Bucharest, Dhul Quidah 3/Jan 28 (IINA) - At one time there were one million Muslims in Rumania, but this figure has been vastly reduced, and there are no reliable statistics at the moment from which to garner the number of Muslims in this country.

Rumania’s Muslims consist of two main ethnic origins, the Turks and the Tatars, though there is a sprinkling of Gypsies, and some Rumanian nationals, with most of the Muslims concentrated in the cities that overlook the Black Sea. This was the result of the Ottoman conquests made by Sultan Abdul Majid.

There are at the moment about 70 mosques in Rumania, but the majority of them are closed, and not fit for worshipping in - in fact, some of them have been turned into no more than tourist attractions. To repair the mosques is a long and complicated procedure, in that first an application has to be made to the Ministry of Tourism and Heritage, whose bureaucratic procedures are daunting.

A large concentration of Rumania’s Muslims is to be found in the coastal city of Majidie, derived from the name of Sultan Abdul Majid. In this city alone there are not less than 7,000 Muslims, comprising Turkish, Tatar, Albanian ethnic groups, while the city’s suburbs are also home to many Muslims, in some of which are to be found some of the country’s most modern mosques.

Rumania’s Muslims are facing with a number of problems, among them their poor knowledge of the articles of their own faith. This is the result of their coming under the Communist suzerainty for a long period of time, during which they were persecuted, executed, and imprisoned.

Moreover, the majority of Rumania’s Muslims belong to the poor segment of the society, mainly small-scale farmers and laborers. But whatever their station in life, they are sectarian in outlook, and are inward looking, to the extent that even a newly converted Muslims whose is not of their ilk will hardly get the required assistance from the Imams and his fellow Muslims.

Rumania is situated in the lower reaches of the River Danube, and is bordered in the north by Russia and the Ukraine, while in the east it is bordered by Bulgaria, and in the south there is Serbia, while in the west it is bordered by Hungary. It has an area of 91,600 square miles, with a population of 25 million, of various ethnic origins, including Germans, Hungarians, and Ukrainians.

Islam found its way to Rumania through the Ottoman conquests of 1262, led by Prince Ezzedin, followed by other Ottoman conquerors. The armies that made possible such conquests eventually left behind numerous landmarks, including fortresses and mosques.

HI/OSB/IINA