Islam in Finland

The constitution of Finland ensures freedom of religion and Muslims are free to proselytize and build places of worship in the country.

Nowadays, there are dozens of Islamic communities in Finland, but only a minority of Muslims have joined them.

[4] The Baltic Tatars arrived in Finland as merchants and soldiers at the end of the 19th century.

[6] By the early 1980s, several hundred Muslims predominantly from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) had immigrated as students, laborers and spouses.

[6] Like most countries in Western Europe, Muslims tend to live in the larger cities of Finland like Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu and Turku.

[7] In 2018, the Minister of Justice Antti Häkkänen ruled out the use of Islamic law in Finland.

[11] Total: 102,696 The ICCT report from April 2016 showed that at least 70 individuals had left Finland to enter the conflict zone and the majority joined jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq.

[13] Islamist militants constituted the majority of those under surveillance by the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (SUPO) in 2020 and Finland is portrayed as an enemy state in ISIS propaganda.

A number of militants have arrived from the conflict zone in Syria and the Al-Hawl refugee camp and constitute both a short and long term security threat.