An Old Muslim Community of Poland: the Tatars

Abstract

The Muslim community in Poland is one of smallest religious-ethnic groups in the country. The main Muslim group comprises the Tatars, or more precisely Poles of Tatar origin. They have been a part of Polish history and its cultural and religious tradition since the 14th century. The case of the Polish Muslims provides a useful model of how Muslim communities can relate to the wider national communities to which they belong, for instance in Europe, and how, in doing so, they retain their own culture and identity, and contribute positively to these wider communities.