Islam in Mauritius

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Islam in Mauritius is the nation's third largest religion behind

British regime, starting in 1834 as part of the large-scale indentured labor force from India.[2]
: 123–124 

Mauritius became independent in 1968 and no official religion is defined in the constitution. Hindus make up about half of the population, Christians about a third and Muslims most of the rest. Several religious groups including Muslim ones are recognized by parliamentary decree and receive state subsidies according to their percentage of the population.

History

Jummah Mosque

Some scholars believed that Muslims arrived in Mauritius with the Dutch as slaves from Arabia, but this view has been disproved as the Arabians who were with the Dutch were mostly traders. Muslims arrived in Mauritius during the

Sunnis remained a majority, while other groups like Sunni Shafia, Shia and Bohra formed around 20 per cent of the total Muslims in the country.[3] Cocknies, Kodjas, Bohras and Aga-khanities are believed to have arrived in Mauritius during 1910 from East Africa. Tawheed ideology, which was commonly followed in Mauritius was replaced by Islamic Circle Religious Group which culled out religious practices from India. The trend was changed after the evolution of oil-rich Arab countries in the 1970s.[2]
: 142 

Communities

Religious census[4]
Faith Total %
Hinduism 48
Roman Catholic
 26
Islam 17
Other Christian 6
Others 3
* Others -
Animist
& others'
* Other Christian -
Evangelicals, Jehovah's Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Assemblies of God

The largest group of Muslims are the

Cochin in India. Creole Lascars are a new subgroup, who have intermarried with Cocknies or other communities.[6]

Within the Muslim community, there are three distinct ethnic groups that exist, notably the Memons and the Surtees (who are rich merchants who came from

Kutch and Surat province of Gujarat in India), then the "Hindi Calcattias" who came to Mauritius as indentured labourer from Bihar. Creole is the most used language among Muslims other than Arabic and Urdu, while other languages spoken include Bhojpuri, and Gujarati.[7]

Government policies

Roshan Jameer Masjid in Trou d'Eau Douce

Mauritius received independence during 1968 and there was no state religion in Mauritius defined in the constitution. The nation had no indigenous population nor any indigenous tribes or religion. The religious organizations present at the time of independence, namely,

Hindus and Muslims are recognized by parliamentary decree.[8] The constitution and other laws protect freedom of religion. The groups recognized by the government before independence receive an annual sum for paying their adherents. The government allows overseas missionary groups to operate on a case-by-case basis, although there are no rules that prohibit proselytizing activities. The missionaries should obtain both residence permit and work permit to operate, which is provided for a maximum of three years, without any extension. There are lot of government holidays, most of which are religious indicating the heterogeneity of religions.[8] As per the International Religious Freedom report of 2012 published by the United States Department of States, there were no incidence of religious abuses. The report also indicates other religions claim that Hindus have a majority in the government, while Hindus have sought a policy for anti-conversion.[8]

Mosques and administration

As of 1965, there were 65 mosques in the country.[3] The first purpose-built mosque in Mauritius is the Camp des Lascars Mosque in around 1805. It is now officially known as the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The

Jummah Mosque in Port Louis
was built in the 1850s and is described in the Ministry of Tourism's guide as one of the most beautiful religious buildings in Mauritius.

All mosques are controlled by a board called waqf, also a form of charitable organization. The Waqf Board in Mauritius was created in 1941 and it supervises the finances and administration of all the mosques. Each mosque has a manager named muttanwalli, elected by a congregation. The board helps executing funerals, imparting education in madraasas and all Islamic ceremonies. Major holidays like

Mi'raj and, for the Shia only, Muharram are celebrated with floats in the major mosques in the country.[9]

Notable Muslims

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Resident population by religion and sex" (PDF). Statistics Mauritius. p. 68. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  2. ^
    ISBN 9789053560358
  3. ^
    ISBN 9789004092396
    .
  4. ^ "Mauritius 2012 International religious freedom report" (PDF). United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. 2012. pp. 1–3. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  5. ^ "Islam in Mauritius". Academia. 2011. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2016.[circular reference]
  6. ^ Richards 2011, p. 38
  7. ^ Richards 2011, p. 37
  8. ^
    ISBN 9781452266565
    .
  9. ISBN 9788187746072
    .
  10. ^ "Parwez Kureemun n'est plus | Sunday Times". www.sundaytimesmauritius.com. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  11. ^ "Décès de Parvez Kureemun : une lumière s'est éteinte • Star". Star (in French). 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2018-02-08.

References

External links
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