceptre, title: Sancta Maria
99. As the previous one but the title can't be read
100. As the previous one, but the title is smaller
101. Copper coin with an Arabic title
102. As the previous one but with golden coating
103. As the previous one but the title can not be read, it's a copy of an Arabian writing

 

Migration of the Hungarians

____________________________________________________________________

 

II. The Turkish domination

Before going into details about this period I would like to present the history of the Ottoman Empire till the division of Hungary into three parts.

Because of the nature of the presentation, I will publish a certain number of data which are not closely related to the Muslims of Hungary. Many thing should be still researched. May be the written documents from Hungary are well known, but the ones from Turkey are still to discover and they contain great surprises.

 

Short history of the Ottoman Empire until 1526

400 Turkish families settled down in Anatolia under the leadership of Ertugrul after the call of their close relatives, the Seljuks. They lived around Eskisehir which was clustered between the Seljuks and the Empire of Nicea.

When the Seljuk Empire disintegrated, the Ottoman emirate was only one of the ten chiefdoms. Ertugrul was followed on the throne by his son, Osman who was given the title of "Gazi" showing that is for the Islamic expansions.

The then started wars totally transformed the socio-economical situation. The incoming foreigners destroyed the tribal frames and the nomadic way of life could not sustain as much fighter as needed. Such a soldier state was being formed which was only imaginable with perpetual expansions. Osman made of his tiny tribal territory a military state.

Osman's name became famous and Turks started to be called after him as Ottomans (Osmanli in Turkish). He founded a professional army headed by the beylerbeyi, after further expansion beylerbeys were nominated for Rumelia (Europe) and Anatolia.

The basis of economy was an agriculture based on inheritance. Where the conditions were given, Greek, Armenian or Slav peasants irrigated their lands and lived on developed fruit cultures. When Byzantium was beaten, the peasants did not go away, only their feudal lords. To their new ones they had to pay only the jizye, the tax on non-Muslim subjects. And that was lower then the taxes of Byzantium. The Osman's policy of expansion was continued by Orhan, his son (1326-1360).

The economically tired Byzantium was also touched by internal conflicts and was unable to resist. The Balkans, known to the Turks as Rumelia, was weakened at that time by internal fights and incursions from Venise, Genoa and Hungary, it was a perfect target for expansion.

Feudal lords fighting each other frequently invited in he Ottomans against each other. Orhan used this to interfere into affairs of Byzantium in order to ensure the throne to his father-in-law. In 1354 he occupied Gallipoli and a big part of the northern shore of the Marble Sea. In the he same year he also successfully expanded his empire in Central Anatolia, they even captured Ankara.

In 1361, Sultan Murad I.'s armies concurred the second most important city in Byzantium, Drineaples (Edirne). In 1365 it became the capital of the Sultan to show that the centre of gravity is in Europe. In 1371 in the valley of the Maritza (Meric) river the Ottomans destroyed the united military forces of Serb kingdoms, this way the acquired Macedonia, and the Serbian territories one by one accepted Murad as their feudal lord. The Ottomans captured Sofia, Nis and Thessaloniki.

In 1389 in the first Kosova battle Ottomans once more beat the united Serbian-Bosnian-Bulgarian-Albanian army. Though the Balkan armies outnumbered the Ottomans, they were unable to resist facing the highly organised Ottomans.

Since the 1390's Turkish troops regularly attacked the borders of Hungary. The pan-European armies led by the Hungarian king, Sigismund, was bitterly beaten at Nikapol in 1396.

This tragedy made clear the differences and showed that Hungary even with its allies cannot attack successfully the Ottomans on the Balkans and that the Turks cannot be pulled out of Europe at one push.

Sultan Murad II. (1421-1451) could not stopped either by the Hungarian vassal feudal states of Bosnia, Serbia and Wallachy, nor by Hunyadi János's success and nor by the revolution led by Skander bey or Kasztrióta György who was raised in palace of the sultan. In the second Kosova battle in 1448 the Ottomans ensured their rule over the Balkans for centuries.

Sultan Muhammad II.(1451-1481) in 1451 when he was only 21 years old, inherited from his father an empire of 0.5 billion square km.

Muhammad II. made the Ottoman Empire a super power and got the name Fatih meaning conqueror from his descendants.

Muhammad II. was the one who concurred Byzantium which at that time only a shadow of itself. A capital was disappeared and a new capital arised, the capital of the Ottoman Empire which started to be called Istanbul.

His conquer of Hungary was made impossible by Hunyadi in the he battle of Nándorfehérvár (now Belgrade) in 1456 and later on by king Matthias.

Since 1475 the Black Sea became an internal one for the Ottomans as Tatar Sultanate of Crimea subjugated itself to them.

In 1512 Yavuz Sultan Selim occupied the Muslim holy lands: Jerusalem, Mecca and Medina and later on Egypt and took the title of caliph. So Hungary's neighbour was a Muslim empire holding the title of the spiritual leader of the Muslim world.

In 1520 Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent got to the throne.

 

Islam in Hungary during the 150 years of Ottoman rule

Sultan Suleyman first visited Buda castle after the Mohács battle in 1526.

Three years later, marching on Vienna, he relaxed there for a while. One month after this leading his disorganised and defeated armies came back there posing as victorious military commander.

At none of those occasions, he did not attach the Hungarian capital to his empire but returned it his vassal, Szapolyai János.

But king János died in 1540 and it was feared that the interest of then baby king John Sigismund could not be defended.

Sultan Suleyman, known as Kanuni or Law Giver to the Turks interfered into the Hungarian politics. Destroyed Ferdinand's troops near Buda and captured the city in a tricky way. Buda was then made an integral part of the Ottoman Empire. As we know Hungary became divided into three parts.

The territory of our interest was the central part of the country which ruled by the Ottomans for 150 years. After this, the occupied lands kept growing, but only the areas conquered during the first campaigns could really fit in the he frame of the empire. The Ottoman Empire and the rest of the Kingdom of Hungary were separated by a row of border fortifications.

The Turkish military presence and the immigration from the Balkans and the central parts of the empire started right away.

Turks, Muslim Bosnians, Albanians and Christians from the Balkans arrived as professionals and merchants or religious servants.

There are no traces of planned import of Muslim population which was the case in the he states of Balkans conquered earlier. The incoming civilians came out of their own will.

The new comers did not settle down in villages or oppida having no Turkish outposts but only to places where we had permanent Turkish military presence.

This was the case because the soldiers required certain services they were used to. They needed therefor tailors and professionals in pastry shops, bakeries and Turkish baths. Not all of the new comers were Muslims but many of them were Christians cooperating with the Turks. This way many Serbs came into the country who were named the "Rác".

Muslim colonies soon formed with their mosques and Quranic schools. Unfortunately very few of them remains.

For example in 1570 in the city of Vác out of 374 houses 189 were owned by Muslims. The number Hungarians was very low in the he Islamised cities. The design of Turkish-Hungarian city was shaped after its inhabitants. The fortifications and fortresses and the canons on them made no doubts that we lived then a situation of war.

In the he Hungarian neighbourhood there was one or two churches surrounded by tiny houses, their inhabitants were poor since this was a difficult era. In the he Muslim neighbourhoods and in the he castle there were clean mosques, baths and Quranic schools with cupolas, and transformed buildings showing the mixed nature of this culture. In one segment there is a market place, in the he other a bazaar. Muezzins calling for prayer and silent bell towers.

The streets were full of Hungarian, Slavonic and Turkish words.

The conquerors slowly transformed the city to their own design. For the one coming from the Kingdom of Hungary mosques and their high minarets signified the great change. Mosques were first formed of out some parts of the Christian churches because of the urgent need for places of worship. After this murals were painted white, statues and altars were removed. They designated the direction of Mecca.

Later a minaret was erected next to the church working as mosque or the bell was taken off the tower and then it was transformed according to the needs. Inside, benches were replaced by carpet. Next to the mihrab, the niche showing the kibla or the direction of Mecca a mimbar was placed for the Friday sermons. This applied only for the Friday mosques where the Friday sermon was allowed. The daily five prayers were observed in smaller mosques. Friday mosques were completed by libraries, elementary and higher educational institutions. The public baths were new, Buda had the most of them, but all sanjak (county) capital had at least one. The conquerors built only a limited amount of houses.

The professionals coming from the Balkans applied the Oriental traditions, not foreign for Hungarians though, and formed corporations, they had their own neighbourhoods and streets. This rule also applied for the cities. Religious minorities such as Jews, had their on space. Jews had their synagogues, schools and public baths.

The Muslim religious life was ensure by imams sent from the central parts of the empire or by individuals who came out of their own wish. Generally imams played also the role of a hatib who pronounces the Friday sermon. There were also muezzins calling to prayer, huffaz knowing the Quran by heart, vaizes giving talks to the public and who tried to answer the questions of believers related to daily life.

Since the Friday sermon was a kind of political speech as well, the speakers asked for forgiveness for the Sultan from Allah.

Besides the state-run schools, there were privately owned religious schools, prayer halls and centres for dervishes. Many of the rich persons such as the pashas or the vezirs contributed financially to the establishment, functioning and development of those institutions. The tekkes, or religious centres, guest houses or tombs of the Bektashi order were of this nature. The most famous of them is still standing on Buda's Rose Hill: the Gül baba türbe.

In the city of Eger one could found Hizir Baba's Islamic centre (known only from contemporary writings), in Pécs the tomb of Idriss Baba was famous. According to the well-known traveller, Evlia Celebi in Székesfehérvár five Bektashi tekkes were operational.

In the Turkish cemetery in Szigetvár a türbe (tomb) was constructed over the remnants of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent.

Unfortunately these buildings are only present in the memory. In Pécs, there was another Bektashi centre on the top of the Tettye hill. The one who spent the most on the Islamic work in Hungary that was Grand Vezir Sokollu Mehmed's cousin Sokoli Mustafa (1566-1578), Buda's pasha. Sokoli Mustafa governed Buda for 12 years and that was the longest period for a pasha in that particular vilayet (administrational unit). Otherwise all pashas tried to do their best. Rüstem pasha (1559-1563) has built a mosque in Esztergom with a Quranic school and a bath. But we can also mention here Murteza, another pasha from Buda who built and renovated mosques, baths and fortifications in the sanjak capitals.

 

Property system in Hungary ruled by the Ottomans

The Ottoman Empire was composed of two types of territory: lands directly connected to the central authority and autonomous regions with self-governing bodies such Transylvania.

Agricultural lands in the hand of the state which were called the has property of the Sultan (has-i hümájun, or has-i padishah). The value in money and product of those lands was very important. They used to feed the military barracks. We know that many lands around the cities on the Hungarian Great Plain obtained this privilege and many other tried to get it. They had a certain autonomy and tax was collected only once a year. It was not allowed for the paramilitary units to attack them. 12 cities fall into this category.

•Another part of the lands also used to be state-owned and theoretically continued to do so, it was a kind of vassal land called "profitable property". (This way of production is generally called Asian). According to their size and function the Turkish profitable properties are classified into three categories: 1. lands of the nobles representing the central authority (pasha haslers or sanjakbey haslers) 2. lands of the civil servants (defterdars, ziamets) 3. land of the soldiers (spahis).

This system echoes the social fabric of the Ottoman Empire, it had an influence on both the political, economic and the cultural developments. The bastions of the Christian Reform movements were for example the has properties of the Sultan on the Hungarian great Plain.

One should also mention the private property which generally held by pious foundations especially for the purposes of Islam and education. But some of the baths and religious centres were the same. The private property was called mülk, the religious foundations vakuf. The mülk system did not really develop in Hungary, but the vakufs were widespread.

 

Islamisation of Hungary during the Ottoman rule

During the Ottoman rule, Hungarians were worried about the Christian Reform movements and the Counter-Reform, Islam did attract only a portion of the society even though the converts were exempted of the jizye, a tax on the non-Muslim subjects. Another reason for this was that a part of the country contrarily to the ones on the Balkans remained independent of the Turks, and that Transylvania enjoyed a certain autonomy.

The Slav origin of the Muslims in Hungary can be proved by the fact that they hardly speak Turkish. These Muslims know in lesser extent the language of the liturgy: Arabic. The commons of them usually married Christian ladies. That also characterised the Turkish soldiers garrisoned in Hungary. Multiple marriages were not the norm, and both of them generally mastered the Hungarian language.

Of these marriages Hungarian speaking Muslim children were born. They adhered to the Hungarian national culture, but -of course- they did not consume pork. Their vestimantary habits were close to that of the Hungarians. Turkish noble persons exchanged letters in Hungarian. The Hungarian letters of the pashas of Buda is a proof for this.

We can state that the Muslims in Hungary were more influenced by the Hungarian culture than vice versa.

An ethnic Hungarian could convert to Islam in three ways: out of his or her own decision, a captive to gain freedom or a child raised by Muslims. This last one did not always mean that the child was turned into a Janissary.

I will now mention examples for all these cases.

In 1558 52 Hungarian enrolled as new soldiers in the vilayet of Buda. They represented 6,4% of the overall army population. Out of the 52 Hungarians 28 converted to Islam. The majority of the renegades (new Muslims) were though from the Balkans. And only one fifth of them were orphans raised by Muslims, the rest converted willingly.

The 28 Hungarian in the tax collecting books or defters are mentioned as macar oglu or son of a Hungarian and Islama gelip/gelmis or müslüman olmus meaning converted to Islam.

In the 1570's a detailed description was made in Vác about the real estate situation there. Among the house owners there is a certain Memi of ethnic Hungarian origin who converted to Islam while serving as slave at Pervane Abdullah's house and who fought with the müstahfiz soldiers in the fortress of Drégely. We know that his father's name was Csiszár János. His house in the Hasan voyvoda mosque neighbourhood was inherited by his Muslim son.

Manyí times people became soldiers against their own will, because they had no other option in life. We find among them the orphans. The 1558 defters mention 21 persons out of whom 3 even could not remember their respective childhood and where they spent it. Four fifth of them were renegades. Having no family they opted for the only solution: to become a soldier. A boy from Székesfehérvár started his military carrier in the castle of his native city. That is a rare case since most converts preferred to serve far from home. It is also interesting to note that was selected a müstahfiz, a member of the best paid elite guard. The explanation for all this is that worked prior to the army in the local bath house. If that was the case, that gave him courage to serve at home. And he was there still the next year. As early as 1543 there already 6 Hungarian converts among the müstahfiz. They represented 0,7% of them. That was only two years after the arrival of the Turks, later their number increased. But one can also find in the defters Christian Hungarians serving as soldiers.

The Islamisation process continued but according to the estimations 3 to 5% of the Hungarians reverted to Islam. This completed by the Hungarianised Balkan Muslims. A part of whom was soldier, the other civilians.

The situation of the Christian slaves was even more volatile than that of the orphans. If their owner liberated them as pious act of worship, they converted to Islam in exchange and enrolled as soldiers. One can think that the conversion and the military carrier was the price of their freedom, and at first possible occasion they fled. But that was not the case. The former slaves set free in 1558 continue to serve where they served as soldiers the previous year.

A good example for someone who got up in the hierarchy from the status of a slave is the letter of an Ottoman scribe: "I'm a Christian boy, during my childhood, we became captive together with my father. My father paid for himself, and I was made a Turk (meaning Muslim). Then I was sent to Turkish school and I finished it." The scribe János of Buda, the author of the letter was raised Arslan pasha and made him a civil servant. Most of the secretaries and scribes of the pashas of Buda were renegades.

Of course, the renegades educated in the Saray schools and Janissary schools in Istanbul had bigger carrier.

In the Court of the Sultan, the dragomans in Turkish: tercüman) were highly respected who were not simple translators but also entered into the Ottoman diplomacy. Their lives were shaped by the changing of their religion and service of the Sultan, and there is no example of a dragoman who would become unfaithful to his belief system and his Sultan.

It is interesting to study what conserved of their national language and culture and what they used in religious debates.

We will now trace the life of a convert dragoman, born in Nagybánya (today Baia Mare in Romania) as Somlyai Balázs. Besides being a diplomat, he was also a writer and poet and had the Muslim name of Murad.

His psalm is the only one which entered the religious debates in the 16 th century Hungary from the Muslim side. Murad or Somlyai Balázs was 17 years old at the time of the Mohács battle. He was captured and then he converted to Islam. Stephan Gerlach an assistant of the envoy, Ungnád Dávid met him in Istanbul in 1573 and learnt that he was educated in Vienna. Murad met regularly with Christian envoys and he was looking for their friendship. In 1551, Murad went to Transylvania where he was captured for 30 days by the Hapsburg after the assassination of Martinuzzi Fráter György.

What shows his Muslim steadfastness is that during those 30 days of torture and treats no one could make him a non-Muslim.

He was not the only Ottoman captive of that time. Our sources mention a certain number of cavus soldiers, a Mehmed or Mahmud as their leader of Austria ethnic origin. They were possibly held together with Murad by the general Castaldo.

Rüstem pasha, Suleyman Sultan's brother-in-law paid personally for Murad who made him the chief interpreter in Latin and Hungarian of the Court since 1553.

Murad wrote Hungarian several times with Arabic scripts. We also know that Murad translated history books. At the age of 75, he disappears in 1584-85 with an envoy of the Court.

One of the envoys describes Murad bey as a cultivated polyglot (he spoke Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, Latin, Hungarian and Croatian. The source also adds that the interpreter was released of office because supposedly ha drank wine.

Murad translated a historiographic piece into Latin what was later used by Europeans. Few people know that this book so much loved by those interested in Ottoman history and culture was translated by a Hungarian renegade.

The politicians in East and west at that had to deal with religious affairs from time to time. The Ottomans were most of the pragmatic as far as the occupied lands were concerned.

If they had chance, they did not take part in religious debates, if they were forced to do so, then agreed with party more useful for them in local politics. But still it is unquestionable that during their reign the Christian Reform was spreading in Hungary, the Islamic tolerance accepted even the most radical protestant sects.

This general does not apply for the renegade diplomats who were from the intelligentsia of their former home country, they were not that suspicious with Christians as the ones who were born Muslims.

Even if it was a rare case, that was not a haphazard that Murad got involved in religious debates.

It is known that some radical protestants were transferred from Transylvania to Istanbul, where in the 1570's they formed a Unitarian lobby. The most famous denier of the so called Holy Trinity was Adam Neuser who fled from Heidelberg, Germany who at the end of his spiritual evolution reverted to Islam.

Murad's writings are pious works. In his prose and poetry he targets the Christian public to -as he says- make them love Islam. His psalms written in three languages (Latin, Hungarian and Turkish) comes from the 1580's. Its main topic is a presentation of the Islamic belief system in the light of the Torah and the Gospels. This poetry is free of violence and greed and underlines the importance of a pious life. It presents Islam as a universal religion free of the extreme dogmatism Christians are familiar with. It is visible that the argument used in that poem is closed to that of the protestants: "Because the Book says that we cannot know God/Unless we know ourselves/If we knew that we are nothing/Only He exists, there is no other being/There is no salvation in the action/Only in God's mercy."

Murad was already known to the ones who captured him in Transylvania as a pious Muslim, they called him "türk papasi" which means Turkish pope who also knows the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospels.

Murad's universalism and motivation of making Islam popular with the Hungarians and other Christians was probably feeded by the Unitarian environment he lived in. We know that he frequented the circle led by the Unitarian renegade Adam Neuser in the 1570's in Istanbul. The poem has another message as well. According to Murad only one religious universalism has place on Earth, and that is Islam.

We have to mention another Hungarian convert, Piyale pasha who had an important military carrier. We know about him from Stephan Gerlach who went to Istanbul in 1573. Piyale pasha was a native of the city of Tolna and taken from Hungary at the time of the Mohács battle (1526). He was nominated in 1554 the head of the Ottoman naval forces with a title of sanjak bey. Buda's first pasha was also a Hungarian Vezir Suleyman, but we have only a limited amount of information about him. He served from 2 nd September, 1541 till his death in 1542.

We have to say as well that the Orthodox Gipsies who came into the country converted to Islam and took Muslim names. The proof for this are the Ottoman tax collecting books known as defters.

Many Christians did not choose to convert because according to the view point of the Christian church leaving Christianity and converting to Islam was a major sin. According to them a renegade looses all his chances for salvation and says that the hell fire awaits him. Since the Christian teachings emphasised a lot the punishment of the Hereafter, the conversion was a spiritual matter.

The parties (Muslim Turks and Christian Hungarians) both considered the other pagan, both of them believed that the fight was going on in order to defend the one and true faith.

"Such a ruthless nation, human beings can only hate them." - said Tassi Gáspár a Hungarian envoy to the Szőny peace talks about the Turks. Turks looked down at the Christians the same way by calling the religion"stupidit" or"bad habi", their churches"the meeting point for infernal devil". They called Christians dogs and the like.

The non-Muslim subjects looked at their masters as oppressor not as ones who try to invite them to Islam. Turks did not interfere into the fights between Catholics and Protestants. Protestants developed because of this a vain hope of converting Muslims to Protestantism.

 

Religious debates

In the part of Hungary ruled by the Ottomans there was a complete religious freedom. Muslim Turks did not interfere into the habits of the unbelievers. Even though it happened many times the beys or the pashas were asked to judge between them in religious matters.

That was the case of a debate between a Unitarian and a Reformed Church priest in front of Sokoli Mustafa, the pasha of Buda in 1574. The theological discussion started four years earlier in Nagyharsány.

It had a rather fatal consequence. Since in the last debate the Unitarian were defeated, the public hung one of the Unitarian priests and the other one who was named Tolnai, fled to Pécs. Mustafa pasha was informed about it and invited both parties including Reformed bishop Vörösmarty to his place. The Muslim pasha said that the Unitarians were right and condemned the Reformed priest to death, but their Unitarian enemies bagged for mercy what was granted.

This one of the most famous religious debate of that time.

The 150 years of Ottoman rule is the proof to support the idea that Islam does not convert people by force. Many Muslim families remained in Hungary after their defeat who were forced to convert to Christianity. When in 1687 the Muslim soldiers walked out Eger, one of the very strongholds of Islam in the country, the enlisted all Muslims who preferred to stay.

23 Muslims with and 13 living alone were enlisted. The ones who had family had only one wife and were most probably Hungarians. The same happened in all sanjak (county) capital. We think that one third of the remaining population Muslim Hungarian who were baptised by force by the Jesuits. Around the end of the Ottoman rule nearly 20% of Hungary's population was Muslim: Slavs, Hungarians and Turks. We know from Haas that between 1686 and 1688 2200 Turks and Aryans were made Catholics. In January 1689 18 people, then 26 more. Family names and names of localities prove that. These data are mostly from Eger and the Baranya region. Mosques, schools were unfortunately destroyed, the barbarian acts were generally motivated by hate and gaining wordily benefits.

After the Karlóca peace treaty in 1699 we cannot speak about a significant Muslim presence in Hungary. We think that some Muslim merchants and pilgrims to Gül Baba's tomb occasionally showed up.

It is interesting to note that a 200 strong Muslim Tatar battalion served in Rákóczi's army in his revolution and war of independence in 1703-1711. They were led by the so called dervish general, Andrássy Miklós who was in fact a Christian monk.

Thököly Imre, Zrínyi Ilona and the emigrants of the Rákóczi war of independence took refuge in Muslim Turkey.

The founder of the first printing shop of the Ottoman empire and the whole Muslim world was Ibrahim Müteferrika, a Hungarian convert to Islam. He was born in 1674 in Kolozsvár (now Cluj in Romania) and was originally a student of theology. He published 17 works in his shop. Unfortunately we ignore his original name.

 

Remnants of the Ottoman rule in Hungary

Babócsa
-Turkish well
-Ruins of the Turkish palace and bath house
-Ceramics factory
-Ottoman-era houses
-The flower garden planted by the pasha of Buda is still there

Buda
-Gül Baba türbe, Turkish tomb (Budapest, II. kerület, Mecset u. 18-20)
-Császár (Veli bej) bath house (Budapest, II.kerület, Frankel Leó u. 31.)
-Király (Kakaskapu) bath house (Budapest, I.kerület, Fő u. 82-86.)
-Rudas (Jesli direkli) bath house (Budapest, I.kerület, Döbrentei tér 9.)
-Rác (Debbagháne Ibidzsaszi) bath house (Budapest, I.kerület, Hadnagy u. 8-10.)
-Prayer niche (mihrab) in the Inner City Parish Church (Budapest, V.kerület, Március 15. tér)
-Rests of the Toygun pasha mosque (Budapest, I.kerület, Fő u. 30-32. church)
-Bastion of the Karakas pasha mosque (Budapest, I.kerület, Attila u.)
-Bastion of the Kasim pasha mosque (Budapest, I.kerület, before the tunnel)
-Bastion of the Sour Soup (Budapest, I.kerület, Vár)
-Veli bey's Tower (Budapest, I.kerület, Vár)
-Mud Tower (Toprak kulesi) (Budapest, I.kerület, Vár)
-Sziavus pasha's bastion (Budapest, I.kerület, Vár)
-Murad pasha's bastion (Budapest, I.kerület, Vár)
-House of the head of the Janissaries defending the Vienna gate (Fortuna u. 18., "Janicsár Aga útja")
-Rest of an Ottoman-era house (Tárnok u. 5. "Orta dzsámi utcája")
-Beesides the above-mentioned things, museums feature a high number of Turkish memorabilia
-The tomb of the last pasha of Buda, Arnaut Abdurrahman Abdi pasha is in the Castle district
-Another memory from the Castle is the plate which comes from the Mahmud pasha bastion and is to be found in the Hungarian National Museum. Of course it is written with Arabic scripts but in Turkish language. Here comes its translation:
"The Great Asaf. Defender of the Country of Budin,
The Vezir to be praised, the Merciful, the Great.
Built this tower as a sign from sky.
This place during one hundred days became the object of the jealousy of one hundred moons.
It would not parish till the Day of Judgement, and even after it would stand.
Thanks to God! The tower of the Castle of the Moon had found a defender.
In the year 1078." (1668)

Eger
-Ruins of the Valide sultana bath house
-Minaret of the Kethüda Mosque (Dózsa György tér 3.)
-Arnaut pahsa bath house (Fürdő u. 2.)

Érd
-Minaret of the Hamza bég Mosque (Érd, Ófalu, Mecset u.)

Esztergom
-Sultan Suleyman's memorial
-Ozicseli Hadzsi Ibrahim Pasha Mosque (now museum) (Esztergom, Berényi Zsigmond u. 18-20.)

Pécs
-Jakovali Hasan pasha Mosque (Rákóczi u. 2.)
-Gazi Kasim pasha Mosque (transformed into a church) (Széchényi tér)
-Turkish wells and ritual bath (Rókushegy)
-Turkish well (Vak Bottyán u. 23., in the wall of a house)
-Memi pasha bath house (Ferencesek u. 35.)
-Idrisz Baba türbe, Turkish tomb (Nyár u. 8.)
-the southern gate tower of the Castle (Barbakán)
-the Great Tower in the Castle
-Ahmed aga memorial in the Cathedral's south eastern tower

Siklós
-Djami of Malocs bej ( Kossuth tér 16.)

Szigetvár
-Szulejmán szultán mosque with its half destroyed minaret (Szigetvár, Vár)
-Ali pasha mosque (now church) (Szigetvár, Zrínyi tér)
-Quranic School aka Turkish House (Szigetvár, Bástya u. 3.)
-certain parts of the Castle

Törökkoppány
-Turkish well
-Tomb stones with turban
-Ruins of the ritual bath place in the gothic church

Zsámbék
-Turkish well (Táncsics utca)

Turkish aged gravestone with Muslim turban.
In the middle there is an inscription in Turkish language with Arabian letters,
it announces the honour of a Buda pasha.

Szabolcs földvára (Castle)
Arial photograph
One of the Tiszántúl centres of the Árpád aged Muslims.

>> Ottoman-Turkish memories in Hungary >>

 

The pashas of Buda

People enlisted here sometimes were pashas several times. Some of them were in office only for a couple of months. I also happened that other Hungarian pashas temporarily were responsible for Buda as well. To be a pasha in Buda was considered to be very high office in the empire. Every year the land feeding the pasha was re-selected.

The Ottoman empire sent 70 pashas to the Buda Castle. 28 of them were selected twice during the 141 years of ruling the country. That means that there were 98 changes at the top of the vilayet administrational unit.

The number in the brackets shows the number of times the pasha took office.

Vezir Suleyman pasha
Kucuk Bali pasha
Yahyapashazade Muhammed pahsa
Kasim pasha (2)
Chadim pahsa (2)
Toygun pahsa (2)
Haji Muhamed pahsa
Güzelce Rustem pasha
Zal Mahmud pasha
Iskander pasha
Arslan pasha
Vezir Sokolli Musztafa pasha
Kara Oveys pasha
Vezir Kalaylikoz Ali pasha (2)
Frank Yusuf pasha (2)
Ferhad pasha
Sofi Sinan pasha (2)
Sinanpashazade Muhammed pasha (2)
Muhammedpashazade Vezir Hasan pasha
Michaliclü Ahmed pasha (3)
Ali pasha
Suleyman pasha
Vezir Tiryaki Hasan pasha (3)
Lala Muhammed pasha (2)
Mankirkusi Muhammed pasha
Vezir Kadizade Ali pasha (3)
Begtash pasha
Bosnak Mustafa pasha
Sefer pasha
Vezir Sofi Muhammed pasha (5)
Vezir Nakkash Hasan pasha
Karakash Muhammed pasha
Vezir Kenan pasha
Deli Dervis pasha
Bebr Muhammed pasha
Vezir Murteza pasha
Vezir Acem Hasan pasha
Vezir Beyam pasha (2)
Vezir Musa pasha (3)
Vezir Husein pasha
Vezir Cafer pasha
Nasuhpashazade Vezir Husein pasha
Vezir Tabani Yasi Muhammed pasha
Vezir Ipsir Mustafa pasha
Vezir Silihdar Mustafa pasha
Vezir Osman pasha
Vezir Deli Husein pasha (2)
Vezir Nakkash Mustafa pasha
Vezir Murteza pasha
Hamzapasazade Vezir Muhammed pasha (2)
Vezir Fazli pasha (2)
Vezir Siyavush pasha
Vezir Murad pasha
Vezir Sari Kenan pasha
Vezir Gurci Kenan pasha (4)
Vezir Seydi Ahmed pasha
Vezir Bosnak Ismail pasha
Vezir Sari Husein pasha
Vezir Gurci Muhammed pasha
Vezir Cerrah Kasin pasha
Vezir Sohrab Muhammed pasha
Vezir Mahmud pasha
Vezir Arnaut Uzun Ibrahim pasha (3)
Canpulazade Vezir Husein pasha
Vezir Suyolci Ali pasha
Vezir Chalil pasha
Vezir Kara Muhammed pasha
Vezir Sheytan Ibrahim pasha
Vezir Arnaut Abdi Abdurrahman pasha

From among the above-mentioned pashas many were Albanians their nick name, arnaut, shows it. But find among them Georgians, Bosnians, Circassians, Russians, Abkhazes and even Persians.

Bosnians and Albanians are though predominant, the number of ethnic Turkish pashas is low. This is because in Islam origin is secondary and it also tells us that in European border area of the empire people from the Balkans played a crucial role. It is interesting to note the some of these pashas later became Grand Vezirs.

 

Evlia Celebi's travels to Hungary
(1660-1664)

He presents Pécs the following way:

"It has seven Muslim neighbourhoods. It has one Christian quarter outside the Buda Gate. There no Hungarians, Bulgarians, Serbians, Greeks or Armenians in the city, but it has a Jewish community. There 2200 Muslim houses. There are 17 places of worship. The Gazi Kasim Pasha mosque is as beautiful and as big as the Selim Sultan mosque in Istanbul... There are 10 smaller mosques and six Islamic community centres and three bath houses. The soldiers of the place speak fluently and eloquently the Hungarian language."

About Szekszárd:

"It has four mosques... its population is Bosnian from the border area."

About Buda:

"Buda's whole population is Bosnian from Bosnia.but they all know Hungarian."

Literature
Ács Pál: Osztrák és magyar renegátok, mint szultáni tolmácsok: Mahmud és Murád terdzsumán
Fekete Lajos-Nagy Lajos: Budapest története a török korban
Fügedi Erik: Kimondhatatlan nyomorúság
Gévay Antal: A budai pasák
Goldziher Ignác: Az Iszlám
Hegyi Klára: Egy világbirodalom végvidékén
Hegyi Klára: Etnikum, vallás, iszlamizáció.
Káldy-Nagy Gyula: Harács-szedők és ráják
Káldy-Nagy Gyula: Szulejmán
Takáts Sándor, Eckhart Ferenc, Szekfű Gyula: A budai basák magyar nyelvű levelezése
Udvarvölgyi Zsolt: A magyar iszlám vallásszociológiája
Ágoston Gábor-Sudár András:Gül Baba és a bektasi dervisek
Terebess Ázsia E-Tár: Török műemlékek Magyarországon

 

Annexes

Pécs, Jakovali Hasan mosque

Pécs, Gazi Kasim pasha mosque

 

Budapest, Gül Baba türbe

Eger, minaret of the Kethüde mosque

 

Budapest, Turkish bath

The transition period

Before the occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina- we have to mention the name of the famous orientalist, Vámbéry Ármin who under the name of Rashid efendi might have professed Islam. His servant, the ethnic Tatar Ishak also represented Islam in Hungary. Vámbéry was a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and taught Turkish at the university in Budapest. Thanks to his Ottoman relationships, dressed as a dervish, he could travel around Central Asia.

His student, Germanus Gyula, who later converted to Islam writes the following about him: "His will of acquiring knowledge led him to Timurlenk's tomb, to the unknown and wild tribes of Central Asia. Under his cloth of a dervish the heart of a Hungarian hero was beating."

Rashid efendi joined the caravan of a merchant from Bukhara in 1861.

In 1863 through Erzurum and Tabriz and crossing the Caspean, he went to Khiva, then to Bukhara. There he was almost discovered what would have spelt his death. In 1864 he came home through Samarkand, Meshed and Teheran. He was a pioneer of the ethnography and geography of Central Asia as well as in Turkish philology. He was elected as honorary member by a number of European academy.

Herz Miksa pasha was another Hungarian to convert to Islam around the end of the 19 th century. He is the founder of the Arab Museum of Cairo what is now called the Museum of Islamic Arts. He was also the minister of religious affairs in Egypt.

 

Islamisation of the emigrants of the 1848-1849 war of independence

We should not forget about what happened after the war of independence in 1848-1849. Many were fleeing the country out fear of execution or long years in prison. These Hungarian and Polish soldiers and generals almost all converted to Islam when they arrived to Turkey. On the first days of emigration 238 persons, including 8 ladies converted to Islam. 216 were ethnic Hungarians, 7 Poles and 15 Italians. Later others also converted in order to get the Ottoman citizenship.

The most known figure among them were: Bem József, Guyon Richard, Kmetty György generals. These Hungarian and Polish fighters later proved their heroism and steadfastness.

The Austrian and the Russian governments blackmailed the Turks to get back these converts. The sultan of that time, Abdulmejid categorically refused this and said in his Divan: "Allah is great and I rely on Him, even if I have to parish, I should parish in honesty. I would not disrace my name by handing over my guests who took refuge with me to the vengeance of their enemies. Indeed they found refuge with me I will not hand them over. This is my will. It should be like this. Prepare to defend them."

General Bem took the name of Amurat (or Murad), and became a pasha. Zamoyski, the Polish colonel comments on Bem's conversion:

"I can understand that someone is ready to sacrifice everything for his home land, but giving up his religion!"

"My home land is my religion." - replied Bem.

Bem led for a while the reorganisation of the army in Constantinople, then in 1850 he was sent to Aleppo to fight the Druze in defence of the Syrian Christians.

On the 10 th December, 1850. his last words were: "Oh Poland, I will not liberate you."

In 1929 from the Syrian city of Aleppo his corpse was transferred to Tarnow, Poland where he was born. The train transporting the dead body arriving to Hungary at Kelebia station had a victorious march through the country. His coffin was exposed to the public on the stairs of the Hungarian National Museum. Then came the decision to erect a statue to Bem. Everybody was enthusiast to receive him home but he was not allowed to be buried in the Christian Polish soil. His sarcophagi sits on six giant pillars. Three nations are proud of him.

Colonel Baron Maximilian Stein took the name of Ferhád pasha. General Kmetty György became Ismail pasha.

We can also mention Tüköry Lajos who is an independence hero in Italy as well. He became Selim efendi and fought under Guyon and Kmetty in the Crimean War. In 1858 he left Turkey and joined the Hungarian battalion in Italy.

Pap János, who became later the head of an office at Court of Justice is also typical for the Hungarian emigrants. He also left the Turkish army for Garibaldi and after the Concord between Hungary and Austria in 1867, he moved home. He converted to Islam, took the name of Suleyman bey and served under Guyon and fought in the Crimean War.

Guyon is buried in Istanbul's Haydarpasa Cemetery and has a tomb stone bearing the following Hungarian inscription:

"Here lies Guyon Richard. Born in France. Raised in England. Hero of Hungary. Chief General of Turkey."

The Hungarian people openly supported the Turks in the Turkish-Russian War. The bilateral relationship between the two countries intensified. The following poem was composed at that time: "the canon speaks, the arms speak, the Russian runs brainlessly. A crescent is on the top of Plevna. Long life to the heroic Ottoman! Long life to the Turks. Take out your ancient sword, start the war against the Russian, go south, to the battle field, help the Turks!"

A delegation of the university youth visited Constantinople in January 1877 where they offered a sword to Abdulkerim pasha, the victor of Plevna, which returned by the sultan by giving back 35 corvinas, books from the time of king Matthias. The softa (Turkish students) came to Hungary in April.

We can also remember Széchenyi Ödön pasha (son of Széchenyi István, the "Greatest Hungarian), who travelled to Constantinople in 1874. The sultan invited him to install to first fire fighter brigade in the city. He also converted to Islam. He became a military officer and a guard of the sultan.

We can note that the military opposition between Islam and Christianity was over, the Ottoman empire was weakened, the hostilities were replaced by friendship. This was also promoted by the deep sentiment of the two nations about their common ancestry. Vámbéry Ármin was also looking for the place of origin of the Hungarians in Central Asia among the Turkic people.

 

After the occupation of Bosnia (1878)

39% of Bosnia's-Herzegovina's population was Muslim, a followers of the Hanifite school of jurisprudence. With the occupation, the Hungaro-Austrian Empire got 500.000 Muslim subjects, and Muslim immigration of Balkanic people to Hungary started. Later we find among them Turks as well.

The real change in Bosnia-Herzegovina's life took place in 1882 what fastened the integration of the Muslims into the Monarchy.

From the above-mentioned date the head of the Bosnian government was a Hungarian historian, Kállay Béni who favoured the Muslims over the Orthodoxes. The Orthodox Church was Serbian, and the Serbian desire to annexe Bosnia was visible. He supported the work of the vakuf (pious Muslim foundations), the Quranic Schools and the sharia courts (or nizamijes as they were known to Bosnians) dealing with family matters.

Kállay Béni writes the following about Bosnia-Herzegovina: "The military and strategic goals and the dynastic principles coincide. Bosnia shares with Monarchy a long border and goes deep into the heart of the Ottomans. This why its a natural line of defence against the Russians. With possession of Bosnia and Dalmatia, the Monarchy can rule over the Adriatic. "

According to Herman Ottó, the last Hungarian polyhistor Kállay Béni wanted to gain sympathy in Bosnia, and he did it with reason and in a gentle way "as it is apt for the son of a primae occupationis gens."

For Kállay it was strategically and ideologically important that the occupation should not overburden the Monarchy. with non-loyal ethnic groups.

Kállay's main supporters were the Muslim nobles who did not want to break the feudal system of land ownership. This is why Kállay proposed a long term transition with voluntary land distributions. Kállay was the one who in the western sense of the word modernised Bosnia.

In 1908 Bosnia-Herzegovina was definitely annexed by the Monarchy. Led by Lánczy Leó a Bosnian-Hungarian Economic Centre was established and served the Hungarian businessmen investing in Bosnia. In its publications Magyary Géza is the first to quote the question of giving a legal status to Islam in Hungary in 1913.

Since July 1912 there was an Austrian law recognising the Hanafite school of jurisprudence, but this did not apply for Hungary.

In the country, excluding Croatia and Slavonia which had its indigenous Muslim population, according to the 1910 census there were 553 Muslims (319 Bosnian, 179 Turks, most of the latter ones were soldiers). In Bosnia 612,137 were registered as Muslims.

The Turks settled down around the end of the decade. They were mainly professionals, many worked in pastry shops. The first group of students arrived in 1909 led by imam Abdullatif.

The pro-Turkish sentiments were even further enforced by the return of the bodies of such national heroes as Rákóczi Ferenc, Zrínyi Ilona and Thököly Imre.

In 1914 the Monarchy attacked Serbia, and this rebellion led to the first world war.

On the 29 th of October Turkey officially enters the war on the side of the Axes powers. They did not only fight in their own country but they sent troops to Galicia and Romania to wage war side by side with the Hungarians. There is a Turkish military parcel in the Kozma Street cemetery.

In the war-torn December of 1914 at the Budapest City Hall Havass Rezső asks for building a Muslim house of worship in Budapest. Havass was the president of one of the committees of the Hungarian-Bosnian Economic Centre.

This proposition was drafted on the 14 th of April, 1916 by the Council of the Capital City and a Mosque Building Committee was formed. The Hungarian-Turkish friendship was so there that the Museum boulevard was named Mehmed boulevard.

The rather nationalistic and pro-war public made the Parliament to draft a law on the recognition of Islam. The law was introduced by Jankovich Béle, the minister of religious cults. The main speaker, Pekár Gyula said: "Dear House of Commons! This draft law finishes five centuries of development in our relationship with the East in fraternity and spiritual peace. It is a Teuga Dei between the ideologies of East and West. Though it is crucial, it does not bring anything new only what makes our hearts content. It is about the reception of 220 billion Mohammedan's living on three continents. But in this moment, the Hungarian Parliament first thinks of the heroic Turkish nation who are not only our friends in arm but also tied to us as brothers from Turan (region in Central Asia from where both Turks and Hungarian are supposed to come from)."

After this Pekár mentions Gül Baba's tomb, Bosnia and that there Islam is the main religion and the 1912 Austrian the chances it gives to Muslims living in Hungary. The speaker of the opposition, Barabás Béla, one of the members of the 1877 student delegation to Constantinople, said basically the same things, but with more pathos and he was more detailed.

The whole history was revivified in the House of the Parliament with kuruc independence fighters and the 1848-1849 heroes as well as Murad pasha of Aleppo (Joseph Bem), Barabás's young ages he spent in Turkey. He spoke about the sultan returning king Matthias's corvina books, the memory of Sultan Suleyman. He said some jokes about the marital and vestimantary habits of the Muslims, the türbe in Buda. He evoked Irányi Dániel's and Thaly Kálmán's spirit and the saying of one of the greatest person in Hungarian history, Kossuth Lajos who said: "Hungarian, go to East!"

Barabás Béla: said "Though my head is white, but I am here with the enthusiasm of a young man and the memories, I do not have any other option that lower the three colours, the red, the white and the green in front of the Turkish crescent. I accept the proposition and I say: "Cok yasa! (in Turkish: long life!)

The law was voted even by the opposition People's Party, except one MP.

 

The 1916 XVII. law on the recognition of Islam

1.§. Islam is recognised as a religion.

2.§. The Mohammedan's are not required to present their principles, ethical teachings, rituals and other inner regulations in order to form a denomination. Their inner documents are not subject of state control.

3.§. The Mohammedan denomination -with signature of the minister of religion and education- is legally connected to the one in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Priest or any other employee of the denomination can be anyone holding the necessary diplomas is it is required in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The same way priests can be employed even before the formation of the first official Muslim community if their salary is given.

4.§. The practices and principles of Islam are defended by law. In other cases laws drafted for other denominations apply. If needed the ministry should resolve the problem.

5.§. This law is valid since the day of its declaration. The minister of religion and education and the minister of interior executes it.

The above law was declared on the 30 th March, 1916 and was published by National Register of Laws in the same year.

The above law is still valid, since it was never withdrawn.

The above differs substantially from the 1895 law on religious freedom because Muslims were not supposed submit their documents on their belief system and rituals. According to the 1895 law a religious body cannot have a foreigner at its head. This did not apply for Muslims, so even caliph could have had its leader. The 1916 changes the 1895 regulation which says that a priest should obtain his diploma in Hungary, but the person concerned should be a Hungarian citizen. The law excluded the implementation of the Islamic law system

The religious body to be formed was entitled to collect religious taxes or open schools and kindergartens. The 1916 law recognises Islam as a whole contrary to the 1912 Austrian law recognising the Hanafite school of jurisprudence which dominant in Bosnia.

Though the law was drafted because of the Turkish-Hungarian friendship, Budapest already had a 2000 strong Muslim population: Bosnian soldiers, Albanian bakers and other professionals from the Balkans as well as students and soldiers from Turkey. The MP's voting the law had in vision the total integration of Bosnia after the war. But it never happened.

Kállay Béni's dream comes true, he wanted to build up leading Bosnian Muslim noble class against the Serbians with whom we were in war.

The 1916 calendar of the Hungarians of Bosnia tales are told about the Hungarian-Bosnian-Turkish friendship.

The Muslim officers in the army of the Monarchy were confident of their victory and they openly sided with the emperor and king of Hungary. At its collapse they had to realise that only the execution awaits them in Bosnia ruled by the Serbs. Many Muslim soldiers of Slav or Albanian origin left their countries and joined the Hungarian troops who pulled out of there as well. They went either to Budapest or to Vienna.

Many high ranking officers of the Turkish army were also blocked in Budapest during the days of the communist terror between March and August 1919. From among them was Fassah bey and Gelel bey and their wives who lived in Budapest's prestigious Gellért Hotel.

There Muslims in southern Hungary as well, It is true that they did not come willingly, they were in the French army occupying the southern part of the country. They were from North Africa and the anti-communists of the city of Szeged paid visits to them. There narratives telling us that the anti-communists befriended the Arabs and loved their dance what they performed with their arms.

There was a famous Hungarian Muslim who fought in the Mahdi uprising in Sudan against the British. He have chosen the way of Islam. He came to be known Szolimán Ignác pasha.

When the British finally occupied Sudan, he returned to Hungary and bought a property in Transylvania. He met once with admiral Horthy who's grand son also converted to Islam. His name appears frequently in newspapers in the 1880s.

 

Literature
Dán Károly: Kállay Béni és a magyar imperializmus
Dr. Léderer György: Keletkutatás
Udvarvölgyi Zsolt: Az Iszlám Vallásszociológiája
Törökországi magyar emigráció tagjainak naplójegyzetei

 

Annexes

Turkish imam Abdul-Latif in the 1910s

 

Official Turkish delegation to Hungary (1877)

 

3. The Hungarian student delegation to Constantinople (1877)

 
Széchenyi Ödön pasha

Durics Hilmi Husszein and the Muslims of Hungary
(Islam between the two wars)

After the collapse of the Monarchy many of the Muslim soldiers remained on the soil of the country amputed in Trianon in 1920. Durics Hilmi Huszein himself moved to Budapest from Vienna in that very year.

According to his curriculum vitae he was born in Bosanska Krupa on the he 11th November 1887. His father, Durics Mahmud aga was the mayor of the town and at the same time a rich land lord. He graduated with the best marks from the Darul Muallimin religious secondary school. Then went on studying theology in Cairo and Constantinople. Reportedly he did not only speak Hungarian and Bosnian, but he was also fluent in German, Turkish, Arabic and Persian. In 1910 he becomes the manager of the archives of the Bosnian National Museum.

At outbreak of World War I. he is conscripted and served at a predominantly Bosnian Muslim unit. In 1915 at Sabac he got injured at his knee and lungs. When in summer 1915 he recovered he was conscripted again as s an imam. The emperor and king of Hungary, Franz Joseph gave him the title of Mohammedan chief imam which meant that he was captain at the same time. At the end of the war, he was nominated a major. He taught Islam at the Vienna Military Academy.

At the collapse of the Monarchy, the Serbs executed his father took away all his property. In 1919 he got married with Ida, the daughter of colonel Hindy Szabó Elek. Accepting the situation in Bosnia, in October 1920 he moves to Budapest. At this time, so after the pogroms of Siófok and Orgovány, he joins Prónay's radical nationalist militia. They took part in the he West Hungarian uprising which ensured that the prestigious city of Sopron could remain an integral part of Hungary.

In Sopron the of the 1921 referendum is commemorated every year. People remember that these were not politicians who it possible but a bunch of volunteers including Bosnian and Albanian Muslims. These soldiers were also concerned by the restructure of Europe and the found their ideal coinciding with that of the Rongyos Gárda militia. Many of them fled the Serbian army. Two, three people, but once a whole unit with all their arms. Even though this country was foreign for them. They gave their blood to get the right to live in it. These soldiers stopped the Austrian regular army to occupy the slice of land promised by the Trianon Treaty.

They occupied whole what is known as Austria's Burgenland province and declared the Leitha Country. Unfortunately until 1990, the fall of the Berlin wall, we could hardly speak about this. Even today few people are of the identity of those heroes. It is due to the Ágfalva battle of the Rongyos Gárda militia that Sopron could remain Hungarian. A name is known from among the martyrs. Ahmed from Bosnia who became martyred on the he 5th of September defending Hungary.

Hasan bey was a religious student and led the Albanian Muslims' unit. His courage was legendary.

All Muslim soldiers such the other were decorated by Prónay's bronze prize. It was complemented by card proving that the person concerned is entitled the bear the decoration. Prónay enlisted all his soldiers, but this list disappeared.

Durics later became one of the most influential in Hungary's Muslim life. He was also decorated by Prónay.

He receives the Hungarian citizenship in 1927 in the city of Kecskemét. It is strange enough since he lived in Budapest, in the he Molnár Street. But his financial situation did not let him to file his request in Budapest because it was much more expensive. He had many friends from Kecskemét from time of the Prónay militia. They were in majority peasant.

He relates it the he following way

"Court proceedings Taken in Kecskemét in the he office of the chief notary on the he 2nd of March, 1926. Present is Mr. Durics Hussein Hilmi who lives in Budapest and tells us the following: since I live in Budapest and there the fees are very high this is way I would like to be join the city of Kecskemét. I have chosen Kecskemét because I fought with his sons in the he West Hungarian Uprising and I have many friends from among them. In Bosnia I have 1040 acre of land and a house but execution waits me if returned. This is why I would like to be a Hungarian citizen. I kindly ask the acceptance of my request. Now I work for the city council in Budapest as a security guard, I can a final job only if I get the Hungarian citizenship."

Durics Hilmi Huszein attached a CV to his request. Events of his life are known from this CV and Móricz Pál's article published in 1932 in the newspaper called Budai Napló.

Durics Hilmi Huszein played a founding father role in the he history of Islam in Hungary. The effendi who impoverished became a soldiers, a globetrotter and finally the Grand Mufti of Buda. His fate was that of Muslim community of his time. He had a dream: to build an Islamic centre at the Gül baba tomb under his tutelage. Unfortunately till today such a centre was not realised.

At that time the number of Muslim was app. 4000 out of whom 300 were the members of the so called Turkish colony who remained in the he country after the end of the war led by imam Abdullatif. Germanus speaks about 30.000 Muslims.

The others were Bosnians, Macedonians and Albanians. In majority simple people: workers, gardeners of fencing teachers. Their integration into the society was not easy for them because of the language barrier.

Their culture, vision of life and religion also did not help them to quickly assimilate, even thought they wanted to do so. Why then they became enthusiast supporters of the political right? On one hand because they as well they were victims of Trianon and on the other patriotism made them similar to the ones adhering to official Hungarian ideology.

We cannot imagine that Durics could come from a leftist background, but it is still strange that he joined the extreme right National Front thanks to his supporters and speech writers.

In the he 3rd of August, 1931 issue of the Budai Napló there is a one page article on the he foundation of the "Autonomous Hungarian Islamic Community under the title of After 250 of break the müezzin call again for prayer in Buda.

According to the news it happened on the he 2nd of August at 11 am. When people congregated to found what was promised by the 1916 law. At 11.30 am Durics had a speech in front of his public.

They elected the Council of Elders or Mejlis (the press of the time called it "presbitérium" as word used for Protestant Christians normally) Mehmedagics Iszmail was elected müezzin, imam of Buda second mufti, Reszulovics Mehmed became secretary. Many Christians supporting the Muslims worked in the he Mejlis, like Galánthyay-Glock Tivadar a retired general.

The lawyer of the community was Lidértejedi dr.Kiss Árpád. Gegus Dániel retired police officer and Dr.Umlauff Siegfried county chief became "kaymakam". The Hungarian Autonomous Islamic Community named after Gül Baba drafted a 12-pages document as its internal regulation

We know about three müfettis or non-Muslim supporters besides MPs Dr.Bárczy Istvánon and Kozma Jenő: Dr.Hennyey Vilmos former secretary of state, the president of the Hollós Mátyás Society, and the great local patriot of Buda: Viraág Béla redactor, and baron Petrichevich György retired colonel, general sectary of the Mary Theresia Order and vice-president of the Gül-Baba Cultural Committee.

The general secretary of this committee was Germanus Gyula, the most famous Hungarian Muslim. The committee was a principally Christian-run body backing Durics. These people were so influentials that when the Bosnian-Hungarians in 1931 wanted to get recognition, they made Liber Endre, the vice mayor of Budapest to meet them.

Abdullatif did not accept any title at the community and challenged Durics as a religious leader. Abdullatif who was naturalised Hungarian, just an imam left here by the Ottomans, was exchanging articles in the he press accusing each other. We also know that Germanus was in contact with the Bosnians and openly sided with Durics, Abdullatif became his enemy.

He writes about this as follows in his famous book, Allah akbar:

"During my stay in India a Mohammedan community was formed in Budapest. Its members were mainly Bosnian origin who took the Hungarian citizenship. After they got organised, one of them chanted the melody calling for prayer (adhan), and this news went around the Mohammedan world, and hearts of Muslims were filled with happiness. I bear witness that elderly Mohammedan's were crying and looking to the sky when their brothers read them this news from the newspaper.

These Bosnians are all poor workers, they contacted me and counted on me.

The Hungarian Mohammedan community -after I told them- tried to live in a peaceful coexistence with Abdullatif, but it was not feasible because of the Turkish priest who was jealous of his privileges and in any way he wanted to prevent them to be organised."

According to the news the 20th of August was also marked by the local Muslims at 19., Holló Street. Durics pronounced his first public speech here. To better understand this historical period I quote it: "Oh Muslims! Oh celebrating public!

One thousand years ago Allah, the most Merciful gave a great king to the Hungarian nation. The wise Saint Stephen formed the Hungarian state which could stand the storms of a thousand years because the great monarch founded his kingdom on the he oneness of God.We should not fear that this county, where we Muslims, we live as well, might go astray from the traditions of its first wise king. We will get rid of the cramps put on us by human short sight and depravity in Trianon. Allah ordered us to be free and did not give prison as Hungarians. We originally Slav but in feelings Hungarian Muslims we take part of this originally Turanic-Iranian family because our land took part of that of Saint Stephen, as we showed in the he war with our lives and blood. Allah orders u sin the Quran to love God and the home land. And we follow Allah's commandments. The faith of the Great, Living and Merciful God is in endangered by the hords of Satan, they want to make this nation deprived of religion, God and ethics. They machines in God's place. And dishonesty in the he place of ethics. They want to replace mutual love and understanding by disqualify and plain material needs. They break the traditions of family life, they make the children to revolt against his parents and they want to establish the country of the Dajjal (Antichrist) of Moscow. They destroy mosques, churches, prayer halls, and schools and build the altars of debauchery and denial of God. If this attack of Satan comes from the East or the West, Slam vetoes it! We should congregate around God to stop Satan and his army to lead the people back to submission, honesty, patriotism and mercy.

There is no life without and against God, no development, no success! It is in Hungary interest to cuddle Islam before the final battle because if people get together Saint Stephen's empire would not be the past and history, but would lay again between the Carpaths and the Adriatic Sea.

We, Hungarian Muslim, we bow our had sin front of Saint Stephen, the peygamber (prophet) of the Hungarian nation and sing with our fellow Christian brothers: Where are you king Stephen, the Hungarian wants you, in doleful dress, crying in front of you! Amin."

This speech was typical for the Muslim leaders influenced by the Turanic irredentism of the time. After the speech the Bosnian Muslims went to Buda in rows of four led by the mufti where one of the ulema sang the adhan.

After this every Friday this sing will be performed - reports the Budai Napló - and adds that on the hat very day Ali Nasir Bedawi pasha came to Budapest from Vienna. In the he same year, The Budai Napló relates that Durics's "Islamic Catechism" will be considered an official text book for schools. The work is published by Hollós Mátyás. In September they relate that many Western and Arabic newspapers wrote articles on the he Muslim Saint Stephen's Day. They also write that the Gül Baba Committee members revise the so called Wagner villa around the türbe in order to realise a mosque and a Quranic school there. Christian denominations started to attack Durics. The Református Élet (Reformed Life) published an article under the title of "Who invited the effendi to Budapest?" The reaction came from the unofficial newspaper of the community, the Budai Napló, on the he 21st of September, 1931 under the title of "Christians in Islam": The cooperation Mohammedan's and Christians in the he Committee drew criticism from people ignoring the situation. This does not contradict the laws of the Quran and tradition, nor the regulations of the caliphs. In the he fifth sourate of Quran, it is written that "You would find that the closest to the believers in friendship are those who say: we are Christians" Then it develops and argument, that Islam recognises Jesus and the Virgin Mary and present cases of Muslim-Christian cooperation in history.

Durics Husszein Hilmi and his community since its foundation were getting letters of congratulation from the Muslim World and they tried to publish those letters in the he press.

Hungarian Christian supporters of the Muslims saw a tourism business possibility in them. If a Muslim maharaja, a rheumatic Indian politician or an Egyptian business spent some days in Budapest, he was enthusiastically greeted by the Budai Napló, and said the officialdom should further profit of those chances. Palatial plans were drawn of the Islamic citadel in Buda. First in 1931 by Suppinger Ferenc, four years later by Lechner Lóránd made a grandiose plan of a mosque, an Islamic theology and attached student hostel.

Durics Hilmi seeing the plans might think of himself that he is the emir of a Muslim city or neighbourhood because his main supporter, Medreczky Andor, was very rich.

He went to Jerusalem, one of the capitals of Islam, with a delegation with Haji Mehmed Dzsemáluddin Csausevics. This congreess in Jerusalem had Hungary-related decisions. Durics got the title of Grand Mufti and was incorporated into the international body of muftis, and in theory supported the realisation of an fan Islamic centre in Buda.

This was the time of Ramadan. Muslims wanted to open it in a solemn way, but it was not possible. The Budai Napló reports on the he occasion: "around the World there celebrations of the beginning of Ramadan. But now in Buda the fast is marked by a prayer rug, a priest dressed in black, the imam lifting his shoes. They are Grand mufti Durics and imam Mehmedagics. First they chanted passages from the Quran and then mufti recited a prayer for the Regent and the recovery of the home land. The public was very emotional hearing the words coming from the heart of the Mohammedan chief priest such as his invitation to conduct a pious life and to be sincere towards the home land and act in a honest way."

In February 1932 Durics Hilmi Husszein with his "leadership" meets Bárczy István retired minister of justice and former mayor of Budapest who gets elected as müfettis. Bárczy accepted the title and promised to help the community.

Durics Hilmi decided to gain support for the national Islam the king of Albania, Zogu, and through Vienna and Trieste he travelled to Albania.

According to the reports he was receive with great honour by the local Muslims. King Zogu accepted the play the role of supporter of the Islam of Hungary, but we will see that until his detronation, he did not do anything special in favour of the Hungarian Muslims. He gave to Durics a prize (the Skander Bey Prize).

Durics was received several times by the king, before his return there was a solemn celebration and a religious congregation. The ministers of Albania also showed up at this gathering to prove that they take Durics and his delegation seriously. King Zogu and the Albanian Bektashi Order promised several thousand gold dinar what they wanted to forward if the first stone of the mosque and madrassa is laid down.

Durics got a decorated turban from the leader of the Bektashis as a gift. It was also announced that fifty Muslim Albanian students would come the new Quranic school. The government wanted to establish official relationship with Hungary.

The Arab World press also relates the news of the Hungarian Muslims. For example the Sirat-al-mustakim of Baghdad, the official newspaper of the Kingdom of Iraq writes three long articles on the he 23rd of February 1932.

I would like the quote the leading article: "during two hundred fifty years the adhan could not be heard in the Castle of Buda, but the Hungarian Muslims restored it thanks to Hilmi Hussein effendi who is recognised in the he eastern world and his Hungarian friends. Hussein Hilmi effendi wrote letters to the dignitaries of the Muslim nations who forwarded the happy news to their nations.

"The honoured leading figure of the Islamic World, emir Sektib Arslan promised the help of the Indian Mohammedan's and he himself accepted as well the title of supporter"

"Ibrahim, the sultan of Johore promised Arslan, the head of the Indian Muslims to be a supporter of the case."

"King Faysal, lord of Iraq and Mesopotamia invited his subjects to take part in the Gül baba action"

(These quotation are from the 10 th of April, 1932 issue of the Budai Napló)

It is visible that they tried to get support from all Muslim dignitaries of the time, who happily accepted these requests, but financially no one really contributed.

This diplomatic activity was there to raise money, Durics had not a single dinar to realise his grandiose projects. The Islamic World and their supporters inland provided them with words only.

In June 1932, king Zogu of Albania's envoy, Dr. Erebara Ali bey paid a visit to Hungary and met Durics, but local Muslims got only promises. It seems that 1932 spelt the Islamic diplomatic summit because in August the emir of Syria, prince Sekib Arslan also visited Hungary. He emir had a lot of official meetings and spent time with Durics. According to the Budai Napló, he came five times to Hungary. From material point of view even this visit did not mean income for the local Muslims.

Mehmedagics Iszmail publishes an article in the Budai Napló on the 245 th anniversary of the European re-conquest of Buda. His last sentences are interesting: "This was a Friday. The mosque disappeared, the csarsi (bazaar) disappeared, many wells were filled with earth. The rose was frozen, the bülbül (bird) stopped singing. But the two brothers maybe get together again!"

On the 22 nd of November 1932, the mayor of Budapest issued the resolution n. 199. 550/1932. X. entitling Durics Husszein Hilmi to take care of the Muslim parcel in the Budapest cemetery.

At the end of 1932, there was a diplomatic heyday in the life of the Grand Mufti of Buda. In Rome he met with the representatives of the Seusiyya Sufi Order, from there he went on to Tirana where he met king Zogu and offered him a sword given by Mr. Bárczy István. On the sword there inscriptions in Arabic and Hungarian. Durics met also the head of the Bektashi Sufi Order who introduced him and gave gifts.

In Hungary, Hungarians and Turks observed the holy fasting month of Ramadan separately. The Turks with their imam: Abdullatif. The Pesti Napló on the 28 th of January 1933 writes as follows: "Husszein Hilmi organised the prayers in his own flat. The elderly imam, Abdullatif preached the Truth of Allah in the Mecset (Mosque) Street. Which one is the true imam? Allah knows best."

The gap between the two communities became bigger and bigger, sometimes they attacked each other in various press releases.

The public opinion smiled at these discussions, but Durics had more support because of his past and Hungarian citizenship.

Durics and his followers always referred to the 1895 and 1916 laws and said that a Muslim leader should be a Hungarian citizen and that he was elected unanimously by the Muslims living in Hungary, Bosnians or Albanians in origin, but Hungarian citizens. At the same time Durics refused to allege that the Hungarian Muslims form two camps. But it is true that the Turks were centred around imam Abdullatif.

In 1932 Durics observed the holiday marking the pilgrimage to Mecca. The festival took place in the Hotel Esplanade where a suite was reserved to Durics to receive the dignitaries from abroad. Many Hungarian public figures also attended this event including prof. Germanus who was already Muslim at that time and gave a lecture to the congregated. Durics slaughtered a ship and offered the prayer at the Gül baba tomb. The Pesti Napló published an article entitled "The bayram festivities of the Hungarian Mohammedan community", they also added pictures.

The Grand Mufti vainly waited for the material help from abroad. He got richer only in promises in 1932. And following years were the same.

The 1933 press continues to publish about the holidays of the Bosnian-Hungarians and the Budai Napló writes odes about the foreign visitors to the community.

The same year there was a misunderstanding between Durics and Abdullatif concerning the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

After the month of Ramadan was over, prince Arslan of Syria came again to Hungary, he was again received with great honour by Durics., but again he got only promises, because prince Arslan was on his way to Geneva, to participate to the 1934 Pan-Islamic Congress. The emir was also received by the Hollós Műátyás Society supporting the casae of the Hungarian Muslims.

In 1935, they tried to get support from the prime minister. The letter to Gömbös Gyula was signed by Hungarian public figures as Medriczky, Bárczy and Petrichevich. A quotation from that letter: ".The autonomous community of the Hungarian Muslims was not yet recognised by the Hungarian authorities for different reasons, this conditions disable them to act and make them facing difficulties.

We have to mention here the efforts of the Hungarian authorities to annihilate the Hungarian Muslims on the request of the official imam of the Turkish state....The goals of the Hungarian Muslims is double: a., to gain the support of the Orthodox Muslim world in order to get the property around the Gül baba tomb and to establish there a prayer facility with an Orthodox Muslim school and student hostel. This project includes a mosque completing the panorama of Budapest. They also want to deepen the Islamic research and to publish the Hungarian translation of the Holy Quran. ) After getting the theoretical support of the dignitaries of the Muslim world, they want to collect money by doing a tour including a slide show and propaganda lecture in the main Islamic cities. They also want to publish articles in the Muslim press and to give personal invitations to Muslims they think are useful for this country.

This Oriental tour should be organised as soon as possible This is why we request you to the elected priest of the Hungarian Muslims, Durics Hilmi Huszein, the Grand Mufti of Buda and to Reszulovics Mehmed who is also a Hungarian citizen and a military fencing teacher to raise founds among the Muslims abroad and to forward the collected money on the bank account of the Gül baba tomb.

The Gül Baba Committee will be a social control over the movement. It ensures that the incoming founds would be only utilised for the above purpose.

Since this movement in its goals and means is extraordinary, we ask you, to give out the above-mentioned permission through the Gül Baba Committee and on behalf of the signing dignitaries without any restrictions and for a three year term."

In 1934 Durics and Mehmedagics Iszmail travelled already to Egypt, Syria and Palestine. In Jerusalem they got again only promises from the head of the Pan-Islamic Congress, Haji Amin al_-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, a friend of Hitler.

Durics and Reszulovics went on a longer tour thinking that they would get more then promises.

In 1935 they went to Alexandria, Jerusalem, Damascus Bombay and Haiderabad. During their months long travels, Durics had many lectures given and the local newspapers were full of articles about the Hungarian Muslims. Even the local aristocracy received them. Like the king in Iraq and the maharaja in Haiderabad.

Returning to Hungary they had again only promises in their pockets.

"We did not have any material success in Arabia." - wrote Mehmedagics in his diary.

It is a fact that Abdullatif contributed the failure of their travel.

Durics counting on the truthfulness of the promises said to the press that the founds raised would be sufficient to build the Islamic centre. We also know that he should take loans for his travels, and that he got into trouble because of this. The Magyar Világ newspaper summerises the titles of the articles appeared in the foreign media:

"Al Okab (Baghdad): The Grand Mufti of Hungary in Baghdad

"Al Tarik (Baghdad): The king received today Mr. Durics Hilmi

"Al-Bilád (Baghdad): Islam in Europe and Hungary

While Durics was travelling at the Gül baba tomb the Saint Stephen's Day was commemorated agaibn by several hundreds of Hungarian Muslims. The Pesti Napló writes about this event as follows: "many dozens of Mohammedan's live without spiritual nutrition in Budapest. The priest were fighting each other, every one of them wanted to become a small Pope, and now there is neither priest, nor Islam. At centuries old tomb of the "Father of the roses" no one cares that the Bayram holiday slowly becomes like a normal weekday. Everything is falling apart, even though Islam is a recognised religion in Hungary. By the falling of the leaves -if it is true- Grand Mufti Durics would be back. He travels around Arabia and India and collects money from the colourful Muslim dignitaries."

With all the luxury of the East a wonderful mosque would be over Gül baba's tomb, so beautiful that the Turk after visiting Mecca would like to visit Buda as well. And again there will be a Turkish world in Buda. The trains of the pilgrims touch each other, a school would be attached to the temple, but everybody agrees that they remain good and honest Hungarians."

Durics after all these failures turns again to king Zogu of Albania, he brought a silver maquette of the future mosque and a sack of land from around the tomb.

This maquette was placed in a museum during the communist dictator of Albania, Enver Hoja and after the fall of the old regime there, it got to the head of the Bektashi Sufi Order, where it is to be found till today.

At the this time Mussolini was also declared a supporter of the Hungarian Islam.

According to the Budai Napló Durics lead the marriage process of king Zogu and the Hungarian noble lady Apponyi Geraldine,because Hilmi was nominated chief mufti of his court.

It is interesting to note that Mussolini, a non-Muslim but a protector of Islam in Hungary had driven king Zogu of his country. That meant the loss of hope for Durics.

Medreczky Andor agitated in favour of the Islamic tourism business, but he mentioned less and less the name of Durics. He disagreed with the muftis's step of joining the National Front.

The two bayram holidays were again observed separately by the Bosnians and the Turks. A series of factional articles were published in the press to prove that Islam and Christianity are very close to each other, that Islam is not identical with the Turks as many believed and a mosque is a must around the Gül baba tomb or if not, than it is a must to restore it and to destroy the Wagner Castle standing around it.

In 1936 the journalist, Viraág Béla dies, and his successor, Lippay Gyula, and the Budai Krónika replacing Budai Napló was less enthusiast when it came to uphold the issue of Islam, even though they published a couple of articles about it.

In February 1940 Durics dies of a pulmonary illness in the János hospital. He was 52.

We can read his necrologies in the 7 th February, 1940 issue of the Budai Krónika:

"He was an extraordinary person. He was led by great projects and plans. And if he decided to do something, he did it. He did not know difficulties or obstacles, He travelled twice to the East to promote his magnificent project by the power of his wonderful words of propaganda. He wanted to build a mosque a Mohammedan college and cultural centre.

He went to the courts of the Arab princes and kings in Egypt and India, everywhere treasuries were open to him, and huge amount of money would be deblocked once... But origin of his unhappiness was this "once".

The fight of these Don Quixotes are tragic and comic at the same time. But for sure, it is to be respected."

In 1946 the Turkish imam, Abdullatif, passes away. Both leaders are buried in the cemetery of Rákoskeresztúr. Now only a few steps separate them.

Medreczky Andor fled from the incoming Soviets in 1944, his fate is unknown. But we are aware of the fact that he gave to Kovács Lajos, the head of the Archives of Budapest a with a green piece of textile bearing an ayat from the Holy Quran saying: "you are dead and they are dead." possibly used for burials. Unfortunately, this cannot be localised any more, though it still existed in the 1980's.

Durics's last collaborator to die was Csátics Abid. No one could recite the sourate al-Fatiha over his tomb as he did with his brothers when they passed away. Resulovics Mehmed died in Vienna where he emigrated after the 1956 anti-communist revolution.

The great Muslim scholar of the time, Germanus Gyula died in 1979. He was buried in the Farkasrét cemetery. The writer of this book was the only Hungarian Muslim to attend his funeral, the prayer was led by an employee of the Lybian embassy. Next to him were the Arab students who represented the Hungarian Islam for long time.

 

About those buried in the Muslim cemetery of Budapest

Few people know that there is a 100 years old Muslim parcel in the Kozma Street cemetery.

I think that the oldest tomb dates from 1891, this is the tomb of Hadidse Hanum, an Ottoman princess. In another tomb we find another Turkish dignitary: Bayilkay Ahmet Nadir, the Turkish consul who died on the 12 th July, 1937.

The Bosnian-Hungarian heroes of our narrative are also buried here.

Life continued and other immigrants came. Birth includes death, and the tombs became numerous. It shows also the international nature of our religion. We find there Pakistani, Turkish, Arabic and even Chinese names and inscriptions.

 

Literature
Dr. Léderer György: Keletkutatás
Udvarvölgyi Zsolt: Az iszlám vallásszociológiája
Korabeli újságok, levelezések • 
A "Medriczky hagyaték" • 
A Rongyos Gárda harcai

 

Annexes

Durics Hilmi Hussein

The Bosnian-Hungarian Muslims' bayram festival
at the Gül baba tomb in the 1930's

Titles from the press

Mosque project by Lechner Lóránd

Press releases

Durics's letter from India

   
The newspapers of Baghdad write about Durics

____________________________________________________________________

 

III. History of the present

The history of the Hungarian Islam in the Modern age

In 1949 in the history of Hungary and the so called popular democracies (i. e. communist regimes) a hard time commences for the religious denominations. This applied even more for the small communities having undecided legal status. In 1947. the Parliament of the Republic of Hungary lifted the discrimination against the small religious communities. The minister of the time, Ortutay Gyula held a speech we quote:

"I have to mention as a curiosity the 1916 law on Islam recognising it because of the ongoing war. At that time there 300 Muslims in the country, but this recognition did not made possible and necessary to form a Muslim "church" in Hungary. This also shows how in the relationship between the state and the churches humiliated the churches and how they depended on it. But dependence was many times reclaimed by the churches themselves." Many people disputes that the 1947 law on the churches diminished this dependence. One thing is sure, from 1947 on, the Hungarian Muslims religious practice was not tolerated. The surviving friends of Durics went secretly to pray at the Gül baba tomb.

 

The beginnings as the author saw it

The author of this book became a Muslim in 1978, but he already prepared himself for this step. He reminds the young Germanus who also thought that Islam meant the Ottoman Turkish. While being a secondary school pupil, he got Germanus's address and wrote a letter to him and begged him to help him in the conversion to Islam. The secretary of the great scholar replied saying that first I have to learn languages in order to better know the religion spiritually attracted the author.

The author had a strict Catholic family background and education but went to the church only to listen to the speeches. He read all possible books on the Turks, the Arabs and Islam.

In summer 1975 in a university preparation camp he came to know to Arab students. This was his first meeting with a living Muslim.

He says that he was lucky to meet religious Arab students who became his first instructors as well. They presented him to other students mainly from Egypt and Sudan. The majority of Arab students studying in Hungary at that time came through scholarships given by the communists. Few were the ones who paid for themselves. They formed the majority of those who practiced Islam regularly and lived according to it. The majority of the Arabs -unfortunately- drank alcohol, had illegal sexual intercourses and sometimes even ate pork.

Between these groups there no internal fights. Those who did not practice Islam were the supporters of the regime, the religious ones discussed religion and politics in closed and secret circles. Many of the formerly Marxist students remained in the country and after the fall of the Berlin wall many turned to be faithful Muslims and posed as pioneers of Islam. We will speak about them later.

There were other Hungarian, lectors of Germanus's books who reverted to Islam. There ladies married to Muslims, but the majority of them moved out of the country. We will speak about these mixed marriages later in a more detailed form.

The regular Friday and Ramadan prayers were observed in the student hostel of the Technical University. The author of this book frequented all known places including the student hostel located at the Buda end of the Petőfi bridge. There also meetings in the Kruspér Street and on the Bartók Béla Road. But not that frequently. Maybe the best trained imam of that time was Abu Bakr, a young man from Egypt.

Religious holidays were also observed at the Lybian, Egyptian and Iranian embassies.

The 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran was greeted by the Muslim students and they "drank" the news from Iran. The author, then already officially a Muslim, regularly frequented the prayers till 1980 when the caretaker at the Petőfi híd student hostel noticed that the author does not look like a foreigner and said that he was not allowed to pray there. He tried twice more to get in. Than the caretaker wanted to call the police to remove him from there. The Arabs present tried to change her mind, but it was not possible. From this on, till the fall of the Berlin wall, the author could not attend the Friday prayers.

The religious students were fearing the system so much that they did not want the oppose it and could not find any solution. In 1979, the author came across with an Afghan student finishing his studies who did not want to return to his communist home land.

There was a secret Muslim organisation at that time in Hungary. Even the author could know superficially. They forwarded this Afghani with a false passport to Kuwait.

The author was planning at that to time to go to Eritrea where Muslims were fighting the Ethiopian communists. Nothing happened with this childish idea. He also submitted request of study and research in Egypt and Iran.

Finishing his military service in 1981, he paid a visit to prof. Germanus's wife who lived in Budapest, on the Petőfi Square. He went there with an Iraqi Muslim who knew prof. Germanus personally. They evoked the past and a photo of Germanus was given to author reading "to Mr. Szultán Mohamed Bolek with love from Aisha Germanus, 15 August, Budapes".

The press at time several times announced the construction of an Islamic centre with the support of an oil-rich Gulf country. Nothing happened.

The author got an Arabic Holy Quran from the Aachen Islamic Centre (still West Germany) with an Arabic attestation of the authenticity of the Book and books in German.

In 1983 Hungarian government official proposed to build an Islamic centre in Budapest, but this project was quickly forgotten because of some ideological problems. In 1987 an architecture workshop was organised by the Muslim ambassadors in order to draw the plans of an Islamic centre dedicated to the memory of Germanus on the Rose Hill, the winner was a plan by a British, Basil Bayati. In August in the same year meetings were held between the Saudi-backed World Muslim League and the National Bureau of Religious Affairs. The Hungarian party reclaiming a horrific amount of money to give the approval. It is clear that the Hungarian government did not take the Saudi efforts seriously.

About Haji Abdul Karim Germanus

Germanus Gyula was born in 1884, in Budapest, and is till today the most known Hungarian Muslim.

His family was a German trader family, but he also had some Jewish ancestors. His mother comes from the very talented Czóbel family.

Germanus graduated from secondary school in 1902, he read in French and German. His ideal at that time was Voltaire, but soon he came to be interested in the Turks and the East in general. In the same year he started his studies at the ELTE university where he has chosen history and Latin. He started to study orientalism as well. Soon he acquired sufficient knowledge of Turkish, Persian and Arabic. His first travel to the Muslim world was to the occupied Bosnia. He gives a detailed account of this travel in his book called "The fading light of the Crescent Moon". Bosnian Muslims were very friendly.

He studied at Constantinople, Vienna and Leipzig universities and got into contact with "Young Turks" under Abdulhamid's rule. He got arrested but was later released thanks to the consul of the Monarchy.

At the University of Budapest his teachers were from among best orientalist. He learnt Turkish from Vámbéry Ármin, Arabic from Goldziher Ignác.

He finished his PhD. In 1907 and got a three year scholarship to England. Since 1912 he worked at the Royal Oriental Academy as a lector, later as a teacher of Turkish and Arabic. At the same time he Islam at the Budapest Reformed Theology Academy.

After the World War I. broke out, he had to serve at the press centre of the Prime Minister's office, he was responsible of surveying the foreign media. In July 1915, as a representative of the Red Crescent worked in Turkey at the Dardanelles during the battle between the Turks and the British. Injured he was captured by the British, but later he was released and came back to Hungary.

In 1918, he was nominated to the post of a teacher at the Oriental Academy. After its dissolution he was forwarded to the Faculty of Economics where he worked under Teleki Pál, a great geographer and future prime minister of Hungary, he taught Turkish, Persian, Arabic languages and Islamic civilization. Here he continued his diverse literary work, he publish a text book of Turkish language. He did more travels in Europe and the East including a trip to the new Turkish Republic. He became an organiser for the Hungarian PEN Club, in 1926 he was elected its secretary. Later he was the one who started the PEN Club in Bulgaria (1928) and Egypt (1934). He was basically interested in the Turks, but as time passed he turned to Islamology and the Arabs. His new visit to Turkey was a disappointment. He taught that the changes there meant a final rupture with the past, he was not attracted by Kemal's policies.

In 1929, he had to face new challenges because he was invited by the great Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore to launch the Islamic Studies Department at his Santiniketan (Bengal, India) University. Though this was an invitation for three years (1929-1932), he remained a guest lecturer at the Dacca and Kalkutta universities until 1936. During his stay in India he reverted to Islam at Delhi's Great Mosque. He presents it the following way in his book entitled "Allah akbar!":

"I became a Mohammedan. I entered the way of those who fight on Allah's path. The one who is a Muslim and rejects his faith withdraws himself from the fold of the defence of the Islamic jurisprudence. He becomes a free booty. He can be killed, kicked out of his home or humiliated since it was he himself who executed this punishment by quitting a society based on religious principles. It is a vain act then to return to a religious community which is otherwise protected by Islam, this does not apply for him. Islam is a great camp, its force is its unanimous spirit, this is why it cannot tolerate any personal opinion or a more liberal understanding. I had to be aware of this, I had to accept this burden on me."

After his speech at the mosque he also became a part of this "great and disciplined camp where everybody is brother and everybody is the same". His Muslim name was Abdulkerim meaning the servant of the Merciful God.

During his stay in India, Germanus decided to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca and the visit to Medina. Not too much Europeans ventures so far. Germanus wanted to know the Islamic World from inside in its totality. First he went to Cairo where he studied at the one thousand years old Azhar University to prepare for pilgrimage what is related in his above-mentioned book of "Allah akbar!" He was so prepared in Muslim studies that a group of students at the Azhar University listened to his presentations. In Saudi Arabia he was officially received by the king Ibn Saud, the founding father of the country.

On the 1st of June 1939, he got a permission to travel around Arabia during one year. Because of the war he got to the Middle East as a crewman of a submarine. He visited Lebanon and Egypt and then proceeded to Saudi Arabia where once more performed the pilgrimage to Mecca and visited the mosque of the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him). As the first European with a caravan he got to Riyadh through the Ghureira Desert.

The World War II: stopped Haji Abdulkerim Germanus's travels. In 1941, after Teleki's suicide over the declaration of war against Serbia, he became the head of the department at the university. During the war he behave in a very courageous way, but he was shocked when his wife, G. Hajnóczy Róza, committed suicide. (Supposedly his could not stand that she has to put a Jewish star of David on the clothes of his Muslim house band. During the rule of Szálasi, the Hungarian national radical regime, he had to hide himself and he was directly exposed to danger.)

After the war, he continued his activities as university teacher at the Faculty of Economics. He became the director of the Italian Culture and Economics Department. Later he wanted to reorganise the Oriental Institute, but he failed to do so. His institute was dismissed and he was ordered to work under Németh Gyula at the Turkish Philology Department.

1958 was another change in his life when he becomes a member of the Parliament where he was the only official Muslim MP until 1966. The same year he was given the title of the head of the Arabic Literature and Civilisation Department. He retired from there six years later when he was already 80. During his few years spent at the Faculty of Arts, the Islamic studies became deeply rooted there. As his student and future prime minister of Hungary, Antall József wrote about him:

"His life was history in itself. He could easily tell us stories and memories. In the closed years (of communist terror) of the 1950's, he opened a window on the World. He showed to his students the raising and the falling people of the East. He presented a picture of the Islamic people; their historical and spiritual problems. "Europe and the World will only too late realise the hidden forces of Islam, and as many times and many ways it will react too late and too bad." - repeated several times. He knew and declared that Islam for those people meant the source of renewal and spirituality, and directly or indirectly will play a major role in World politics in the coming years."

His desire was to be a bridge between Hungary and the East.

In 1955, he was invited by the Alexandria and the Cairo universities, later to Damascus to lecture about Arabic literature. As a reward he was elected member of the Academy of Sciences based in Cairo in 1956. He did not become unfaithful to India. He wrote a book on Ghandi whom he knew personally and remained a close friend of Javaharlal Nehru, India's prime minister. He travelled to some Arab countries, such as Morocco in 1961. In spring 1965, on the invitation of the Saudi king, he went to Arabia and performed pilgrimage for third time, this time with his revert second wife, Kajári Katalin aka Aisha. In 1966 he became a member of the Damascus-based Academy of Sciences. In 1967 he was invited to Baghdad commemorating the millennium of the city. In 1978 he became a member of the Academy of Amman. Besides the Arab academies, the Rome-based Accademia del Mediterranoe (1952) and the Accademia Leonardo da Vinci, the London-based Institute for Cultural Research and the Indian Institute of Islamic Studies did the same. This contributed to the better appreciation of the Hungarian scientific life abroad.

"Germanus reverted to Islam and performed the pilgrimage because he wanted to become Oriental to learn Islam from inside. He wanted to see the buildings of Islam from inside, but at the same time he wanted to remain a typical European scientist, rational and objective. At the same time he kept his Hungarianness, he brought the Hungarian flag everywhere with an almost childish enthusiasm, and returned home after getting very good proposals from abroad." - wrote one of his biographers. This great figure of the Hungarian spiritual life passed away on the 7 th November, 1979 at the age of 95.

"He wanted a tomb with a turban as it is customary for the Mohammedan's" and he wanted to be buried in the Farkasréti cemetery. He wanted his tomb to bear Al-fatiha, the opening chapter of the Holy Quran. Many important figures of the Hungarian scientific life were present at his burial as well as the diplomacies of the Muslim World. Germanus Gyula was buried as a Muslim.

Abdul-Karim Germanus with his books and works contributed a lot to make Islam more popular in Hungary, he is the most known Hungarian Muslim.

 

The foundation of the Hungarian Islamic Community and its history until 1996

In 1987 a devoted party of the Saudi-Hungarian talks was Dr. Mihállfy Balázs who later was elected to be the first sheikh and president of the Hungarian Islamic Community.

Dr. Mihálffy Balázs's mother was a school teacher, his father an architect. He was raised as a Roman catholic. He first came across of Islam and the language of the Holy Quran in Gödöllő, in the student hostel of the University of Agriculture where he had Sudanese room mates. After finishing his studies, he followed a course at the Arabic Department of the ELTE University in Budapest. His Arabic became so perfect that the weekly HVG newspapers wrote about him:"his polished Arabic is now admired from Cairo to Rabat"

After finishing his M.A., he wrote his PhD: about the agriculture of Iraq. Since 1980 he worked two years in Lybia where he represented the Hungarian agricultural investment firm, Agrober. Later he was a tax expert of a Lybian agricultural company. Later a sheikh from Al-Azhar gave him lessons of Arabic. At this time he prepared the investment of the Hungarian Hidroexport in Egypt.

After nights long discussions with the sheikh, he took shahada (the testimony of Islam) in 1985 and said that there is no other God but Allah and that Muhammad is his messenger. The sheikh give Abdurrahman as a Muslim name.

In 1986, he started to organise the Hungarian Islam. After his efforts on the 15 th August, 1988, the Hungarian Islamic Community was recognised according to the 1895 and the 1916 laws by Miklós Imre, secretary of state, the president of the communist-era National Bureau of Religious Affairs.

Dr. Mihálffy Balázs Abdurrahman's merit is that he made Islam to be recognised as a denomination. This is such a great step that it can be equalled only by the realisation of an Islamic centre.

In most European countries Islam is not recognised as a denomination. We should add that the communists wanted to attract through this recognition the money of the oil-rich countries. This way the tiny Muslim community's interest met with that of the government.

Abdurrahman so got a denomination without money or material conditions.

The Community drafted an Internal regulation which also signed by the secretary of state. The basis of this document was that of Durics.

The first part of it was a solemn declaration stating that "it is a duty from Allah to promote his faith as well as the Islamic culture and to serve Hungary and the humankind with all means. The Islamic Community expresses his wish to cooperate with all organisation, religious denomination agreeing upon the above goals. The Islamic Community approaches all world vision with friendship expressed with love, peace and loyalty, it is against all forms of racial, religious or ethnic discrimination. The Islamic Community promises to the government of the People's Republic of Hungary to follow the laws of the country and operates within its boundaries. The Islamic Community declares that its cooperation with the government is based on mutual respect. Even if their approaches are different, their goals are the same. In order to realise those common goals, the Community accepts as a religious and cultural duty to play the role of a bridge between Hungary and the Muslim countries. The Islamic Community does not accept any statement which does not coincide with the spirit of this declaration."

The 45 articles of the regulation were drafted in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and says that the Hungarian Islamic Community is a congregation of Muslims holding Hungarian passport.

The preaching was supposed to be done according to the Holy Quran and the Sunna (the life style of the Holy Prophet), the community accepted Muslims from all sects, but did not tolerate any fight inside the community and it profess this on an international level. All Muslims are entitled to be a member of the community including the right to propose and to vote. All members of the Hungarian Islamic Community should live according to the rules of Islam, obey their leaders and serve the interest of the religion. The individual members are supposed to financially contribute, to pay the religious taxes and to take part in the decision making process.

The Hungarian Islamic Community declared that the Muslims of Hungary are linked to the Muslims of the World in love and brotherhood. If the mutual respect is given, the Hungarian Islamic Community is ready to cooperate with other denominations in the country. In the chapter of the general rules it is described how the Hungarian Islamic Community can be in touch with foreign Muslim organisations, how can participate to conferences, and that it would like to fulfil its duties given by Allah. It considers the laws of Hungary to be respected by the Muslims The structure of the community is precisely described. According to this at that time observed their religion in three districts: Budapest, Pécs and Szentendre. The faithful of Pécs and Szentendre were under the control of the leadership of Budapest. The leader of the community is the sheikh-president. The community, its council (mejlis-ush-shura) and the management (vakuf) were under the sheikh.

For 1988 registration twenty Muslims of Hungarian citizenship was needed. It was very hard. After 1988 the number of the Hungarian grew quickly. At that time only a handful of Arab Muslims helped the community. Until 1990 ethnic Hungarian formed the majority of those attending the Friday prayer. At the beginning the community functioned at private homes. These flats were rented out of money given by foreigners and the embassy of the Irani Islamic Republic. The H.Q. of the community was in the 18 th district, at the Oktogon Square and in the Bajza Street. The majority of the members at that were Hungarian convert ladies and girls. In the rented flat on the Oktogon Square more and more Arabs showed up who had the intention to find a Hungarian wife. In some cases, Arab Muslim students questioned the rightfulness of some teachings, Sheikh Abdurrahman categorically refused those accusations. The more and more frequent conflicts between the leader and the Arab students destroyed the moral of the community. At the end, non-Hungarians were not allowed to follow those lectures. There is an unquestionable similarity between this case and the conflict between the Bosnian-Hungarian Durics and the Turkish Abdullatif.

The lack of infrastructure seemed to be solved by 1992 when Mr. Mihálffy got a basement in Mikó Street, in the 1 st district. It was renovated of donations and by the work of the Hungarian Muslims.

The international relationship of sheikh Abdurrahman widened when he worked as the councillor in Islamic affairs by the minister of foreign affairs, Jeszenszky Géza. This why he could accompany several delegations to Muslim majority countries. He met with the Kuwaiti emir and during a stay in Saudi Arabia his promotion to the post of an ambassador was mentioned.

The was a so called Islamic lobby in the Antall government formed mainly by students of Germanus and Turkologues such as Katona Tamás and Kelemen András. When he was in Teheran with the minister of foreign affairs, Mr. Jeszenszky Géza, he met with religious leader Ali Hamenei, Khomeini's successor who received him on equal footings.

For sheikh Abdurrahman the ideal country is Japan where work and family form a unit in harmony. His community had good contact with all Muslim countries. Mihálffy admitted that he is more known in the Muslim World than at home. This was because of his lecture and his role as one of the translators of the Holy Quran. Thanks to this even king Hassan II. of Morocco invited him to his court to judge religious writings on the occasion of a festival. He declared that he is proud to keep the community non-aligned a neutral on an international level.

The Hungarian Islamic Community had 200 members during Mr. Mihálffy's operation. They were exclusively Hungarian citizens and came from all strata of the society. The average age was 35, so they were young, seventy per cent of them were women. Sheikh Abdurrahman explained this the following way: "in these inhumane times when families are falling apart, most of the responsibility and the raising of the children is on the shoulders of the ladies. The lost power is taught by many to be of a non-material nature and looks for it in religions they cannot be disappointed with."

He did not aim at building a mass movement, he only wanted the people to have a clear image of Islam as a universal religion. For this work he did not accept any support from abroad since it is always given under certain conditions. Still today this is the case.

The sheikh said about the Arabs living in Hungary: "We do not want to become Arabs, but we want to follow this religion. And these are two separate things. This way in Central Europe we are one of the most independent little community, but we are also the poorest."

We would like to add one of his comments concerning Islam. According to him one should not speak about what is forbidden in Islam, but its theoretic and philosophical side, its basic thinking.

The community's project of building a proper mosque was not realised, though the sheikh attempted to build one at the Gül baba tomb. Even a maquette was made.

In 1993 the community life was restricted to the Friday prayers because the grave illness of the sheikh. Some of the Hungarians were not satisfied because of the absence of the sheikh and because their cultural and material needs were not met. B.K., a Hungarian Muslim started to articulate this in conversations with other Hungarians a part of the local Arabs, but the Hungarian Muslims refused to involve the foreigners in the resolution of the problems. B. K. formed a group with Hungarian Muslims V. A. and Sz. J who used to be a closed collaborator of the sheikh. He wanted to renew Islam in Hungary. He also contacted the author of this book knowing that he work together with other Hungarian Muslims. B. K. had several personal conflicts with the sheikh. B.K. loved criticising people, but he did not like working too much. The Hungarian Muslim ladies disliked him as well because he criticised the sheikh's liberal views on the Muslim hadscarf. Sheikh Abdurrahman did not oblige them to wear it in the street, only for prayers.

Sz. J. convoked a so called meeting to the mosque in the Mikó Street where only the Hungarian Muslim men were invited and a temporary board of five people was elected. He sent the documents made there to the Court, but he was refused and the sheikh came back. He also got a reconfirmation letter from the World MUslim League. He exposed i tat the entrance of the mosque.

Since real community life was only at the foundations growing in number, the sheikh himself realised that he as well, he should convoke a meeting for the Hungarian Muslims.

Sz. J. was excluded of this meeting and the diffident critics were answered by the promises of the sheikh, he promised to uplift the religious education, to open a Muslim kindergarten etc. Since the greatest threat from the exterior to the community was the Miskolc-based Aluakf Foundation, the sheikh asked for a revision by the tax office around this above-mentioned foundation. No discrepancies were found.

Because of the war in Bosnia, Muslims came to Hungary in mass. This was a time of conjuncture for the Islamic foundations. US dollars flew in suitcases, in cash. The only foundation to side with the Hungarian Islamic Community was the Arrahma Charities Foundation. The community even moved its H.Q. to that of the Arrahma Foundation. They even bought a property together, the community got is as a donation from the foundation.

In the 10th district of Budapest, the Kibaa Foundation was operational. This was a concurrence both for the community, for the Arrahma and the Aluakf foundations. Those of Miskolc were the richest, they built a proper mosque with a guest house.

In those foundations Hungarians were promoted for show but their role was rather representative. Many times these were the Hungarian wives of an Arab. One can imagine how democratic and efficient this was.

It was usual that Muslims tried to picture their opponents in a very bad way, these news were forwarded to other countries as well. The rich Muslims from abroad because of this could hardly rely on any one.

Even the sheikh was accused to be an alcoholic. It is true that he did some mistakes and he was rather a teacher than an organiser. As majority of us, he was not perfect. Unfortunately many people intended to become the president of the community, but no one prepared detailed plans for the future.

This period of internal fights and gossips lasted till February 1996. Even around the end of the previous year the possibility of the sheikh's withdrawal was known, but this was not confirmed. The head of the Arrahma Foundation, a pro-Mihálffy Sudanese medical doctor was also removed by a coup. The plotters believed that the safe of the foundation is full. They were mistaken!

The new leadership of the Arrahma Foundation had a good contact with Fatih Hasanein said by Washington Post to be in touch with terrorists. Even with Fatih Hassanein, the relationship of the foundation was not too fruitful, they started to sell out their property what was bought with hard work by the previous leaders.

Dr. Mihálffy Balázs resigned in a letter and asked the community to choose a new leader. The letter and an invitation for a meeting was sent to all the members by the temporary organisers. We find B.K. among them.

On the 11th of April 1996 out of the 181 Hungarian Muslims invited only 17 showed up without any conception or vision about the future.

We know only one thing: there is a need for a collective leadership. It is not surprising that even these 17 people did not know each other and groups were formed. This meeting was dissolved because of the low number of members present and was re-convoked half an hour later.

There were people to say that the community should be dismissed and it should join one of the Arab foundations. This was articulated by student of half Hungarian, half Arab origin. Of course, this proposition was rejected and board of five was elected and a new meeting convoked for the 23rd of October. The five persons elected got the duty to map the importance of the Hungarian Muslims.

In this mapping B.K. was not active and did not accept any position. Out of the five elected members only three worked. We mapped who were actually still members of the community, on whom can we count on. At the same time we also contacted the Arab foundations for further cooperation a found raising.

The result was crushing. From among our members only two dozens were ready to work, the rest wanted to restrict themselves to assist us. The new leadership of the Arrahma Foundation did not like us, they even did not want to le us to check out our belongings in our former offices.

The cooperation with the Miskolc-based foundation seemed to be fruitful but Hungarians were displeased with their austere brand of Islam, the so called Salafi ideology.

We travelled a lot to the countryside to meet the Muslims, to learn about their needs in order to construct a strategy for them. The leadership was many times accused of being too pro-Budapest. We paid visit to Muslims living in Diaspora. Their situation was the worst, they had no chance for community life, for matters related to Islam they had to travel to the capital or the nearest big city.

So, if we consider that we did not have a place, money and contacts, we can say that we had to build a totally new community. The Islamic foundations were suspicious about our work. They did not think we would once realise our projects. We got a great help in our work from SZ.I., a Hungarian Muslim professing Shi'ism. He was enthusiast and consecrated his spare time for Islamic work.

V.A., a Muslim who since then passed away worked in Germany and had very good contact with the local Turkish Muslims, he also mastered the Turkish language.

In autumn 1996 we had the hope to get a place from the local authorities in Budapest. The they of the general meeting approached Instead of 17, 35 Hungarian Muslims were present at the H.Q. of the Arrahma Foundation, the Aluakf also assisted u sin the organisation. Three persons were not reelected to the board, one of them did not accept an office. V. A., the author of this book, I.Cs., G.Z. (who earlier proposed the dissolution of the community) and SZ.I. became the new members. We did not get any support from outside and G.Z. did not take part in the Islamic work.

In late 1996 we got with the right of buying it a place (Budapest, 104. Róbert Károly Boulevard), a former pharmacy. Having no money we had to rely non Allah and later on our hands in restarting it. The magniloquent ones were looking a us with interest. The first holy fasting month of Ramadan was observed here in the year 1997. It is true that we had enough money for every second iftaar cooked by the sisters at home.

The Arab businessmen and religious teachers heard about us and they frequently paid a visit to us. Thanks to God, many of them later helped us with donations, this way the prayer hall itself was ready for worship in May 1997.

In Ramadan 1418 (1997) with SZ.I. we went on an official visit to the United Arab Emirates, more exactly to Sharjah where we received by the emir and we were his guests for ten days. The emir himself a donation for our centre.

This was the first official visit of the author to the Muslim World. This was great and we had nice experiences.

The Turks living in Germany also helped us. They covered for many years the expenses of the community mosque. This was the time when we contacted the Malaysian embassy. They gave us the largest donation and we could refurbish our office, we could by computers, faxes etc. Things were going well and we even prepared the project of a Muslim kindergarten. The local authorities in Budapest 15th district even promised a building for a very low price. We also planned to mopen an Islamic library and a permanent exhibition. Unfortunately, discords restarted.

Many people came to pray with us, even non_Hungarian in large number, they even helped us financially. Our opponents wanted to be influential through these foreigners at the community.

Gossips were going around about the community and its leaders. An emerging new personality produced an avalanche. The discordance was deepened by a Hungarian citizen of foreign origin using the "divide et impera" tactics. We, Hungarian Muslims, unfortunately, believed all what was a said by the newcomers, the unity was over. The above-mentioned person misused it.

It was oil on the fire that a cast of the brand channel of Tv2 appeared to make an interview with the Gipsy Muslims of Pánd. This program was broad casted twice.

Probably many people saw this ridiculous so called interview. We have to tell about the background of this program that the author of this book worked as a notary in the small village of Pánd for a year already when around 25 Gipsies residing there reverted to Islam. These Romas got interested in religion when they saw their notary to be humane with them. They learnt its principles and saw that this is the religion which fits them. We cannot deny that the majority of them intended to meet their wordily necessities through our community.

In that year, the really harsh winter forced the poors (not only the Gipsies) in Pánd to steal wood from the forest. We as citizens, we had to fight this and we also to stop the lamentation of the land owners. In the meantime the poors argued during some conversations that they do not want to get frozen and this is why they have to steal.

In order to restore social peace, the notary with mayor and the head of the local social committee registered all the needy families and distributed wood coming from a neighbouring village to them. The majority of them was not a Muslim. The material resources were stored in the community's prayer house. The help was not given from the resources of the local authorities, not only to Muslims and not only to Gipsies as it was suggested by the Tv2 interview.

At that time found a house in the village to open a proper mosque in it. We were also planning to launch an agricultural program for the jobless. Of course, this was not realised after the interview.

Another important background information about this interview is that the journalist making it had read in positive article in the extreme right newspaper of Magyar Fórum about the author of this book and the community, he was mainly interested in the Gipsies.

The author of this book permitted those interviews with the Gipsies without being suspicious. Later the journalist admitted that he had taught that the community leader was also from the extreme right.

This above episode produced very bad situation in author's private life and health since he had lost his job in the village and he lost a part of his wealth. The inner opposition within the community could therefor signed with him his temporary withdrawal from the post of the community presidency.

Since than the community was not improving, it served private interests.

Many meetings tried to solve the problems. But at that time our force was only enough to reelect leading bodies which were blocked by ones who were not interested in building an efficient Hungarian Islam only dealing with worship and culture.

The most spectacular program and at the same time the beginning of the end was the Saudi-organised Islamic cultural symposium held in Budapest on 10-12 September, 2000.

But before developing it, le us to speak about the official visits abroad performed prior to dismission declaration of the author. We travelled several times to Western Europe, especially Germany and Austria. We had good contact with three Turkish organisations: Atib, Ditib and Milli Görüs. In 1997 with V.A. we performed the pilgrimage to Mecca with the help of the Milli Görüs of Austria. On the invitation of the Turkish prime minister, we were in Ankara, we prayed and had lunch together with Mr. Erbakan. We got promises such as Durics in the past.

1998 was the year of our great travels. With E.P. Hungarian Muslim brother we went to the United Arab Emirates, with V.A. we participated to a conference in Lybia. In autumn, we were twice in Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. We did not get any financial support anywhere for our projects though we provided them with the project of the Muslim kindergarten. In Spain, the Hungarian Islamic Community was accepted as a member of the European Muslim cooperation League. One can say that in those years our diplomatic relationships were established.

In 1999 on the invitation of the minister of religious affairs of Saudi Arabia we went there and we were received with great respect, we could also perform a minor pilgrimage (Umrah) in Mecca. We could meet with the leaders of most influential Muslim organisations, we were taken to Mecca, Medina, Jeddah and Riyadh. We got a lot of promises and moral support such as Durics. We got only that much subvention that we could pay off our debts in 2000.

In the years of 1999-2000 the author of this book did not act as the head of the Hungarian Islamic Community and the intervention of some circles produced chaos, incertitude and a moral and material crisis. Many people remained home to observe their religion there to spare themselves of internal fighting and gossiping. Our situation resembled that of Durics and Abdulllatif.

In December 2000 brother V.A. passed away and forseeing his coming fate he urged quick renewal. In 2001 there was no real progress in the life of our community.. In the year 2000 a new Muslim denomination was registered and became very active very soon. For long time we considered each other a concurrence. But no one can deny that we are the "historical" denomination not to speak about the historical continuum.

 

Short evaluation of the present

Today in Hungary there is a dozen of Islamic foundations and a dozen of Islamic trusts, almost all led by foreign Muslims. And where the leader is a Hungarian, he is there for show to make the outside world to accept them.

Financial support comes in to all organisations, except us. The radicals may support the radicals or there is an ethnic division? They may count more on a fellow from home. We asked us those questions many times.

On the footprints of Dr. Mihálffy Balázs we would not give up our sovereignty and non-aligned status.

We did move towards any school of jurisprudence and this not our aim.

We do not want to become an Arab or a Turk. We were Hungarians and we will remain it even though our choice might be strange

Our situation is difficult not only because of the lack of infrastructure but also because of the fact that we belong to hardly known religious group. We have a certain number of disadvantages: the 150 years of Turkish rule, the Christian traditions and the historical prejudices. And after all this last year (the book was written in 2002) 9/11 with its brutality and the shocking pictures in the media make the common people to ask: does Islam equal terrorism? Our response is categorical: NO!

From the bottom of our hearts, we sincerely feel sympathy with the families of the victims not to mention that there were many Muslims among them.

We condemn all violent acts perpetrated in the name of our religion, we condemn Antisemitism and all acts threatening or oppressing innocents!

We would like to cooperate with all civil society organisations working against violence for a social peace and for bridging the gap.

God is One, He gave this Earth to humankind. We have to unite ourselves in order to serve our home land and the whole humanity, in fact in order to serve our Creator! We should not build walls, instead we should destroy the existing ones and to live in love an cooperation in Hungary! Maybe our initiative would be listen to and Muslims and non-Muslims finally would work together for a common aim.

 

A couple of words -as it was promised- about the intermarriages

Short time ago, there was a TV-show broad casted about the long lasting fight of a lady with her Kuwaiti house band.

Well, since Arab students study in Hungary, they look for and find adventurous enough ladies in order to get married. In itself it is not problematic, but even if the lady converts to Islam, she will hardly cope with house band's Arab culture and way of life what surfaces when they move to the house band's country. The lady featured in the interview was in a more peculiar situation since according to our knowledge she was not a Muslim. Wealth and the appealing Arab culture pushes ladies into these marriages. Many times a European Muslimah cannot accept the Arab habits.

It is now fashionable about Arab temporarily residing in Hungary to conclude marriages islamically. This not a problem because a relationship should legal to please Allah. The problem is with the intention. Sometimes the intention of the visitor is to legalise an existing sexual intercourse for a determined period. Among Shias this is known as zawaj-ul-mutaa, but these young men are Sunnis. They break the marriage with a divirce when they get home and they mail or fax a message to their wives. One can image what does she feel after such a marriage! The Muslim house band pays what is due when the wedding is contracted (max. 1-200 USD), but they do not give anything when they announce their intention of divorce. These Hungarian Muslimahs are cheated on twice: sentimentally and money-wise. Is there any legal means to fight this growing disgusting practice?!

Especially when it comes out that the "gentleman" has another wife or wives at home!