Dr. Agata Nalborczyk, a professor at the university's Faculty of Asian and African Studies, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that between roughly 40,000 and 76,000 Muslims now live in Poland.
"Even if tens of thousands of Muslims have recently come to Poland to work, it is still not a large number on a national scale — though they may seem more visible because they work in cities in customer-facing roles, such as taxi drivers or food delivery couriers", she said.
Nalborczyk cautioned that these recent arrivals should not yet be considered a settled community. "Only when they decide to stay and bring their families will that change", she said.
Poland had long served as a transit country for migrants heading further west, she noted. "Whether it is attractive enough for them to stay and support a family on a relatively modest wage, we do not yet know", she added.
The country's older Muslim presence is rooted in the Tatars, who have lived in the region since the 14th century, when Lithuanian Prince Vytautas brought them as mercenaries to fight the Teutonic Knights. In exchange for military service, successive rulers granted them land and broad freedoms, including the right to practice Islam and build mosques.
The Tatars earned full noble rights in the 18th century and maintained enduring loyalty to the Polish state — fighting in uprisings, serving in diplomatic roles during the interwar period and on multiple fronts during World War Two.
Poland was also among the first countries in Europe to formally regulate its relationship with Islam, passing a law on the Muslim Religious Union in 1936. The union itself had been established in 1925 with state financial support, making it one of the oldest Muslim organizations in Europe.
"No one tried to convert them, no one persecuted them — they had full religious freedom, and they repaid that with loyalty to the state", Nalborczyk said.
(jh)
Source: PAP