VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 132, May 22, 2010
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Editors; Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Editors; Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful
FOCUS OF THIS ISSUE:
THE LOVELY COUNTRY OF GREECE
THE LOVELY COUNTRY OF GREECE
A Greek flag flies in the wind at a park in central Athens April 23, 2010. REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis
(Ed Note: Forgive us for our bias, but Greece is in our list of one of the most favored nations. We share in the current difficulties that the Greeks are facing and hope & pray that the country's financial situation significantly improves. WE ARE WITH THE GREEK MASSES AND SUPPORT THEIR PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATIONS)
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou makes statements during a visit to the southeastern island of Kastellorizo April 23, 2010 REUTERS/Tatiana Bolari/Eurokinissi
HISTORY OF MUSLIMS IN GREECE
The indigenous Muslim population in Greece is not homogeneous since it consists of different ethnic, linguistic and social backgrounds which often overlap. The Muslim faith is the creed of several autochthonous ethnic groups living in the present territory of Greece, namely the Pomaks, ethnic Turks, certain Roma groups, and Greek Muslims, who embraced the Muslim faith mainly in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The country's Muslim population decreased significantly as a result of the 1923 population exchange agreement between Greece and the new Turkish Republic, which also uprooted approximately 1.5 million Greeks from Asia Minor.
The country's Muslim population decreased significantly as a result of the 1923 population exchange agreement between Greece and the new Turkish Republic, which also uprooted approximately 1.5 million Greeks from Asia Minor.
(Muslims in Greece mark Eid ul Fitr)
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The term Muslim minority (Musulmanikí meinóita) refers to an Islamic religious, linguistic and ethnic minority in western Thrace, a part of north-east Greece. In 1923, under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne, the Muslims living in Greece were required to immigrate to Turkey; whereas, the Christians living in Turkey were required to immigrate to Greece in an "Exchange of Populations". The Muslims of Thrace and the Christians of Istanbul and the islands of Gökçeada and Bozcaada (Imvros and Tenedos) were the only populations not exchanged.
According to most estimates, about half of the autochthonous Greek Muslims consider themselves ethnically Turkish. The rest are Slavic speaking Pomaks and Roma. Relics of the Ottoman Empire, this community resides mainly in Western Thrace, where they were allowed to remain under the terms of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. In the town of Komotini, it makes up almost 40 percent of the total population, whereas in the town of Xanthi it makes up 23 percent of the population.
There is also a small Muslim community in some of the Dodecanese islands which, as part of the Italian Dodecanese of the Kingdom of Italy between 1911 and 1947, were not subjected to the exchange of the population between Turkey and Greece in 1923. They number about 3,000, most of whom espouse a Turkish identity and speak Turkish. The community is strongest in the city of Rhodes and on the island of Kos (in particular the village of Platanos).
The Pomaks are mainly located in compact villages in Western Thrace's Rhodope Mountains. While the Greek Roma community is predominantly Greek Orthodox, the Roma in Thrace are mainly Muslim. Estimates of the recognized Muslim minority, which is mostly located in Thrace, range from 98,000 to 140,000 (between 0.9% and 1.2%), while the immigrant Muslim community numbers between 200,000 and 300,000. Albanian immigrants to Greece are usually associated with the Muslim faith, although most are secular in orientation.
The Pomaks are mainly located in compact villages in Western Thrace's Rhodope Mountains. While the Greek Roma community is predominantly Greek Orthodox, the Roma in Thrace are mainly Muslim. Estimates of the recognized Muslim minority, which is mostly located in Thrace, range from 98,000 to 140,000 (between 0.9% and 1.2%), while the immigrant Muslim community numbers between 200,000 and 300,000. Albanian immigrants to Greece are usually associated with the Muslim faith, although most are secular in orientation.
Immigrant Muslims in Greece
The first immigrants of Islamic faith, mostly Egyptian, arrived in the early 1950s from Egypt, and are concentrated in the country's two main urban centres, Athens and Thessaloniki. Since 1990, there has been an increase in the numbers of immigrant Muslims from various countries of the Middle East, as well as from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. However, the bulk of the immigrant Muslim community has come from the Balkans, specifically from Albania and Albanian communities in the Republic of Macedonia, and other former Yugoslav republics.
Since the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s, Albanian workers started immigrating to Greece, taking low wage jobs in search of economic opportunity, and bringing over their families to settle in cities like Athens and Thessaloniki. An official 2001 census listed 443,550 Albanian nationals residing in Greece; not counting undocumented residents and Albanians from the Republic of Macedonia.
Since the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s, Albanian workers started immigrating to Greece, taking low wage jobs in search of economic opportunity, and bringing over their families to settle in cities like Athens and Thessaloniki. An official 2001 census listed 443,550 Albanian nationals residing in Greece; not counting undocumented residents and Albanians from the Republic of Macedonia.
The majority of the immigrant Muslim community resides in Athens. In recognition of their religious rights, the Greek government approved the building of a mosque in July 2006.
(BELOW)
Muslims in Greece marked Eid al-Fitr in the open promenade of the Olympic Stadium in Athens
Muslims in Greece marked Eid al-Fitr in the open promenade of the Olympic Stadium in Athens
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worldbulletin.netISLAMIC CENTERS/ORGANIZATIONS IN GREECE:
www.Greece-athens.com Al - Saleheen Mosque, Athens
Al Salam Mosque, Athens
AL-GORABAA ISLAMIC SOCIETY-GREECE جمعية الغرباء الإسلامية- اليونان, Athens
ALFAROUK MOSQUE, Athens
ALTAWBA MOSQUE - مسجد التوبة, Athens
Altawheed Islamic Societyجمعية التوحيد الإسلامية, Athens
Arab-Hellenic center for culture &civilization member of Federation of Islamic Organization in Euro, Athens
El Rahman Association, Athens
Hellenic-Arabic center for culture and civilization, Thessaloniki
Macedonia Thrace muslim`s cultural and educational association , Thessaloniki
Masjed AL-NOOR, Iraklion
Masjed Alnnour , Athens
MASJED ALRAHMA CHANIA, Chania
Masjed Athina (gouthih ), Athens
MASJED QIBAA, Chania
Masjid Al Jabbar, Athens
Masjid al-Andalus, Piraeus
Masjid Sounnah mahalla, Xanthi
Mosque darrul aman omonia athens, Athens
Mosque in heraklion, Heraklion
Mufti in Komotene, Komotene
Mufti in Xanthi, Xanthi
Mufti of Didimotichon, Didymotichon
Muslims association in Creteرابطة المسلمين في كريت, Iraklion
Mustapha Mosque, Rhodes
SALLAHADIN AIUBI, Athens
Simon Riding, Athen
مسجد الانصار
, Athens
مسجد التقوى, Athens
مسجدالاخلاص, Athens
جمعية البر والتقوى , Peiraias
(Above information on Greece obtained from en.wikipedia.org
FINANCIAL TURMOIL IN GREECE
( A picture speaks thousand words)
( A picture speaks thousand words)
A woman passes by a line of riot police whose shields are spattered with paint thrown by protesters during a protest in central Athens on Thursday, April 22, 2010. Civil servants staged a 24-hour strike and protest march Thursday, and a Communist-affiliated union held a separate demonstration, against austerity measures and expected job cuts by Greece's crisis-plagued government, while the EU's statistics agency added to the financially stricken country's woes, revising its budget deficit upwards. Eurostat said Greece's budget deficit in 2009 was 13.6 percent of gross domestic product, instead of the previously predicted 12.9 percent, while the ratio of government debt to GDP stood at 115.1 percent, the second highest in the EU after Italy. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis)
Protesters shout anti-government slogans during a rally against austerity measures in Athens April 22, 2010 REUTERS/Yiorgos karahalis
Greek bank workers strike over deaths during ...
A bank employee reacts after being rescued from a fire that broke out when the bank was attacked during anti-government protests in central Athens, Wednesday,May 5, 2010. Three people died in the fire at the branch of Marfin Egnatia Bank, while the two women and two others were rescued. An estimated 100,000 people took to the streets Wednesday during a nationwide wave of strikes against spending cuts aimed at saving the country from bankruptcy. (AP Photo/Iakovos Hatzistavrou)
Riot policeman are engulfed in flames as they are hit with a molotov cocktail near the Greek parliament in Athens during a nationwide strike in Greece,May 5, 2010. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
A demonstrator offers help to a riot police officer who slipped and fell, as she speaks on the phone during an anti government rally in Athens on Wednesday, May 5, 2010. Deadly riots over harsh new austerity measures engulfed the streets of Athens on Wednesday, and three people were killed as angry protesters tried to storm parliament, hurled Molotov cocktails at police and torched buildings. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets as part of nationwide strikes to protest new taxes and government spending cuts demanded by the International Monetary Fund and other European nations. (AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis)
Protestors gather near the Greek Parliament building in central Athens to highlight their anger at proposed government-spearheaded austerity plans. Globalinvestors have increasingly lost confidence in the outlook for the eurozone as Greece's debt crisis has triggered deadly riots in Athens, with fears that other European nations could be facing similar financial risks.
A fire-bomb attack on a bank in Greece has killed at least three people as police fought pitched battles with striking protestors furious at brutal budgetcuts designed to avert national bankruptcy. Duration: 01:57 (AFPTV)
A protester holds a sign during a demonstration highlighting his anger at proposed austerity measures being outlined by the Greek government. The country'spresident has called on the nation to step back from the brink after three people died during protests against the planned cuts, and world markets slipped further. (AFP/Attila Kisbenedek)
Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration in Athens on May 4. Greek unions have mobilised for a fresh round of demonstrations against an unprecedentedausterity drive as the government raced to push cost-cutting measures through parliament a day after deadly rioting. (AFP/File/Aris
(yahoo.news.photos) 
(yahoo.news.photos) 
(yahoo.news.photos) 
Interactive graphic on Greece and the European Union pr0posed bailout package. The country is standing on the "edge of the abyss," President Carolos Papoulias has warned, following a general strike called by the unions and a day of often violent protests against the latest round of budget cuts and tax hikes . Messinis
THE END
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