Islam in the Arctic

The history of Islam in the Arctic begins much later compared to other parts of Islamic history. The Arctic Circle is far from where many Muslims traditionally lived, making it a special place for Muslim communities. Because of the extreme weather, distance, and industrial nature of cities in the north, Muslims there have developed unique ways to live together. People from different Muslim groups, like Sunni and Shia Muslims, often live side by side without separating themselves.

In the Arctic, the midnight sun and polar night can make it hard to follow the five daily prayers as usual, since these times depend on the sun rising and setting. 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 adapt their traditions to fit their surroundings 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 concerning 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

The presence of Islam in the northern and Arctic regions goes back over a thousand years. During the travels of Ibn Fadlan to Volga Bulgaria, he talked about how prayer times worked "during the white nights" with a local muezzin.

Later, during the 18th century, a Russian Muslim reformer named Abu Nasr Qursawi suggested that a specific evening prayer should always be done, even in the summer, by using careful thinking. This was different from what many teachers at the time believed. The Khanat of Sibir was the northernmost Islamic state, with parts of its land along the Arctic Ocean.

Russia

Long ago, in 922 AD, a traveler named Ibn Fadlan wrote about new Muslims in Tatarstan who had to adjust their prayers because of unusual sunrise and sunset 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 quickly. 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 spread across the region.

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 the state of Alaska. Construction started in 2010 to replace a smaller space that Muslims used before. This center serves around 3000 Muslims living 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 instead of following the local sun. 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 both Americans and people who have moved there from over 50 different countries. In Fairbanks, Alaska, a small group of 35 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 when they were applying to work as doctors in areas that needed more medical help.

Canadian Arctic

In 1905, a man named Ali Abouchadi came to Canada from Lebanon to try to find fortune during the Yukon Gold Rush, but only reached Lac La Biche in Alberta. Later, he traveled north to the Arctic Ocean as a merchant, stopping in Aklavik before returning to Alberta.

After the First World War, another Lebanese Muslim named Peter Baker started a business supplying goods to oil prospectors in the north. He became friends with indigenous tribes and learned their languages. In 1964, he was elected as a member of the government for Mackenzie North. The first big group of Muslims moved to the Northwest Territories during the 1970s when there was a boom in oil exploration. By 1995, five Muslim families lived in Inuvik.

The first mosque in the Arctic, called the Midnight Sun Mosque, was built in Inuvik in 2010. It was assembled in Manitoba and then shipped north to save money. In Iqaluit, Nunavut, another mosque was built in 2015 to serve the Muslims there. In 2018, a warehouse in Whitehorse, Yukon, was turned into a mosque, making it the first Muslim prayer hall in every Canadian province and territory.

European Arctic

In the early 1900s, Finland was the only country in Northern Europe with Muslims living there naturally, about a thousand Finnish Tatars. The Vepsians in Finland were some of the northernmost people who met Muslim traders. These traders, from places like Azeri, would trade swords for animal pelts a long time ago.

Today, Finland's Muslims inside the Arctic Circle come from many places, such as Palestine, Iraq, Persia, Turkey, Bengal, Somalia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Almost all of them follow Sunni Islam. Norway's biggest Arctic mosque is in Tromsø, built in 2006 by someone who chose to become a Muslim, with money given by a kind person from Saudi Arabia. There are also two smaller mosques even farther north, in Alta and Hammerfest.

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