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The western Rhodope region makes up part of the heartland of Bulgaria’s Muslim minority. The Pomaks, the majority of whom live there, follow an Islamic tradition whose roots go back to the time of the Ottoman conquest of the Balkan Peninsula in the 14th century and which also outlived the Communist period. Since the system changed in the early 1990s the Muslims in the country have had more freedom to live out their faith. New religious currents, particularly from the Gulf States, reach the Balkans that on the one hand have a revitalizing effect on religious life, yet at the same time also challenge the traditional beliefs and structures. Islamic expert Prof. Simeon Evstatiev visits several Muslim communities in southern Bulgaria while conducting his field research and encounters a new Muslim self-confidence.