Sunnism
The largest branch of Islam in the world, Sunnism is the main religion in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with about 1.6 million people, or about 50 percent of the population. The majority of the country's sunnis are Bosnians, with most of the Roma, Albanians and Turks. As in the rest of the Balkans, Islam remains generally moderate and confined to the private sphere. Most sunnis claim to be religious, follow the major muslim holidays (eid al-adha and eid al-fitr) and go to the mosque during ramadan. But they display few distinctive signs (women rarely wear the hijab) and some allow themselves to drink alcohol and/or attend Christmas mass with Catholics. The whole community is placed under the authority of a grand mufti who is the head of the Islamic Community of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Based in Sarajevo and founded in 1993, it also has jurisdiction over the Bosnian diaspora and the Sunni communities in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Hungary. In theory, the country's Sufi brotherhoods also depend on the grand mufti, even though they are autonomous and do not belong to the sunni current (see below). These brotherhoods were the first to Islamize the local population, as soon as the Ottomans arrived in 1396. The present Bosnians are thus the descendants of converts, most of whom belonged to the Bosnian Church (which was considered "heretical" by other Christians). But it was in the sixteenth century that most of the conversions took place. All the great historical mosques in the country date from this period: Gazi Hüsrev-Bey mosque in Sarajevo (1531), Aldaža mosque in Foča (1550), Ferhadija mosque in Banja Luka (1579), etc. Unfortunately, just as the Bosnians were the main victims of the 1992-1995 war, most of the mosques (81%) were then destroyed. The post-war period was thus marked by a strong involvement of Muslim countries (Saudi Arabia, Turkey...) to rebuild mosques and cities, but also to influence the practices of Islam. This foreign interference, combined with the resentments born of the conflict and the continuing economic crisis, has encouraged the rise of Sunni fundamentalism with the emergence of Wahhabism and Salafism. Although a minority, radical Islamists now control several mosques. They have also joined the ranks of Daesh in Syria and Iraq in recent years and more than 300 former Bosnian jihadists have now returned to the country. But it should be noted that the vast majority of sunnis in Bosnia and Herzegovina are tolerant and practice moderate Islam.
Orthodoxy
Orthodox Christians are estimated to number around 900,000, or about 31% of the population. Among them are the small Montenegrin, Macedonian and Russian minorities. But the vast majority of the country's Orthodox are Bosnian-Serb and belong to the Serbian Orthodox Church. They depend on the metropolis of Dabro-Bosna, whose seat is the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God (1863), in Sarajevo. However, since 1995, 96% of Bosnian Serbs live in the Bosnian Serb Republic, and it is the recently built Cathedral of Christ the Savior (2009) in Banja Luka that serves as the center of Serbian Orthodoxy in the country. Orthodoxy (literally "the right opinion" in Greek) is one of the main branches of Christianity. Orthodox churches are organized by "nations" and are independent of each other. The Serbian Orthodox Church, with its headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia, has jurisdiction in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in all countries where Serbian communities reside. It follows the Byzantine rite, authorizes the marriage of priests, recognizes the sacredness of icons and the liturgy (mass) is in Serbian or Church Slavonic (Old Slavonic). Gradually converted to Christianity by the Byzantines (7th-12th centuries), the Serbs dominated the Balkans for a time (13th-14th centuries), before coming under the control of the Ottomans (15th-19th centuries). Except for a few revolts, they enjoyed a great deal of autonomy from them. The sultans have also largely favored the Orthodox clergy at the expense of Catholics. So much so that the Serbs have long represented the main community of Bosnia-Herzegovina. But they were overtaken demographically by the Muslims from the 1960s onwards. It was the high birth rate of Bosnians and the aftermath of the wars that relegated them to second place. During World War II, many Serbs were massacred by Croats throughout Yugoslavia, and most of the Orthodox churches and monasteries in Bosnia-Herzegovina were destroyed. Among the few valuable monuments that remain are the small monastery of Liplje (15th century) near Banja Luka and theChurch of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel (16th century) in Sarajevo. This relentlessness against their monuments partly explains the Bosnian-Serb desire for revenge during the Bosnian-Herzegovinian war, and then the frenzy of construction of places of worship that has taken hold of the Bosnian Serb Republic since 1995. This also allows us to better understand the very strong attachment of the Bosnian-Serbs to their Church and why they form the most religious community in the country.
Catholicism
Roman Catholic Christians number just over 500,000 and represent between 15 and 16% of the population. Most of them are Bosnian-Croats. But there are also some 4,000 faithful belonging to minorities: Italians, Hungarians, Czechs, Poles, Germans, Slovenes and Slovaks. All of them belong to the ecclesiastical province of Sarajevo, whose seat is the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (1889) in the capital. The majority of Catholics, however, reside in the cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina located near the borders with Croatia, especially in the regions of Herzegovina and Tropolje. The origin of Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina dates back to 679, with the assembly of Duvno (in Tropolje), which marked the first major territorial division between the Papacy and the Byzantines. This presence was reinforced by the conquests of Catholic powers (Croatia, Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire), but also by the settlement of Ragusan merchants (from the present Dubrovnik) and Franciscan monks, who still occupy a prominent place in the country. Recent history has been marked by two phenomena. First, the collaboration of the Catholic clergy with the Croatian pro-Nazi regime during the Second World War. This resulted in the destruction of a whole part of the Catholic churches and monasteries at the time of liberation, and then in the mistrust of the Yugoslav authorities, who for a long time forbade the construction of new places of worship for the Bosnian Croats. This explains why most of the country's Catholic monuments are of recent construction, such as the remarkable Cathedral of St. Bonaventure (1973) in Banja Luka and the Franciscan monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul (2001) in Mostar, whose immense campanile is the highest Christian building in the Balkans (107.20 m). The other striking phenomenon are the "apparitions of the Virgin" that have taken place since 1981 in Međugorje, near Mostar. Although not recognized as "miraculous" by the Pope, they have made this Herzegovinian village one of the main pilgrimage sites in Europe, attracting about 2 million visitors each year. The Bosnian-Croats are on the whole quite religious (about 50% attend Sunday Mass) and share the positions defended by the Pope. Finally, the country has another Catholic community: the Ukrainians. There are about a thousand of them living in the Banja Luka region and they belong to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The latter recognizes the authority of the Pope but follows Byzantine rites (marriage of priests, worship of icons...). So much so that the Ukrainian minority feels closer to the Serbian Orthodox.
Sufism, Shiism and other currents of Islam
Since 1995, several Islamic or Islam-like currents have developed and represent about 2% of the population. The most influential is Sufism. It is the mystical current of Islam, especially known for its whirling dervishes in Turkey and Egypt. It has played a central role in the Islamization of Bosnians and has been enjoying a renaissance since 1995 with the support of Turkey. If it does not gather more than 30 000 followers in the country, Sufism enjoys a considerable aura among Bosnians. It offers a rigorous but humanistic religious teaching that is the opposite of Sunni fundamentalism. Among the twenty or so tariqats (Sufi brotherhoods) throughout the world, two are present in Bosnia-Herzegovina and have several tekkés, places of prayer and discussion which also welcome dervishes on the path of asceticism. First, there is the brotherhood of nakshibandis (Naqshbandiyya) which is one of the most important in the world. It has in particular the famous and magnificent tekké of Blagaj (1520), near Mostar. The brotherhood of kaderis (Qadiriyya) has developed mainly in the Balkans. Its center is the Hadži Sinanova tekké (1640), in Sarajevo. We also note the rise of a "neo-Sufism" with movements stemming from nakshibandis and which meet a large echo among Bosnian youth. Sufis also organize one of the most important Muslim pilgrimages in Europe every year in June, in Prusac (central Bosnia). The second Islamic minority trend in the country is that of Shiism, the second major branch of Islam after Sunnism. It emerged under the influence of Iran, which was one of the first nations to support the Bosnians during the last war. The Shiites are few in number (less than 5,000), but they have important links: a television station, a school and three institutes in Sarajevo. Even more influential is the Hizmet movement of the Turkish intellectual and cleric Fethullah Gülen (born in 1941). Based in the United States and initially very close to Sufism, it advocates an Islam that is both fundamentalist and modernist. The followers of the movement, which appeared here in 1997, are few in number (about a thousand) but manage a vast educational network, including two universities in Bihać and Sarajevo. Finally, we should mention the presence of two currents close to Islam that claim less than 300 followers each in the country: Ahmadism, a messianic movement that proposes a humanist reading of the Koran, and Bahaism, a separate religion that has its roots in Islam while syncretizing with Judaism and Christianity.
Other religions
They number about 3,000 people (less than 0.1% of the population). Today, there are about a thousand Jews living mainly in Sarajevo. But Judaism has been practiced in Bosnia-Herzegovina since the end of antiquity. Its presence was reinforced by the settlement of Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain and welcomed by the Ottomans (1581), then of Ashkenazi Jews from Central Europe with the arrival of the Austro-Hungarians (1878). Of the 14,000 Bosnian Jews in 1941, 10,000 died in the Holocaust. Sarajevo, which was nicknamed the "Jerusalem of the Balkans", nevertheless retains an important Jewish heritage, in particular the Old Temple (1581) in which the Jewish Museum is located, the Ashkenazi synagogue (1902), which is still open for worship, the Jewish cemetery of Sarajevo, one of the oldest and largest in Europe today, and a precious illuminated book from the 14th century, the Sarajevo Haggadah, which is preserved in the National Museum. There are also about a thousand Protestant Christians in the country (compared to about a hundred before the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina), spread over ten cities. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), established in Yugoslavia in 1972, claims fewer than 100 members in Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Tuzla. Hinduism, a legacy of the non-aligned movement (1961) and the links established between Yugoslavia and India, has a following of 300-500 in Sarajevo and Banja Luka. There is also the emergence of a Slavic neo-paganism that seeks to revive the traditions of the first Slavic tribes of the Balkans and rejects the monotheisms considered responsible for the division of the country. This is notably the case of the association Svaroži krug ("Circle of Svarog", named after the Slavic god of Heaven or Fire). Founded in 2011, it has only a few dozen members in Mostar and Sarajevo. However, the old Slavic traditions survive more widely in the folklore of Bosnians, Bosnian-Serbs and Bosnian-Croats.
Atheism
Atheists and agnostics are extremely rare in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an estimated 35,000, or just over 1 percent of the population. The decrease in the number of non-believers is a general trend in the former Yugoslavia since the 1990s: the rise of nationalism and wars have caused a return to religion as a symbol of identity for each people. The few Bosnians who are openly atheist or agnostic are often victims of social pressure, discrimination, and even violence.
A disappeared religion: the Bosnian Church
After the arrival of the Slavs (6th-7th centuries), Bosnia-Herzegovina remained poorly controlled by the Christians. In the 11th century, it was used as a refuge for the Bogomils, Balkan Christians hunted down for heresy. It was also at this time that Bosnia tried to emancipate itself from the neighboring kingdoms. The Bosnian Church was thus born in 1252 from a schism with the Roman Catholic Church. It retained most of the rites of the latter, but imitated the Serbian Orthodox by taking Old Slavonic as its liturgical language. Becoming the official Church of the Kingdom of Bosnia (1377-1463), it also integrates certain Slavic cults of nature: witness the signs engraved on the stećci, medieval tombstones that can be found in particular in twenty sites of the country listed as World Heritage by UNESCO. The Bosnian Church disappeared in the Ottoman era, with most of the faithful turning to Islam in the 16th century.
