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The Muslim percentage in Macedonia generally decreased from 1904 to 1961 but began to rise again due to high fertility rate among Muslim families, reaching 33.33% in 2002. According to the census of 2021, the share of Muslims was 32.17% of the total (resident) population, which was slightly lower compared to 33.33% in the census of 2002.
Most Albanians and some ethnic Macedonians converted to Islam. These Macedonian Muslims or Torbeši generally retained their Macedonian culture and customs while many were assimilated as Turks. [9] By the 19th Century most of the cities were primarily populated by Muslims. [9] The Šarena Džamija in Tetovo is a legacy of the country's Ottoman ...
Since then, the grand mufti was titled Sheykhul-Islam and was considered the highest religious authority within the Ottoman Empire. However, every region inhabited by Muslims had its own mufti, who was in lower position than the Sheykhul-Islam. After the First World War, North Macedonia was under the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
A controversy broke out in 1995 when the Albanian-dominated Meshihat or council of the Islamic community in North Macedonia declared that Albanian was the official language of Muslims in Macedonia. The decision prompted protests from the leaders and members of the Macedonian Muslim community.
Pomaks are today usually considered descendants of native Orthodox Bulgarians and Paulicians who converted to Islam during the Ottoman rule of the Balkans. They started to become Muslim gradually, from the Ottoman occupation (early 15th century) to the end of the 18th century.
Between the 15th and the 20th centuries, during Ottoman rule, a number of Orthodox Macedonian Slavs converted to Islam. Today in the Republic of North Macedonia, they are regarded as Macedonian Muslims, who constitute the second largest religious community of the country.
However, it is unlikely that this high minority TFR has continued since then in North Macedonia, as Balkan fertility elsewhere (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo) has dropped sharply toward the European average. A more recent survey [29] pegs Muslim fertility in North Macedonia at 1.7, versus 1.5 for non-Muslims.
The vast majority of Muslims are Sunni, and most live in the northern and western parts of the country. The majority of Orthodox Christians live in the central and southeastern regions. There is a correlation between ethnicity and religious affiliation: the majority of Orthodox Christians are ethnic Macedonian, and most Muslims are ethnic ...