Islam in Madagascar

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A mosque in Antananarivo.

Ethnicity of Madagascan Muslims (2021 estimate)[1]

  
Comorians, Indians, Pakistanis
, and others (35%)
Islam by country
World percentage of Muslims by country
Africa
Asia
Americas
Europe
Oceania
 Islam portal

secular nature of the Madagascar's constitution, Muslims
are free to proselytize and build places of worship in the country.

Islam has been well established in what is now known as

Shia communities.[citation needed
]

Demographics

Followers constitute approximately 2 to 7 percent of the population.[3][4][5] The majority of the Muslims of Madagascar live in the coastal and north-western regions of the country. The ethnic makeup of the Muslim community includes Indians, Pakistanis, Comorians, and the native Malagasy peoples.[6]

Conversions

There is a growing number of ethnic Malagasy converts to Islam in Madagascar.[7] It is hypothesized that several hundred thousand Malagasy convert to Islam each year.[8]

Historical background

Settlement of Arabs

Further information: Sorabe alphabet

Beginning in the 10th or 11th century,

Majunga area) and were the first to actually bring Islam
to the island.

Arab and

Sorabe is an alphabet based on Arabic used to transcribe the Malagasy language and the Antemoro dialect in particular. The Arabs were also the first to correctly identify the origin of most Malagasy by suggesting that the island was colonized by the Indonesians.[9]

Colonization and Independence

Antsirabe mosque

Upon independence from

secular Soviet Union
. This stifled the development of all religion in Madagascar including Islam. However, in the 1980s, Madagascar drifted away from the Soviet Union and back towards France.

Issues

Even after the passage of the nationality law in 2017, Muslims born in the country reported that members of the community have been unable to obtain Malagasy nationality despite generations of residence.[7]

Some Malagasy Muslims have also reported difficulty in obtaining official or governmental documents at public administration offices due to their non-Malagasy sounding names. Some Muslims have also reportedly faced ridicule and harassment for being perceived as foreigners despite possessing national identity cards.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Madagascar". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  2. ^ "National Profiles".
  3. ^ a b "Madagascar". Global Religious Futures. Pew Research Center. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b "The World Factbook - Madagascar". Archived from the original on 2021-02-14. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  5. ^ a b "Religious Beliefs In Madagascar". WorldAtlas. Archived from the original on 2021-08-16. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  6. tandfonline
    .
  7. ^ a b c "2020 Report on International Religious Freedom: Madagascar". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 2021-08-31. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  8. ^ "L'islamisation à Madagascar". Institut français des relations internationales (in French). Archived from the original on 2021-08-16. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  9. ^ "Informed Comment". Archived from the original on 2017-07-03. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
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