Islam in the Arctic

Islam in the Arctic

The history of Islam in the Arctic starts much later than in other places. The Arctic Circle is far from where many Muslims lived, making it a special place for Muslim communities. Because of the cold weather, distance, and big industries, Muslims there have found unique ways to live together. People from different Muslim groups, like Sunni and Shia Muslims, often live side by side peacefully.

In the Arctic, the midnight sun and polar night can make it hard to do the five daily prayers as usual, since these prayers depend on the sun. To solve this, Muslims in these areas usually follow the same prayer times as a place farther south, such as the holy city of Mecca or their home countries. This shows how Muslims change their traditions to fit their place while keeping their faith strong.

General Arctic issues

An Egyptian professor thinks a part of the Quran might refer to the Arctic Circle. A woman named Dr. Marwa Maziad has written about how the Arctic is important for Arab countries, especially for energy and shipping.

During Ramadan, Muslims usually fast from dawn until sunset. But in the Arctic, there are times when the sun doesn’t set or rise for days. Because of this, Muslims there have different ways to decide when to fast. Some follow the timing of places farther south, like Mecca, while others follow the timing of cities like Ottawa or Edmonton. Some choose to fast based on their local time if the sun sets even a little each day.

History

Islam has been in the Arctic regions for over a thousand years. When Ibn Fadlan visited Volga Bulgaria, he wrote about how Muslims prayed during the long white nights. He talked with a local muezzin.

In the 1700s, a Russian Muslim named Abu Nasr Qursawi said that a special evening prayer should always be done in the summer, even when it is very light outside. This was new idea at the time.

The Khanat of Sibir was the northernmost Islamic state. Some of its land was next to the Arctic Ocean.

Russia

Long ago, in 922 AD, a traveler named Ibn Fadlan wrote about new Muslims in Tatarstan who changed their prayers because the sun rose and set at unusual times. Later, another traveler, Ibn Battuta, visited and heard local people thought the Northern Lights were battles between good and bad spirits called djinn.

Recently, Muslim communities in Arctic Russia have been growing fast. In 1996, a very big mosque was built in Yakutsk, able to hold thousands of people. By 2007, about 20% of people in Norilsk were Muslim, coming from places like Dagestan, Central Asia, and Azerbaijan. Today, almost every Arctic city in Russia has Muslims, with many mosques and prayer places.

Muslims in the Arctic face some challenges. In Vorkuta, some people did not support the mosque. In the Yamal Peninsula, there is a special meat business that makes food following Muslim rules, but it competes with other types of meat. The Muslim groups also sometimes disagree about how to support and lead their communities.

Percentage of Muslims in Russian Arctic regions:

Alaska

The Islamic Community Center of Anchorage Alaska was the first mosque built just for Muslim worship in Alaska. Building started in 2010 to replace a smaller space. This center helps about 3000 Muslims in the area. Because Alaska has very long days and nights, Muslims there often use the same prayer times as the holy city of Mecca. This has caused some disagreement in the community, with some people choosing to pray using local time instead.

The Muslim community in Anchorage is very diverse, including Americans and people who have moved there from over 50 different countries. In Fairbanks, Alaska, a small group of Muslims turned an old chapel into a place for prayer. Some Muslims chose to live in Alaska because it was easier to get permission to move there for work as doctors in areas that needed more medical help.

Canadian Arctic

In 1905, a man named Ali Abouchadi came to Canada from Lebanon during the Yukon Gold Rush. He later traveled north as a merchant and stopped in Aklavik.

After the First World War, another man named Peter Baker started a business in the north. He became friends with local tribes and learned their languages. In 1964, he was elected for Mackenzie North.

More Muslims moved to the Northwest Territories during the 1970s. By 1995, five Muslim families lived in Inuvik.

The first mosque in the Arctic, the Midnight Sun Mosque, was built in Inuvik in 2010. In Iqaluit, Nunavut, another mosque was built in 2015. In 2018, a warehouse in Whitehorse, Yukon became a mosque.

European Arctic

In the early 1900s, Finland was the only country in Northern Europe with Muslims living there naturally. About a thousand Finnish Tatars lived there. The Vepsians in Finland met Muslim traders from places like Azeri.

Today, Finland's Muslims in the Arctic Circle come from many places, such as Palestine, Iraq, Turkey, Somalia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Almost all of them follow Sunni Islam. Norway's biggest Arctic mosque is in Tromsø. There are also two smaller mosques in Alta and Hammerfest.

As of 2013, the only known Muslim living in Greenland is from Lebanon, and he runs a restaurant in Nuuk.