At the Faculty of Islamic Studies of the University of Sarajevo, on Tuesday, 16 December 2025, a lecture by Prof. Dr. Stefan Schreiner entitled Europeans for 700 Years: Tatar Muslims in Eastern Europe and Their Legacy was held. The lecture was intended for the academic community, officials of the Islamic Community, students, and all those interested in the history and culture of Tatar Muslims. The event was attended by a large audience.
Professor Schreiner offered a rich and historically grounded overview of the presence of Tatar Muslims in Eastern Europe—a community that has been an integral part of the European social and cultural space for more than seven centuries. While discussions of Islam in Europe usually focus on al-Andalus and the Muslim heritage of the Balkans, Professor Schreiner emphasized the importance of a third, often overlooked, area of European–Islamic interaction: the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which extended from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
In this region, Tatar Muslims have lived continuously for over 700 years. As loyal members of the societies in which they lived and continue to live, they have left a significant mark on European history. Although small in number, they have succeeded in preserving the Hanafi school of law and the Maturidi theological tradition, as well as their own culture, language, customs, and a rich manuscript heritage that bears witness to their long-standing presence.
The lecture provided a fresh perspective on the role of Islam in European history, presenting Tatar Muslims as an example of long-term integration, cultural resilience, and active contribution to European society.
Prof. Dr. Stefan Schreiner (b. 1947) is one of Europe’s leading scholars of Islam, Judaism, and interreligious relations. He studied theology, Arabic studies, Islamic studies, and Jewish studies, and earned his PhD in 1974 at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Since 1992, he has served as Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the University of Tübingen, and since 2013 he has held the title of Senior Professor.
His scholarly work focuses in particular on the relationship between the Qur’an and the Bible, Jewish–Muslim intellectual heritage, and the development of Islamic theology in the European context.
The Faculty of Islamic Studies expresses its gratitude to Prof. Dr. Schreiner for this inspiring and academically valuable lecture, which further enriched the understanding of the presence of Islam in European history.
