The aim of this paper is to dive into the national and ethnic identities in the Balkans, and how the Muslim national identity was developed in contrast to the Southeastern European Christians. It also delves into the phenomenon whereby a faith (theoretically, at least) privileged religious belief over ethnicity or nationalism.

Although the Muslims under Ottoman rule often perceived themselves as different from their co-religionist rulers in Istanbul, as shall be demonstrated in this paper, they nevertheless shared the religion of the rulers of the Empire and practiced a religion that suppressed the development of national identity far more explicitly than did Christianity. Thus, it describes how the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century, and the consequent recognition that this state was ceasing to protect the interests and identity of the Muslim population in Southeastern Europe, is what led to the development of ethnic and national identity among the Muslims.

Key words: identity, Ottoman Empire, faith, ethnicity, Balkans, Albanians, Bosniak