Islam in Italy: history and Muslim population data

History of Islam in Italy

The Italian Republic has an area of 301,340 sq km and its map is presented in Figure 4.5.5. It consists of the Italian Peninsula and the big islands of Sicily (25,708 sq km) and Sardinia (24,090 sq km). Muslims captured the Island of Pantelleria (81 sq km) in 700, during the Umayyad Empire, after they conquered Tunisia. Muslims lost it in 1123, when Roger II of Sicily (son of Roger I) conquered the Island. The island is situated between Tunisia and Sicily, and its name is stemmed from the Arabic name given by its first Muslim conquerors: Bintul Riyah, or Daughter of the Wind. The Ottomans then conquered the Island in 1553 until they lost it to the Italians in the nineteenth century. Thus, the Island was under Muslim control for over 800 years.

As for Sardinia, it was captured by Muslims in 809 during the reign of Ibrahim bnul Aghlab of the Aghlabid Dynasty. He was the first ruler of the dynasty, seceded from the Abbasid Empire and ruled from 800 to 812. The Aghlabid Muslim and Arab Dynasty existed from 800 to 909, its capital was al-Qayrawan, in current Tunisia, and controlled the latter, plus North Algeria and East Libya. The Muslim control of Sardinia continued under the Fatimid Dynasty, which replaced the Aghlabid Dynasty. The Fatimid Dynasty lasted from 909 to 1171 and moved their capital to Cairo (current capital of Egypt) that they founded in 969. This Dynasty controlled North Africa, North Sudan, East Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Muslims lost control over Sardinia in 1015. Thus, it was under Muslim control for 215 years.

Islam entered Sicily in 831 when its governor, Euphemius, plead for Aghlabid Amir Ziyadatul Allah I bnu Ibrahim (reined from 817 to 838, and was the third ruler after his father and brother Abdullah) to help him against the Byzantine Empire. Ziyadatul Allah I sent troops under the leadership of Asad bnul Furat. Consequently, the Muslims conquered Palermo (Northeast) in 831, followed by Messina (Northeast) in 843, then Enna (Middle) in 859, then Syracuse (Southeast) in 878, then Taormina (Northeast) in 902. The Muslim conquest of Sicily continued under the Fatimid Dynasty, and was culminated by capturing Rometta (Northeast) in 964, which was the last Byzantine toehold in the Island. This occurred during the reign of Muad al-Mu’iz li-Dinillah, who conquered Egypt, founded the city of Cairo, reigned from 953 to 975, and was the fourth caliph of the Dynasty. The majority of the Island’s population by now was Muslim.

After successfully suppressing a revolt, the Fatimid Ruler appointed Hassan al-Kalbi as Emir of Sicily. He ruled from 948 to 964 and started the Kalbid Dynasty in the Island of Sicily which until 1053. Then divisions between Muslims in the Island caused the formation of several emirates in the Island.

In 1059, the Pope Nicholas II or Robert ben Tancred (Pope from 1059 to 1061), ordered the Island to be under Christian control. So, the conquest was led by his brother Roger (Roger I of Sicily), and the Island was lost to the Catholic Normans as follows: Messina in 1061, Palermo in 1072, Enna in 1087, and lastly Butera and Noto (Southern tip) in 1091. The percentage of Muslims continued to decrease as Muslims fled the Island or Christianized. Two centuries later, there were no Muslims in the Island. Thus, Sicily was under Muslim control for 96 to 264 years.

In the Italian Peninsula, Muslims occupied Brindisi (840 to 870), Taranto (840 to 880), Bari (841 to 871), Benevento (842-852), and arrived at Roma in 846, forcing the Pope to pay tribute (Jizya). Muslims did not stay long in the Peninsula (maximum of 40 years). There were other attacks and occupations by the Fatimids, Hafsids and the Ottoman later on, but the lands were under Muslim control for only about one year. This includes the northwestern parts of the Peninsula: the cities of Pisa and Genoa.

Censuses before 1931 show negligible existence of Muslims in Italy as the population declared its religion other than Christian or Jewish made up 0.00% of the total population. The 1910 Austrian census in lands that belonged to the Austrian Empire, but now are in Italy recorded 207 Muslims distributed as follows: 191 in Triest, eleven in Merano, four in Bozen and one in Gorz.

Muslims started migrating to Italy in the second half of the twentieth century as Italy needed more workers, many of whom came from North Africa and the Balkans. The immigration intensified from Albania after 1991, with the collapse of Communism. A 2012 survey by the National Institute of Statistics (Istat) found that 29% of foreign nationals, 42% of Albanian foreign nationals as well as the majority of Bosnians and Macedonians were Muslim [IT12]. Table 4.5.5b presents the distribution of the estimated Muslim population per regions of Italy. The estimates are based on the assumptions that foreign nationals from Muslim majority countries are Muslim as well as those from Bosnia and Macedonia and half of those from Albania. The total was adjusted by those who obtained Italian citizenship. Over a quarter of Muslims live in the region of Lombardy where they make up almost 5% of the population. The next largest distributions are in Emilia-Romagna (13%), Veneto (11%), Piedmont (9%), Tuscany (7%) and Lazio (7%) where the capital Rome is located. Thus, the Muslim population in Italy increased from 15,000 or 0.03% in 1981, to 0.11 million or 0.2% in 1991, to 0.45 million or 0.8% in 2001, to 0.96 million or 1.7% in 2006, to 1.5 million or 2.5% in 2011, to 1.8 million or 2.9% in 2016 and 2.2 million or 3.7% in 2021. According to EVS data, the percentage of Muslims increased from 0.11% in 2009, to 1.09% in 2018.

Thus, assuming that the percentage of Muslims will continue to increase by one percentage point per decade; then the Muslim population is expected to be around 3.5 million or 7% by 2050 and around 4.5 million or 12% by 2100.

Historical Muslim population dataset for Italy

The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.

For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.