 Save 10% with my code Bobby10 on raw, organic, grass-fed and grass-finished, freeze-dried organ meats from grassland nutrition. Link in the description box. All right, guys. Welcome back to the channel. If you're new, my name is Bobby. Guys, today we're going to react to eight native European Muslim ethnic groups that still exist by Muslim convert stories. Coming from Europe, this is of course a huge topic of debate, especially within the far-right community, Islam is still seen as the enemy. People are fearing Islamification of Europe. Those neo-nationalistic movements are motivated to shun Islam out of Europe forever. This is why it is so crucial to understand that Islam always played a part within Europe. I'm very curious to find out who those indigenous groups are. With no further ado, let's have a look. Today, we're going to be talking about eight indigenous Muslim ethnic groups in the European region. It's exciting how Muslim Ummah is so widespread and located throughout the world. Let's dig right into the details. Bosniak are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European region of Bosnia. They're recognized for their adherence to Islam since the 15th and 17th centuries, culture, language, and historical ties to the Bosnian historic religion. English speakers constantly refer to Bosniaks as Bosnian Muslims or simply just Bosnians. The latter is also used for all inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina regardless of their ethnic identity. Currently, Bosniak Muslims are living in the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Islam was introduced in the region of Bosnia after the conquest of the Ottoman Empire in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Exactly right and this is why on the Balkan, many of us Southern Slavs that are Christian believe that the Bosnians were conquered by the Turks and they were forced to accept Islam. Now researching the field further, I of course understood that those people accepted the message of Islam. They weren't forced at all. And of course they weren't because if you look into the Ottoman Empire that spread throughout Europe, you can clearly see that the Serbians, the Bulgarians, state Christian Orthodox, there was definitely no force upon them to convert. Muslims are descendants of Orthodox Christian Slavs who converted to Islam during the period of Ottoman rule. Albanian, the majority of people in Albania converted to Islam during the Ottoman period. Sadly, there was an Albanian national awakening that led to the emphasizing of religions during the 20th century. Exactly right. Albania became the first atheistic nation within Europe, believe it or not. Communism was rampant in Albania but in Turkey as well through Ataturk on the Balkan itself in Yugoslavia. All of this was under communism. Religion wasn't far spread. Quite the opposite. Religion was suppressed during that time. I am born 1987 just at the breaking point of that communistic Yugoslavian federation and this is why growing up I simply saw Albanians are Muslims, we are Christians. Islam is for them and Christianity is for us. Very simplistic thinking of course but we all fall prey to that during our developmental years when I was 14, 15, 16 years old. This is all I knew. These were decades of state-induced atheism in the 20th century. Islam as well as all other faiths suffered. All of them. The silver lining is Islam was revived through institutions, through all the state atheism, post-communist period, new infrastructure, educational facilities, social activities, literature and international transnational links paved way for Islam to regain its standing and numbers. Currently 58% of Albania's population is Muslim, making it the largest religion in the country. They were surprising to me as far back in the day because I thought 100% of Albanians are Muslim. Retaining important ranks in the Ottoman Empire and contributing to the greater good of the Muslim world. The fact that Islam stood fast even after the consolidation period speaks volumes about Albanian Muslims. Gorani. Gorani is also a Slavic-Muslim ethnic group inhabiting the Gorah region. They're located in a triangle between Albania, North Macedonia and Kosovo. Once I started doing videos about Macedonia and the politics within Macedonia, pro-Macedonism, pro-Bulgarianism, many Gorani reached out to me. Majority of Gorani Muslims adhere to Sunniism and speak a transitional South Slavic dialect known as Goranski. Some of the Goranis also have declared themselves as Albanians, Bosnians, Serbs, Bulgarians and Turks, primarily because of the geopolitical circumstances. However, most Gorani people are Muslims and their settlements are spread all over Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia. The current population is estimated to be about 60,000 people but the actual number might be larger. They're spread in small villages across the surrounding areas and can easily be recognized for their vibrant culture and traditions. The Gorani speech is very much similar to the Bosnians with numerous Arabic and Turkish loan words in schools. Fun fact guys, this is absolutely ridiculous. You wouldn't believe this even if I tell you so. All throughout my life, I've been saying Masha'Allah. Believe it or not, I've been saying Masha'Allah. My parents have been saying Masha'Allah. My uncles, my aunts have been saying Masha'Allah. My grandparents have been saying Masha'Allah. Everybody on the Balkan says Masha'Allah. Believe it or not, I know it's embarrassing but I couldn't put one and one together and I simply believed this is a Balkan term. I never did any research on Arabic. Then later on I found out that the Turks brought this terminology to us but even then it didn't click and I didn't understand that Masha'Allah actually implies Allah. Can you believe that? Because on the Balkan when we write it, we just write M-A-SH-A-L-A Masha'Allah without an H at the end and therefore I didn't make the connection. Again, shame on me. It is a very embarrassing but at the same time comical fact that my whole family, my whole ethnic kind has been saying Masha'Allah without making the connection to Islam. Romally speak, Serbo Croatian, Urbeci, massive Muslim, yes. Urbeci. Very, very interesting as well that if you look into this, this is all the Balkan. We're not even talking about Western Europe as for right now. We're simply talking about the Balkan. Now we're talking about my country here yet again, Northern Macedonia. Urbeci are people that are essentially the same ethnic kind. Those are people that accepted Islam during the Ottoman Empire yet again. Also known as Macedonian Muslims are a minority religious group in of ethnic Macedonia. They're culturally distinct from the Christians and ethnically and linguistically different from the larger Muslim ethnic groups in the greater region of Macedonia. Yes, that is correct. They're different from the larger ethnic group which would be the Albanians. So the Torbesi are just the same ethnic kind like myself. They are Macedonian Slavs aka ethnic Bulgarians that accepted Islam. The people have majorly inhabited Nebraska, Supa, Poris, Dolni, Goloburdo and Reika. These people are also referred to as Macedonian-speaking Muslims and share overlapping with the ethnic Muslim of the region. It's not easy to establish their exact numbers since the overall Macedonian Muslim population stands at about 40,000 people. Some sources say that Torbesi is also grouped together with Pomex. Yes. Sufi influences are heavily white. Pomex would be found in Bulgaria, the Torbesi would be found in Macedonia. I again make the claim that ethnically they are the same so there is no real difference between Torbesi and Pomeci. I'd spread in the region. Most orders and religious activities rooting in Khalwati, Qadiris and Rifaiz. Some Torbesi maintains a long affiliation with Turkish and Macedonian Turks. Exactly. Pomex. Pomex are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims that are currently living in northeastern Greece, Bulgaria and northwestern Turkey. Bulgaria recognized their combined language as a Bulgarian dialect whereas the people living in Greece and Turkey referred to their tongue as Pomec language. When it comes to official- Of course they will refer to it as Pomec language because they don't want to enable Bulgaria to reconquer those lands. So recognition, Pomex in these three areas are not recognized as ethnonyms of Pomex. Instead, they're widely known as Eastern South Slavic Muslims. Which makes all the sense. The term Pomec is considered derogatory because the term literally means people who have suffered. In Turkey and Greece, bills for declaring the group as a separate ethnic entity have been abolished for decades. The people, however, by themselves declare their ethnic entities as Bulgarians, Pomex, Muslims, Turkish and more. Pomex generally are considered descendants of Orthodox Christians of Bulgaria and Politions. They converted to Islam during the Ottoman rule of the Balkans. After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Pomex generally tended towards declaring their ethnic identities depending on the country they resided in. Tatar Tatar is an umbrella term used for various Turkish groups bearing the name Tatar. The ethnonym Tatar originates from the Tatar Confederation that was eventually incorporated into the Mongol Empire. Historically, Tatars are known as anyone who originates from a vast Central Asian and Northern landmass known as Tatar. The term is now used for various ethnic groups located in Asian and European regions. They refer to themselves as Tatars and speak the Tatar language. Many noble families in the Sardim of Russia had Tatar origins. Tatars are also living in Pakistan in addition to Tatarstan, Romania, Turkey and the United States and more. Islam and many Tatar traditions survive among them to this date. They have a unique, distinct Muslim culture that depicts the elements of Muslim orthodoxy mixed with the religious tolerance of any modern liberal society. Bashkir Bashkir is a large Kipchak Turkic ethnic group that's indigenous to the European part of Russia. These people are concentrated in Bashkortostan and in the border historical region of Batsgard. Smaller communities of Bashkir also reside in Tatarstan. The majority of the people here is Sunni Muslims who follow the Hanifi school of jurisprudence. Like most Muslim ethnic groups in the region, these folks were fiercely independent and nomads once. They now have a major role in Russia. They maintain autonomous status in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia. As per the last census in the 20th century, the Bashkir people number more than 1,080,000 as of now. Formerly, the Bashkirs were organized, reckoned kinship, ran their affairs, sought help and regulated disputes within their clan and tribal structures. The village is the key social structure today. The religions of the Bashkir are Islam and the Eastern Orthodox Rite. Turkish Islam is the most practiced religion in Turkey. Turkish people are considered the world's largest Turkic ethnic group. Their history originates from the separate Mongol tribes who converted to Islam as the Ottoman Empire came together and now reside in the main Turkey religion known as Turkey. It's difficult to distinguish ethnic Turks from modern Turkey, but they can all be distinguished on the basis of cultural and regional variants. Today, all the Turkey is a whole mixture of different ethnic groups. If you do a DNA test or if you don't want to just go onto YouTube and check Turkish people that took DNA tests, you will be surprised. His groups residing in Turkey do not function as separate groups, but as one. They're known for the rich and vibrant street culture, dresses, foods, Turkish dialects and primary religion as Islam. 90% of the population of Turkey is Muslim. We hope that you enjoyed and learned new things today. It's a great feeling to learn that Islam is so widespread and the collective Islamic culture is this diverse. If you'd like to All right, guys, and this is it for today's video. I hope you found it enjoyable just as myself here. It was absolutely amazing to see that over 90% of the mentioned countries I actually found on the Balkan where I am coming from. As I said previously, going throughout my life, especially my youth, I was extremely ignorant and on top of that arrogant as well. I'm sure people can understand, especially the men watching here growing up. Most of us, we are very nationalistic, egocentric. We try to understand who we are in this world. And then later on growing up, you slowly but surely let go of your biases, let go of your ego. And finally, you get a somewhat objective view on life. Of course, we will always be biased. Of course, we always have our subjective lens. But nevertheless, the older we get, the more we should let go of that subjectivity and reach some sort of objectivity. This video helped to put everything into perspective yet again. And to see for myself that there are plenty of people just like myself, ethnically identical, coming from the same region of this world that accepted Islam. But that being said, yet again, on the Balkan, this is something unthinkable. Even though you grow up next to those people, they're literally your neighbors, you will still not be able to understand that Islam is potentially a religion that you could accept or vice versa. It is always this camp thinking that they are the Muslims, we are the Christians. This is my background. This is why I'm researching. And this video today helped me quite a bit here to understand the bigger picture. All right, guys, but this is it for today's video. If you enjoyed it, leave it a thumbs up. If you haven't subscribed already, guys, please do so. And if you want to support this channel, all the links are in the description box. You can support me via Patreon, for example. All right, but this is it. As always, may God bless you all. Much love and peace.