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Bulgariansettingtillthosedays.Naturally,thetraditionalmassivepresenceofIslam
alsounderwentapeculiardevelopmentwhichIwilldiscussinmoredetail.
Firstandforemost,itisnecessarytonotethatIslamhasbeenpresentintherelig-
iousmosaicattheBalkanssincetheendofthefourteenthcenturyand,what’smore,in
aquitespecificform.Asfarbackasthesixteenthorseventeenthcenturies,thereare
dataforasignificant„coupling”amongtheeveryday,popularizedconfessionalforms
ofChristianityandIslam.Thelackingconditionsforcontrollingthe„purityoffaith”
onthepartofthesubordinatedChristianchurchledtoalarge-scaledeclineofclergy
literacyatalllevelsandmadeimpossibletheadministrationofastrictnorminrespect
tothedogmaandritualpractices.ThusfolklorizedChristianityattheBalkansentered
intovarious,inrespecttoformsandresults,interactionswithsimilarly„leveleddown”,
folklorizedIslam(oftenrepresentedbysemi-OrthodoxDervishandSufiorderswith
quiteasignificantpresenceofShiiticelementsallowingofcultsthatintheirformsand
meaningbordereduponChristianones10).Theresulting„alloy”offolkloricChristian-
ityandfolkloricIslampresentsoneoftheexplanationsbothforthesuccessofthecen-
tury-long„creepingislamization”attheBalkansandfortherelativelypeacefulco-
existenceofthetwootherwiseconfrontingreligionsintheregion.Onlytheradicaliza-
tionofreligiouspreachesbothonthepartoftheOrthodoxChurchandtheIslam,used
mostfrequentlyasanoutercoverforgenuinelypoliticalpurposes,willlead–inpres-
entdays,regretfully–toarealreligiousconfrontation.(Ethnoreligiousconflictsin
formerYugoslaviaareadismalexampleofthat.)
Intheyearsfollowing1989,theattitudetowardMuslimsinBulgariaisbearingthe
signofthedepressingmemoryoftheso-called„renaissanceprocess”–theattemptat
forcefullyrenamingBulgariancitizensofIslamicconfessioninitiatedatseveraltime
pointsfrom1970sto1990sandterminateddramaticallywithalarge-scaleemigration
ofapproximatelyonemillionBulgariancitizensofTurkishdescentduringthesummer
of1989.ExperiencingprobablyasomewhatcollectivesenseofguiltbeforetheirMus-
limcountrymenandfacingtherequirementtoprovetheirbelongingtomoderndemo-
craticEuropeans,politiciansallowedoftheestablishmentoftheso-calledMovement
forRightsandLiberties–apoliticalpartyofethnicandreligiousbackgroundthatsince
thefirstfreedemocraticelectionsinBulgaria,in1990,isalwayspresentedintheBul-
garianParliamentandisactingasaprotectoroftheconfessionalrightsofBulgarian
Muslims.MRLpossessesseriouspoliticalimpactand,asacoalitionpartner,isplaying
akeyroleinthetwomostrecentBulgariancabinets.Alongwithpoliticalrepresenta-
tion,Islamicreligiouspreachingofanewtypemadeitselfevident.Replacingthe
everydayIslamthathasbeenforsolongtraditionalfortheBalkans,arathermoreradi-
calmodificationofthisteachingbegantospreadout.Oftenthisisrealizedwiththe
10cf.detailsonthespecificityofIslamicpresenceattheBalkansin:Н.Граматикова,Ислямски
неортодоксалнитечениявбългарскитеземи[В:]Р.Градева(изд.),Историянамюсюлманската
културапобългарскитеземи.(=СъдбатанамюсюлманскитеобщностинаБалканите,т.7)С.,2001,
с.192–285.[N.Grammatikova,Islamicnon-orthodoxtrendsinBugarianlands(Basedonwrittensources
andFieldwork)[In:]HistoryofMuslimCultureinBulgarianLands,R.Gradeva(ed.)(=TheFateofMuslim
communitiesintheBalkans,Vol.7),Sofia2001,p.192–285.]aswellasin:Р.Градева,С.Иванова
(съст.иред.)Мюсюлманскатакултурапобългарскитеземи.(=Съдбатанамюсюлманскитеобщности
наБалканите,т.2)С.,1998[MuslimCultureonBulgarianlands,R.Gradeva,S.Ivanova(ed.),(=The
FateofMuslimcommunitiesintheBalkans,Vol.2),Sofia1998.]
