Islam in Namibia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Islam in Namibia is relatively new and is the third largest religion in Namibia after Christianity and the indigenous religions.
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[edit] Number of Muslims
The government of Namibia puts the number of Muslims in the country at about 70,000 or about 3% of the population of Namibia.[1][2] Adherents.com estimates that Muslims are 5% of the population of Namibia, though with a disclaimer that the statistical methodology used is unreliable.[3]
[edit] Growth of Namibia's Muslim Community
Most of Namibia's Muslim community are members of the Namaqua ethnic group. It is believed that this is mostly as a result of the efforts of a prominent politician among the Nama, Jacobs Salmaan Dhameer, the country’s incumbent Electoral Commissioner, who converted to Islam in 1980. The first mosque in the country was built in Katutura. Today, there are seven mosques in the country. Twenty-four Namibians are currently studying in Saudi Arabia. Others have been sent for long term Islamic training in institutions in South Africa.
[edit] Terrorism
Namibian intelligence agents have interrogated several Muslims in Windhoek about possible links to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda group.[4]
[edit] Notes
Islam in Africa | |
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| 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 · Côte 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 · São Tomé and Príncipe · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · South Africa · Sudan · Swaziland · Tanzania · Togo · Tunisia · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe |
| Dependencies, autonomies and other territories | Canary Islands (Spain) · Ceuta (Spain) · Madeira (Portugal) · Mayotte (France) · Melilla (Spain) · Puntland · Réunion (France) · St. Helena (UK) · Socotra (Yemen) · Somaliland · Southern Sudan · Western Sahara · Zanzibar (Tanzania) |
