Islam in Mozambique is the religion of between 17.8% and 20% of the population, around 4 million people. This figure is disputed by some Muslim clerics, who say Islam is practiced by a much larger number of people. The vast majority of Mozambican Muslims are Sunni, although Ismaili Muslims are also registered.

Pre-colonial history

Mozambique has historic ties with the Muslim world, mostly by way of coastal trading cities, which served as the most southern part of the Indian Ocean trade. The former port city of Sofala, once famous for its trade in gold (by way of Great Zimbabwe) with the Islamic Middle East and India, is a testament to this. It is believed that nearly all the cities inhabitants had been Muslim before the arrival of the Portuguese in 1505.[1]. Sofala and much of the rest of coastal Mozambique was part of the Kilwa Sultanate from Arab arrival (believed to be the 12th century) until it's conquest in the 16th century.

Colonial history

Islam faced serious challenges in Mozambique during the colonial era. During the Estado Novo period (1926-1974), Roman Catholicism was the dominant religion with a formal alliance (Concordat) with the state. The colonial administration opposed Islam in many ways. Only with the start of the liberation war did the state lower its opposition and try to coopt Islam - to avoid dissidence and an alliance between Muslims and the liberation movement.

Modern Mozambique

As is true in much of Africa, Islam is growing in Mozambique today. Since the end of the Socialist period (1989 onwards), Muslims have been able to proselytise freely and build new mosques - even in the capital city center. Muslims have also made their way into parliament. Several South African, Kuwaiti and other Muslim agencies are active in Mozambique, with one important one being the African Muslim Agency. An Islamic University has been set up in Nampula, with a branch in Inhambane. Also, Mozambique is an active member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

Prominent Mozambican Muslims

• Amade Camal, MP from Nampula Province

References

• Liazzat Bonate, « Dispute over Islamic funeral rites in Mozambique. A Demolidora dos Prazeres by Shaykh Aminuddin Mohamad », LFM. Social sciences & missions, no.17, Dec.2005, pp.41-59
• Liazzat Bonate, « Matriliny, Islam and Gender in Northern Mozambique », Journal of Religion in Africa, vol.36, no.2, pp.2006, pp.139-166
• Eric Morier-Genoud, « L’islam au Mozambique après l’indépendance. Histoire d’une montée en puissance », L’Afrique Politique 2002, Paris: Karthala, 2002, pp.123-146
• Eric Morier-Genoud, « The 1996 ‘Muslim holiday’ affair. Religious competition and state mediation in contemporary Mozambique », Journal of Southern African Studies, Oxford, vol.26, n°3, Sept. 2000, pp.409 – 427.

External links

• Sofala in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
• 2003 Mozambique International Religious Freedom Report
• Religion in Mozambique

•  • [ e] Islam in Africa
Sovereign states	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Cte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda So Tom and Prncipe Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
Dependencies and other territories	Canary Islands Ceuta Mayotte Melilla Puntland Runion St. Helena Socotra Somaliland Western Sahara