Islam in Tanzania

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Tanzanian Muslims
Total population
approx. 16–21 million (27%–35%)[1]
Website
www.bakwata.org
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Islam in Tanzania is the second largest religion in the country behind Christianity.[2] There are no reliable statistics, figures claimed vary between 35%[3] and "almost half"[4] of the people of Tanzania. On the mainland, Muslim communities are concentrated in coastal areas, with some large Muslim majorities also in inland urban areas especially and along the former caravan routes. More than 99% of the population of the Zanzibar archipelago is Muslim. The overwhelming majority of Muslims in Tanzania are Sunni Muslim, with Shia and Ahmadi minorities in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Pew Research Center research conducted in 2008 and 2009, the majority of the Muslim population of Tanzania identifies as Sunni Muslim, 20% as Shia, and 15% as Ahmadi,[5] besides a smaller subset of Ibadism practitioners.[6]

History[]

The Great Mosque of Kilwa is one of the earliest surviving mosques in the African Great Lakes.

The earliest concrete evidence of a Muslim presence in the African Great Lakes is the foundation of a mosque in Shanga on Pate Island, where gold, silver and copper coins dated from 830 were found during an excavation in the 1980s. The oldest functioning mosque is the Kizimkazi mosque which dates back to the 11th or early 12th century.[7]

The political history of Islam in the country can be traced to the establishment of the Kilwa Sultanate in the 10th century by Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi,[8] a Persian prince of Shiraz.[9] Islam was mainly spread through trade activity along the East African coast and by the 16th century, Islam was firmly established in the region.[7]

Around the 19th century, trading routes between the Tanzanian interior and the Swahili coast intensified the influence of Swahili culture and religion. Despite the importance of trade, the spread of Islam in the interior was mainly facilitated by Sufi missionaries, converted locals returning from the coast, and Muslim chiefs during the colonial period.[10][7]

Sufi orders like the Qadiriyya and Shadhiliyya propagated throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, further consolidating Islam in the interior. During the struggle for Tanzanian independence in the mid-20th century, the Muslims of the nation supported the movement.[10]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "The World Fact Book: Tanzania". Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Tanzania". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
  3. ^ Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, Tanzania, Pew Research Center, 2016, retrieved 1 March 2019
  4. ^ "BBC News | Africa | Tanzanian police break up Muslim protest". news.bbc.co.uk. 30 July 1999. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  5. ^ "The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity" (PDF). Pew Forum on Religious & Public life. 9 August 2012. p. 128. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  6. ^ Wortmann, Kimberly T. Omani Religious Networks in Contemporary Tanzania and Beyond. Diss. 2018.
  7. ^ a b c Westerlund, David; Svanberg, Ingvar (1999). "Tanzania". Islam Outside the Arab World. Psychology Press. pp. 97–99. ISBN 978-0-7007-1124-6.
  8. ^ شاكر مصطفى, موسوعة دوال العالم الأسلامي ورجالها الجزء الثالث, (دار العلم للملايين: 1993), p.1360
  9. ^ James Hastings, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Part 24, (Kessinger Publishing: 2003), p.847
  10. ^ a b Becker, Felicitas (2018-06-25). "The History of Islam in East Africa". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.151. ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4. Retrieved 2021-12-02.

External links[]

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