Islam in Burundi

A mosque in Bujumbura, pictured in 2009. The green colouring of its roof is symbolic.

Islam is a minority religion in Burundi where approximately 90 percent of the national population are followers of Christianity. Between 2–5 percent of the population identifies as Muslim, according to a 2010 estimate by the United States Department of State.[1] The same year, the Pew Research Centre estimated that there were 230,000 Muslims in Burundi, equivalent to 2.8 percent of Burundi's 8.4 million inhabitants.[2]

## Religion

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Islam by country

World percentage of Muslims by country

Africa

* Algeria
* Angola
* Benin
* Botswana
* Burkina Faso
* Burundi
* Cameroon
* Cape Verde
* Central African Republic
* Chad
* Comoros
* Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Republic of the Congo
* Djibouti
* Egypt
* Equatorial Guinea
* Eritrea
* Eswatini
* Ethiopia
* Gabon
* Gambia
* Ghana
* Guinea
* Guinea-Bissau
* Ivory Coast
* Kenya
* Lesotho
* Liberia
* Libya
* Madagascar
* Malawi
* Mali
* Mauritania
* Mauritius
* Mayotte
* Morocco
* Western Sahara
* Mozambique
* Namibia
* Niger
* Nigeria
* Réunion
* Rwanda
* São Tomé and Príncipe
* Senegal
* Seychelles
* Sierra Leone
* Somalia
* South Africa
* South Sudan
* Sudan
* Tanzania
* Togo
* Tunisia
* Uganda
* Zambia
* Zimbabwe

Asia

* Afghanistan
* Armenia
* Azerbaijan
* Bahrain
* Bangladesh
* Bhutan
* Brunei
* Cambodia
* China
* Cyprus
* Georgia
* Hong Kong
* India
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Iraq
* Israel
* Japan
* Jordan
* Kazakhstan
* Korea
* North Korea
* South Korea
* Kuwait
* Kyrgyzstan
* Laos
* Lebanon
* Macau
* Malaysia
* Maldives
* Mongolia
* Myanmar
* Nepal
* Oman
* Pakistan
* Palestine
* Philippines
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia
* Singapore
* Sri Lanka
* Syria
* Taiwan
* Tajikistan
* Thailand
* Timor-Leste
* Turkey
* Turkmenistan
* United Arab Emirates
* Uzbekistan
* Vietnam
* Yemen

Americas

* Antigua and Barbuda
* Argentina
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Belize
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Canada
* Chile
* Colombia
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* Dominica
* Dominican Republic
* Ecuador
* El Salvador
* French Guiana
* Grenada
* Guatemala
* Guyana
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Jamaica
* Mexico
* Nicaragua
* Panama
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Saint Lucia
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* Suriname
* Trinidad and Tobago
* United States
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

Europe

* Albania
* Andorra
* Austria
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Czechia
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Italy
* Kosovo
* Latvia
* Liechtenstein
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Moldova
* Monaco
* Montenegro
* Netherlands
* North Macedonia
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* Tatarstan
* San Marino
* Serbia
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom
* England
* Northern Ireland
* Scotland
* Wales

Oceania

* Australia
* Christmas Island
* Cocos (Keeling) Islands
* Cook Islands
* Fiji
* Guam
* Kiribati
* Marshall Islands
* Micronesia
* Nauru
* New Caledonia
* New Zealand
* Northern Mariana Islands
* Palau
* Papua New Guinea
* Samoa
* Solomon Islands
* Tonga
* Tuvalu
* Vanuatu

Islam portal

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### History

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Islam first arrived in Burundi from the East African coast with Arab traders in the late 19th century.[3] The Arabs were prevented from entering the Kingdom of Burundi by a successful campaign of resistance led by mwami (king) Mwezi IV Gisabo.[3] However, they did establish settlements at Ujiji and Uvira close to the country's current borders.[3] The number of Muslims in Burundi increased under German colonial rule (1894–1916) and the German administration favoured the use of Kiswahili, spoken mostly by the Muslim population, over Kirundi. By the outbreak of World War I, Usumbura (now Bujumbura) had a population which was majority Muslim.[3] The religion declined under Belgian colonial rule (1916–62) as a result of the spread of Christianity (especially Catholicism) and urbanisation which brought non-Muslim Burundians into the cities.[3]

### Today

[edit]

Today the Muslim population is strongly urbanised and focused in Bujumbura, especially in the communes (districts) of Buyenzi and Bwiza, as well as the towns of Gitega, Rumonge, Nyanza, Muyinga, and Makamba. The great majority are Sunni while a small minority are Shia and Ibadi.[1][3] Most are Kiswahili speakers although they may speak other national languages as well.[3] Native Burundian Muslims belong to both of the country's major ethnic groups (Hutu and Tutsi) and largely avoided becoming involved in the Burundian genocides and other inter-ethnic violence since independence.[3] However, a significant proportion of the community are recent immigrants to the country from West Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Middle East, and Pakistan.[3]

The Republic of Burundi is officially secular but several Muslim festivals, including Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, are celebrated as national holidays alongside Christian observances.[1] Despite being only a small proportion of the national population, Muslims are represented in senior positions in Burundian politics and society, especially since the end of the Burundian Civil War.[4]

## Notable people

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Main page: Category:Burundian Muslims

## See also

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* Islam portal
* Burundi portal

* Religion in Burundi
* Islam in Africa
* Union for Peace and Democracy

## References

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1. ^ a b c "Burundi". International Religious Freedom Report 2010. United States Department of State. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
2. ^ "Religions in Burundi". Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project. Pew Research Centres. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Luffin 1999, p. 29.
4. ^ "Despite small numbers, Burundi Muslims still influential". World Bulletin. 26 May 2015. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2016.

### Bibliography

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* Luffin, Xavier (1999). "Muslims in Burundi: Discretion and Neutrality" (PDF). ISIM Newsletter. 3 (1). International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World: 29.

## Further reading

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* Castryck, Geert (2019). "Living Islam in Colonial Bujumbura – The Historical Translocality of Muslim Life between East and Central Africa". History in Africa (46): 263–298\. doi:10.1017/hia.2019.2. ISSN 0361-5413.
* Castryck, Geert (2020). "Children of the revolution: the citizenship of urban Muslims in the Burundian decolonization process". Journal of Eastern African Studies. 14 (2): 185–203\. doi:10.1080/17531055.2020.1728085.
* Gahama, Joseph (2001). Le Burundi sous administration belge : la période du mandat, 1919-1939 (2nd ed.). Paris: Karthala. pp. 237–44\. ISBN 2-86537-089-5.
* Chrétien, Jean-Paul (2008). "Les communautés indiennes au Burundi sous les colonisations allemande et belge". Lusotopie. 15 (1): 161–73\. doi:10.1163/176830808785327458.

## External links

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Media related to Islam in Burundi at Wikimedia Commons

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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
* Djibouti
* Egypt
* Equatorial Guinea
* Eritrea
* Eswatini
* Ethiopia
* Gabon
* The Gambia
* Ghana
* Guinea
* Guinea-Bissau
* Ivory Coast
* 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
* South Sudan
* Sudan
* Tanzania
* Togo
* Tunisia
* Uganda
* Zambia
* Zimbabwe

States with limited
recognition

* Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
* Somaliland

Dependencies and
other territories

* Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla (Spain)
* Madeira (Portugal)
* Mayotte / Réunion (France)
* Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)
* Western Sahara

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