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Concept
Islam in Turkey
Summary
Islam is the most practiced religion in Turkey. As much as 90% of the population follows Sunni Islam. Most Turkish Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence,The established presence of Islam in the region that now constitutes modern Turkey dates back to the later half of the 11th century, when the Seljuks started expanding into eastern Anatolia.
According to the government, 99.8% of the Turkish population is Muslim since traditional non-Muslim ethnic groups of Turkey (such as Jews, Armenians and Greeks) don't consist more than 0.2%, although some surveys give a slightly lower estimate of 96.2%, with the most popular school of thought (maddhab) being the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam (about 90% of the overall Muslim denominations). The remaining Muslim sects forming about 9% of the overall Muslim population consist of Alevis, Ja'faris (representing 1%) and Alawites (with an estimated population of around 1 million) which is about 1% of the overall Muslim population in Turkey. There are also a minority of Sufi and non-denominational Muslims.
According to a survey done by Optimar in 2019, however, 89.5% of Turks practice Islam.
Islam in the Ottoman Empire
During the Muslim conquests of the 7th and early 8th centuries, Arab armies established the Islamic Empire. The Islamic Golden Age was soon inaugurated by the middle of the 8th century by the ascension of the Abbasid Caliphate and the transfer of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad.
The later period saw initial expansion and the capture of Crete (840). The Abbasids soon shifted their attention towards the East. During the later fragmentation of the Abbasid rule and the rise of their Shiite rivals the Fatimids and Buyids, a resurgent Byzantium recaptured Crete and Cilicia in 961, Cyprus in 965, and pushed into the Levant by 975. The Byzantines successfully contested with the Fatimids for influence in the region until the arrival of the Seljuk Turks who first allied with the Abbasids and then ruled as the de facto rulers.
Official source
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