Crypto-Islam is the secret adherence to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

while publicly professing to be of another faith; people who practice crypto-Islam are referred to as "crypto-Muslims." The word has mainly been used in reference to

Spanish Muslims Spain is a Christian majority country, with Islam being a minority religion, practised mostly by immigrants from Muslim majority countries, and their descendants. Islam was a major religion on the Iberian Peninsula, beginning with the Muslim ...

and Sicilian Muslims during the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

(i.e., the

Moriscos ''Moriscos'' (, ; ; " Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Catholic Church and Habsburg Spain commanded to forcibly convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed Islam. Spain had a sizeable M ...

and Saraceni and their usage of

Aljamiado '' Castillian translations in Aljamiado script above each line of Arabic Quranic text. file:Aljamiado.png">Aljamiado text by Mancebo de Arévalo. c. 16th century. ''Poema de Yuçuf'' ''Aljamiado'' (; ; trans. ''ʿajamiyah'' ) or ''Aljamía ...

). With the Portuguese Empire's expansion to the Far East and the Spanish Empire's spread to the Philippines from Latin America,

Filipino Muslims Islam in the Philippines is the second largest religion in the country, and the faith was the first-recorded Monotheism, monotheistic religion in the Philippines. Historically, Islam reached the Philippine archipelago in the 14th century, thro ...

and Portuguese Muslims were also subject to the

, one famous case being Alexo de Castro of the Spanish-occupied

Moluccas The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...

, who was tried for crypto-Islam a continent away before the

Mexican Inquisition The Mexican Inquisition was an extension of the Spanish Inquisition into New Spain. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was not only a political event for the Spanish, but a religious event as well. In the early 16th century, the Protesta ...

Historic examples

Some historical examples include Ahmad ibn Qasim Al-Hajarī, 16th-century crypto-Muslim from Spain who authored a book recounting how he organized his escape from Spain to Morocco, and including a refutation of Catholic opinions about Jesus. The books also included details on crypto-Muslim life in Spain. He later became Ambassador of Morocco to Spain. The

Oran fatwa The Oran fatwa was a '' responsum'' fatwa, or an Islamic legal opinion, issued in 1502 to address the crisis that occurred when Muslims in the Crown of Castile, in present-day Spain, were forced to convert to Christianity in 15001502. It was au ...

issued in the context of the persecution of Muslims in Spain gave guidance to crypto-Muslims on how to balance religious obligations with concealing their faith, allowing relaxation of sharia obligations in certain situations. In 16th- to late 18th-century

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, the native Muslims of the region faced frequent persecution by the authorities, which saw many episodes of forced conversions to Christianity. During these times, the newly converted continued to secretly practice Islam. Once Russia allowed Muslims to practice their faith, many of the converted reverted to Islam.

References

Bibliography

* * Rustam Shukurov, "The Crypto-Muslims of Anatolia," in Anthropology, Archeology and Heritage in the Balkans and Anatolia or The Life and Times of F.W. Hasluck (1878-1920), ed. David Shankland, Istanbul: Isis, 2004, volume 2, pages 135–158. Converts to Islam Moriscos Passing (sociology) {{Islam-stub

Historic examples

See also

References

Bibliography