Islam in Nigeria

Islam is a traditional religion in West Africa. It came to northern Nigeria as early as the eleventh century and was well established in the state capitals of the region by the sixteenth century , spreading into the countryside and toward the middle belt uplands. There, Islam's advance was stopped by the resistance of local peoples to incorporation into the emirate states. The Fulani -led expansion in the nineteenth century pushed Islam into Nupe and across the Niger River into northern Yoruba -speaking areas. The colonial conquest established a rule that active Christian proselytizing could not occur in the northern Muslim region, although in 1990 the two religions continued to compete for converts in the middle belt, where ethnic groups and even families had adherents of each persuasion.

Abuja National Mosque , located in Abuja Islam is one of the religions practiced in West Africa . Nigeria has one of the largest Muslim populations in West Africa, 50.4% of Nigeria's population. However, other sources give a slightly lower estimate of 50%. Muslims in Nigeria are predominantly Sunni in the Maliki school, which is also the governing Sharia law. However, there is a significant Shia minority, primarily in Kaduna , Kano , Katsina and Sokoto State ; (see Shia in Nigeria ). A smaller minority follow the Ahmadiyya Islam, a reformatory sect originating in 19th century India. In particular Pew Forum on religious diversity identifies 12% as Shia Muslims and 3% as Ahmadi Muslims. Islam came to Northern Nigeria as early as the 9th century CE, and was well established in the Kanem-Bornu Empire during the reign of Humme Jilmi . It had spread to the major cities of the northern part of the country by the 16th century, later moving into the countryside and towards the Middle Belt uplands. However, there are some claims for an earlier arrival. The Nigeria-born Muslim scholar Sheikh Dr. Abu-Abdullah Abdul-Fattah Adelabu has argued that Islam had reached Sub-Sahara Africa, including Nigeria, as early as the 1st century of Hijrah through Muslim traders and expeditions during the reign of the Arab conquror, Uqba ibn al Nafia (622–683) whose Islamic conquests under the Umayyad dynasty, in Amir Muavia and Yazid periods, spread all Northern Africa or the Maghrib Al-Arabi , including present-day Algeria , Tunisia , Libya and Morocco . Islam also came to the southwestern Yoruba -speaking areas during the time of Mansa Musa 's Mali Empire . In his Movements of Islam in face of the Empires and Kingdoms in Yorubaland , Sheikh Dr. Abu-Abdullah Adelabu supported his claims on early arrival of Islam in the southwestern Nigeria by citing the Arab anthropologist Abduhu Badawi, who argued that the fall of Koush southern Egypt and the prosperity of the politically multicultural Abbasid period in the continent had created several streams of migration, moving west in the mid-9th Sub-Sahara . According to Adelabu , the popularity and influences of the Abbasid Dynasty , the second great dynasty with the rulers carrying the title of ' Caliph ' fostered peaceful and prosperous search of pastures by the inter-cultured Muslims from Nile to Niger and Arab traders from Desert to Benue , echoing the conventional historical view that the conquest of North Africa by the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate between AD 647–709 effectively ended Catholicism in Africa for several centuries. Islam in Ancient Yoruba is referred to as Esin Imale (religion of the malians) as the earliest introduction of the religion to that region was through Malian itinerant traders ( Wangara Traders) around the 14th - 15th Century. Pew Forum on Religious & Public life.

Muslims religion in Nigeria ( Learn how and when to remove this message ) Nigeria has the largest Muslim population in West Africa. The CIA estimates over 50% of the population is Muslim while the BBC estimated in 2007 that slightly over 50% of the population is Muslim. Muslims in Nigeria are predominantly Sunnis of the Maliki school of thought. However, there is a significant Shia minority, primarily in Kaduna , Kano , Katsina , Osun , Ilorin and Sokoto states (see Shia in Nigeria ). In particular, a 2012 Pew Forum survey on religious diversity identified 12% of Nigerian Muslims as Shia. BBC: "Nigeria: Facts and figures" April 7, 2007 "The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity" . Pew Forum on Religious & Public life.

Muslims religion in Nigeria Islam is one of the largest religions in Nigeria and the country has the largest Muslim population in Africa . In 2018, the CIA World Factbook estimated that 53.5% of Nigeria's population is Muslim. Islam is predominantly concentrated in the northern half of the country, with a significant Muslim minority existing in the southern region. Most of Northern Nigeria is governed under Sharia law , while the rest of the country is governed under secular law. Merchants from North Africa and the Senegalese basin introduced Islam to what is now Nigeria during the 11th century, and it was the first monotheistic Abrahamic religion to arrive in Nigeria. The northern half of Nigeria was historically under the rule of various Islamic states and empires such as the Kanem–Bornu Empire , the Mali Empire , the Songhai Empire , and the Hausa Kingdoms . The Sokoto Caliphate , founded by Fulani Islamic scholar Usman dan Fodio , dominated northern Nigeria throughout the 19th century during the Fula jihads , until it was annexed by the British Empire in 1903. Portuguese missionaries introduced Christianity to the southern half of Nigeria during the 15th century, and it grew to be a dominant religion in Nigeria alongside Islam during British colonial rule beginning in the late 19th century. Muslims in Nigeria are predominantly Sunnis of the Maliki school of thought. However, there is a significant Shia minority, primarily in Kaduna , Kano , Katsina , Osun , Kwara , Yobe and Sokoto states (see Shia in Nigeria ). In particular, A 2008 Pew Forum survey on religious diversity identified 5% of Nigerian Muslims as Shia. The Ahmadiyya movement also has a sizeable presence in the country. "Islam in Nigeria" . 15 November 2002. Pew Forum on Religious & Public life.

Geography Politics Economy Society Outline Category Portal Islam is one of the major religions in Nigeria , with a history that spans over a millennium. While some scholars suggest that Islam was introduced to the region as early as the 9th century, it is more commonly accepted that the religion began to take root in what is now modern-day Nigeria around the 11th century. The spread of Islam was primarily facilitated by trade routes across the Sahara and the influence of Muslim merchants and scholars. By the 19th century, the Sokoto Caliphate, founded through the Fulani Jihad led by Usman dan Fodio, established Islam as the predominant religion in northern Nigeria. The religion also spread to the southwest among the Yoruba through trade and cultural exchange. Islam remains a major religion in Nigeria today, practised by approximately 47–54% of the population. The variance in estimations reflects the differences in survey methodologies and the absence of an official national religious census since 1963. The majority of Nigerian Muslims are Sunni (95%), predominantly following the Maliki school, with a small Shia minority (5%) concentrated in areas like Sokoto. Sufi orders, such as Tijaniyya and Qadiriyya, are significant, with about 37% of Muslims identifying with Sufi groups. Islam predominates in northern Nigeria, particularly among the Hausa and Fulani, and has a strong presence among the Yoruba in the southwest.Higher fertility rates in Muslim-majority northern regions contribute to a projected increase in the Muslim population share by 2060. Since 1999, twelve northern states in Nigeria have gradually adopted Sharia law . Initially limited to civil matters such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance, the scope of Sharia was significantly expanded in 2000 to include criminal law, beginning with Zamfara State and followed by eleven others This expansion introduced punishments such as flogging, amputations, and stoning, sparking widespread criticism from human rights groups and raising concerns about compatibility with Nigeria’s secular constitution. Pew Research Center . 2 April 2015 . Pew Research Center . 2 April 2015 . Department of State. 2022 . Department of State . 2024 . Pew Research Center . 9 August 2012 . The extension of Shari'a to criminal law in Nigeria (Report). Open Doors UK & Ireland. 23 April 2025 . "Catholic priest: "Caution in the application of Sharia in religiously mixed areas" " .