Islam in Ivory Coast

monotheistic religion to arrive in Ivory Coast. According to the 2021 census, it is professed by 42.5% of the total population.^[1]

Maliki version of Islamic law.^[2] Sufism, involving the organization of mystical brotherhoods (Tariqa) for the purification and spread of Islam, is also widespread, laced with indigenous beliefs and practices.^[2] The four major Sufi brotherhoods are all represented in Ivory Coast, although the Qadiriya, founded in the eleventh century, and the Tidjaniya, founded in the eighteenth century, are most popular.^[2] The Qadiriya is prevalent in the west, and the Tidjaniya, in the east. The other two major Islamic brotherhoods have few adherents in Ivory Coast.^[2] The Senoussiya is identified with Libya, where its influence is substantial.^[2] Ahmadiyya movement is also present in Ivory Coast.^[2]

amulets, which protect the wearer—Muslim or non-Muslim—against evil.^[2] The influence of marabouts has produced a number of reactions in Ivoirian society, among them a series of reformist movements.^[2] These reform movements often condemn Sufism and marabouts as un-Islamic, but the poor see that marabouts often speak out on behalf of the downtrodden.^[2]

Hamallah, was exiled from the French Sudan to Ivory Coast during the 1930s.^[2] He preached Islamic reform tempered by tolerance of many local practices, but he condemned many aspects of Sufism.^[2] Orthodox brotherhoods were able to convince the French authorities in Ivory Coast that Hamallah had been responsible for earlier political uprisings in the French Sudan.^[2] Authorities then expelled Hamallah from Ivory Coast and banned his teachings.^[2]