Islam in Italy

The history of Islam in Italy dates back to the 7th and 8th centuries, when some of the Lombards, a Germanic people that ruled parts of northern Italy, converted from Arianism to Islam instead of to Catholicism.fact|date=July 2008 In the 9th century, wars of expansion by North African states brought Sicily and some regions in Peninsular Italy into the "Ummah". There were Muslim domains in these parts of Italy from 828 (Muslim conquest of Sicily) to 1300 (destruction of the last Islamic stronghold of Lucera in Puglia). Thereafter, until the 1970s Islam was almost entirely absent in Italy.

In the 1970s, the first trickle of North African immigrants began arriving. At first, most of the Muslim immigrants came from Morocco. Muslims also arrived from Albania. In more recent years there has been migration from Egypt, Tunisia, Senegal, Somalia, Pakistan. [ [http://demo.istat.it/str2006/index.html Statistiche demografiche ISTAT ] ] Today there are approximately one million Muslims in Italy, of whom around 50,000 have Italian citizenship.Fact|date=December 2007.

Islam is not formally recognized by the state in Italy despite being the second largestFact|date=March 2008 faith after Catholicism. Other religions including Judaism and smaller groups such as the Assemblies of God and the Seventh-Day Adventists do enjoy official recognition in the form of signed agreements with the Italian government. Official recognition gives an organized religion a chance to benefit from a national "religion tax", known as the Eight per thousand. [ [http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1110/p07s01-woeu.html A rising tide of Muslims in Italy puts pressure on Catholic culture | csmonitor.com ] ]

History of Muslims in Italy

Lombard converts

Most of the above mentioned Lombard converts, known in Arabic as "al-Ankubarti", served as mercenaries in armies of states of the African Mediterranean coast, especially in Ifriqiya.

North African Muslims in Medieval Italy

The Italian island of Pantelleria (which lies between the western tip of Sicily and north Africa) was conquered by the Arabs in 700. The first Arabian attacks on Byzantine Sicily in 652, 667 and 720 failed; Syracuse in the eastern end of the island was occupied for the first time temporarily in 708, but a planned invasion in 740 failed due to a rebellion of the Berbers of the Maghreb that lasted until 771 and civil wars in Ifriqiya lasting until 799. Arabian attacks on the island of Sardinia, less important than those on Sicily, failed to achieve its conquest although they induced its separation from the Byzantine Empire, giving birth to a period of Sardinian independence, the era of the "giudicati".fact|date=July 2008

Conquest of Sicily

The magistrate of Sicily, who rebelled against the Byzantine Empire, had called on the Muslims (named Saracens by the Europeans) for help. To end the constant mutinies of his army, the Aghlabid magistrate of Ifriqiya sent Arabian, Berber, and Andalusian rebels to conquer Sicily in 827, 830 and 875, led by, amongst others, Asad ibn al-Furat. Palermo fell to them in 831, followed by Messina in 843, Syracuse in 878. In 902 the Ifriqiyan magistrate himself led an army against the island, seizing Taormina in 902. Reggio Calabria on the mainland fell in 918, and in 964 Rometta, the last remaining Byzantine toehold on Sicily.

Under the Arabs, agriculture in Sicily prospered and became export oriented. Arts and crafts flourished in the cities. Palermo, the Arabian capital of the island, had 300,000 inhabitants at that time, more than all the cities of Germany combined. At the beginning of the 11th century, Muslims made up half of the population of Sicily, with Arabs dominating the north of the island around Palermo and the Berbers predominating in the area around Agrigento in the south.

Emirates in Apulia

From Sicily, the Muslims launched attacks on the mainland and devastated Calabria. In 835 and again in 837, the Duke of Naples was fighting against the Duke of Benevento and appealed to the Sicilian Muslims for help. In 840 Taranto and Bari fell to the Muslims, and in 841 Brindisi. Capua was destroyed. Benevento, under Frankish protection at that time, was occupied 840-847 and again in 851-52. Arab attacks on Rome failed in 843, 846 and 849. In 847 Taranto, Bari and Brindisi declared themselves emirates independent from the Aghlabids. For decades the Muslims ruled the Mediterranean and attacked the Italian coastal towns. Arabs occupied Ragusa in Sicily between 868 and 870.

Only after the fall of Malta in 870 did the occidental Christians succeeded in setting up an army capable of fighting the Muslims. Over the next two decades, most of the mainland was freed from Muslim rule. The Franco-Roman emperor Louis II conquered Brindisi and beat the Arabs at Bari in 871, but then fell captive to the Aghlabids. In his stead the Byzantines conquered Taranto in 880. A small number of Arabian strongholds in the south lasted until 885, for example Santa Severina Crotone in Calabria. In 882 the Muslims had founded at the mouth of Garigliano River between Naples and Rome a new base further in the north, which was in league with Gaeta, and had attacked Campania as well as Sabinia in Lazio. A hundred years later the Byzantines called the Sicilian Arabs for support against a campaign of German emperor Otto II. They beat Otto at Taranto in 982 in the battle at Crotone and in the next 200 years largely succeeded in preventing his successors from entering southern Italy.

In 1002 Bari was again conquered by the Arabs, but was soon recaptured by the Byzantines. Melus (Melo), Emir of Bari 1009–1019, stood up against the Byzantines and called the Normans for help. Melus, of Lombard-Arabic origin, is depicted as Ismahel (Ismail) on the gold-embroidered "Sternenmantel" he gave to German emperor Henry II.

After the Aghlabids were defeated in Ifriqiya as well, Sicily fell in the 10th century to their Fatimid successors, but claimed independence after fights between Sunni and Shia Muslims under the Kalbids.

Invasions in Piedmont

After they had conquered the Visigoth empire in Spain, the Arabs and Berbers 729-765 from Septimania and Narbonne carried out raids into northern Italy, and in 793 again invaded southern France (Nice 813, 859 and 880). In 888 Andalusian Muslims set up a new base in Fraxinet near Frejus in French Provence, from where they started raids along the coast and in inner France.

In 915, after the Battle of Garigliano, the Muslims lost their base in southern Lazio. In 926 King Hugh of Italy called the Arabs to fight against his northern Italian rivals. In 934 and 935 Genoa and La Spezia were attacked, followed by Nice in 942. In Piedmont the Muslims got as far as Asti and Novi, moving northwards along the Rhône valley and the western flank of the Alps. After defeating Burgundian troops, in 942-964 they conquered Savoy and occupied a part of Switzerland (952-960). Swiss town names such as Saaz still mark the Arabic presence in the area. To fight the Arabs, Emperor Berengar I, Hugh’s rival, called the Hungarians, who in their turn devastated northern Italy. Under the pressure of German kings, Fraxinet had to be given up in 972, but thirty years later, in 1002, Genoa was invaded, and in 1004 Pisa.

Pisa und Genoa joined forces to end Muslim rule over Corsica (Islamic 810/850-930/1020) and Sardinia. From 1015 on, Sardinia was protected by the fleet of the Andalusian Emir of Dénia in Spain, who was defeated by allied Italians in 1016 and again after his invasion in 1022. Only in 1027 did the Italians succeeded in defeating the Sardinian Muslims for good; the last Muslim upheaval ended in 1050.

Sicily under the Normans

The cultural and economical bloom in Sicily that had started under the Kalbids was interrupted by internecine fights, followed by invasions by the Tunisian Zirids (1027), Pisa (1030–1035), and the Byzantines (1027 onwards). Eastern Sicily (Messina, Syracuse and Taormina) was captured by the Byzantines in 1038–1042. In 1059 Normans from southern Italy, led by Roger I, invaded the island. The Normans conquered Reggio in 1060 (conquered by the Byzantines in 1027). Messina fell to the Normans in 1061; an invasion by the Algerian Hammadids to preserve Islamic rule was thwarted in 1063 by the fleets of Genoa and Pisa. The loss of Palermo in 1072 and of Syracuse in 1088 could not be prevented. Noto and the last Muslim strongholds on Sicily fell in 1091. In 1090-91 the Normans also conquered Malta; Pantelleria fell in 1123.

A sizable Muslim population remained on Sicily under the Normans. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1D61331F935A15757C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 Tracing The Norman Rulers of Sicily] ] [ [http://www.leeds.ac.uk/history/studentlife/e-journal/Stonehouse_Aidan.pdf The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily] ] The Roger II hosted at his court, among others, the famous geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi and the poet Muhammad ibn Zafar. At first, Muslims were tolerated by the Normans, but soon pressure from the Popes led to their increasing discrimination; most mosques were destroyed or made into churches.Fact|date=December 2007 The first Sicilian Normans did not take part in the Crusades, but they undertook a number of invasions and raids in Ifriqiya, before they were defeated there after 1157 by the Almohads.

The peaceful coexistence in Sicily finally ended with the death of King William II in 1189. The Muslim elite emigrated at that time. Their medical knowledge was preserved in the Schola Medica Salernitana; an Arabian-Byzantine-Norman synthesis in art and architecture survived as Sicilian Romanesque. The remaining Muslims fled, for example to Caltagirone on Sicily, or hid out in the mountains and continued to resist against the Hohenstaufen dynasty, who ruled the island from 1194 on. In the heartland of the island, the Muslims pronounced Ibn Abbad the last Emir of Sicily.

To end this upheaval, emperor Frederick II, [ [http://www.royalist.info/execute/biog?person=3527 Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor] ] himself a Crusader, instigated a policy to rid Sicily of the few remaining Muslims. This cleansing was done in small part under Papal influence but mostly in order to create a loyal force of troops which could not be influenced by non-Christian infiltrators. In 1224–1239 he deported every single Muslim from Sicily to an autonomous colony under strict military control (so that they could not infiltrate non-Muslim areas) in Lucera in Apulia. In 1249 he ejected the Muslims from Malta as well. Lucera was returned to the Christians in 1300 at the instigation of the pope by King Charles II of Naples. All the Muslims were killed or expelled Europe.

15th century: Ottomans in Otranto

During this century, the Ottoman Empire was expanding mightily in southeastern Europe. It completed the absorption of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 under Sultan Mehmet II by conquering Constantinople and Galata. It seized Genoa's last bastions in the Black Sea in 1475 and Venice's Greek colony of Euboea in 1479. Turkish troops invaded the Friuli region in northeastern Italy in 1479 and again in 1499–1503. The Apulian harbor town of Otranto, located about 100 kilometers southeast of Brindisi, was seized in 1480, but the Turks were routed there in 1481 when Mehmet died and a war for his succession broke out. Cem, pretender to the Ottoman throne, was defeated despite being supported by the pope; he fled with his family to the Kingdom of Naples, where his male descendants were bestowed with the title of Principe de Sayd by the Pope in 1492. They lived in Naples until the 17th century and in Sicily until 1668 before relocating to Malta.

Attacks in the 16th century

It is a subject of debate whether Otranto was meant to be the base for further conquests. In any case, the Ottoman sultans had not given up their ambition to end Christianity in Rome and to install Islamic sovereignty.fact|date=July 2008 After the conquests of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and Hungary in 1526 and the defeat of the Turkish army at Vienna in 1529, Turkish fleets again attacked southern Italy. In 1512 and 1526 the Ottomans conquered Reggio and in 1537 more of Calabria and in 1538 they defeated the Venetian Fleet. In 1539 Nice was raided by the Barbary states (Siege of Nice), but an attempted Turkish landing on Sicily failed, as did the attempted conquest of Pantelleria in 1553 and the siege of Malta in 1565.

Next to Spain, the biggest contribution to the victory of the Christian "Holy League" in the battle of Lepanto in 1571 was made by the Republic of Venice, which between 1423 and 1718 fought eight costly wars against the Ottoman Empire.

Present situation

According to latest Italian official statistics, Muslims make up about 34% of the 2,400,000 foreign residents living in Italy as of January, 1, 2005.fact|date=July 2008 To these 820,000 foreign residents of Muslim heritage legally residing in Italy, another 100,000-150,000 should be added, as Muslims represent, according to annual estimates by the Italian association Caritas, about 40% of Italy's illegal immigrants.

Despite illegal immigrants representing a minority of the Muslim presence in Italy, the issue of Islam in contemporary Italy has been linked by some political parties (particularly the 'Northern League' or 'Lega Lombarda') with immigration, and more specifically illegal immigration. Immigration has become a prominent political issue, as reports of boatloads of illegal immigrants or "clandestini" dominate news programmes, especially in the summertime. Police forces have not had great success in intercepting many of the thousands of "clandestini" who land on Italian beaches, mainly because of the sheer length of the Italian coastline, some 8,000 km in total. However, many of the "clandestini" landing in Italy are only using Italy as a gateway to other EU nations, due to the fact Italy offers fewer economic opportunities for them than Germany or France, and because among the "clandestini" Italian society has a reputaton of being more hostile to them.fact|date=July 2008

The number of foreign Muslims who have been granted Italian nationality is estimated between 30,000 and 50,000, while Italian converts to Islam are estimated to number less than 10,000. Therefore, in 2005 the number of Muslims living in Italy is estimated to be between 960,000 and 1,030,000.

Muslims represent today 1.4% of Italy's population, a percentage much lower than that of other major EU countries, and still slightly lower than that recorded in Italy between the middle of the 9th century and the end of the 13th century, before the removal of the last Muslim strongholds in Puglia in 1300.

While in Medieval times the Muslim population was almost totally concentrated in Insular (Sicily, Sardinia) and Southern (Calabria, Puglia) Italy, it is today more evenly distributed, with almost 55% of Muslims living in the North of Italy, 25% in the Centre, and only 20% in the South. Muslims form a lower proportion of immigrants then in previous years, as the latest statistical reports by the Italian Ministry of Interior and Caritas indicate that the share of Muslims among new immigrants has declined from over 50% at the beginning of the 1990s (mainly Albanians and Moroccans) to less than 25% in the following decade.

Recent points of contention between native Italians and the Muslim immigrant population include the presence of crucifixes in public buildings including school classrooms, government offices, and hospital wards. Adel Smith has attracted considerable media attention by demanding that crucifixes in public facilities be removed. The Italian Council of State, in the Sentence No. 556, 13 February 2006, confirmed the display of the crucifix in government sponsored spaces. Smith was subsequently charged with defaming the Catholic religion in 2006. [ [http://83.137.212.42/siteArchive/catalystmagazine/Default.aspx.LocID-0hgnew0b7.RefLocID-0hg01b001006009.Lang-EN.htm Catalyst Magazine] ]

ee also

* History of Islam in southern Italy
* Islam by country
* Religion in Italy
* Christianity in Italy
* Jews in Italy
* Buddhism in Italy
* List of Italian religious minority politicians
* Islamic dress controversy in Europe

Further reading

* cite journal
quotes =
last = Allievi
first = Stefano
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year = 2003
month = July
title = Sociology of a Newcomer: Muslim Migration to Italy - Religious Visibility, Cultural and Political Reactions
journal = Immigrants and Minorities
volume = 22
issue = 2-3
pages = 141–154
doi = 10.1080/0261928042000244790
id =
url =
language =
format =
accessdate =
laysummary =
laysource =
laydate =
quote =

Notes

References

External links

* [http://www.euro-islam.info/spip Euro-Islam: breaking news on Islam in Europe (legislation, security, opinion polls) including profiles of Islam by country]
* [http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~mriexin/euroislam.html#I Links: Islam in Western Europe:Italy]