Islam in Uganda
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Islam in Uganda is the second largest religion in the country behind Christianity. Islam is practised by 14 percent of the population.[1] The Pew Research Center in 2014, however, estimated that 11.5 percent of Ugandans were Muslim.[2] The vast majority of Muslims in Uganda are Sunni. Small Shia and Ahmadi minorities are also present.[3]
The Iganga District in the east of Uganda had the highest percentage of Muslims according to a 2009 published report.[4]
History
[edit]The presence of Islam in Southern Uganda was first recorded in the 1840s during the reign of Suuna II, the ruler of the Kingdom of Buganda in central Uganda. Muslim traders from the Swahili coast came to Buganda via Karagwe. One of the first of these was Ahmad bin Ibrahim, who was known particularly for his proselytizing, an unusual trait not often mentioned in accounts about traders. According to European sources, his efforts at converting local Baganda to Islam were a result of his "Wahhabist" sympathies. Ahmad was treated as a friend and protege of Suuna and he held discussions with the kabaka about the Quran, Muslim law, and theology. Suuna is said to have memorised several chapters of the Quran by heart and after his death manuscript pages from the Quran were discovered in his house. Despite this, there is no evidence that Suuna ever seriously intended to adopt Islam. However, it is known that he encouraged Ahmad to extend the teaching of Islam to his subjects, as well as to neighboring Karagwe. [5]
After Suuna's death he was succeeded by Kabaka Mutesa, who is said to have had an even more interest in Islam than his father. In the late 1850s or early 1860s, Mutesa was visited by Ali Nakatukula, who left a Swahili servant to teach Mutesa Arabic. The Kabaka excelled in this to such an extent that he was able to translate portions of the Quran into Luganda. Thereafter he began spreading Islam to his chiefs and subjects. A large mosque was built at his palace, and his pages were appointed as guardians of the mosque. Every Friday he and his chiefs would gather there to pray. He decreed that his chiefs and subjects should perform daily prayers and use Arabic or Swahili forms of greeting. He also introduced Muslim forms of attire at his court. In 1867 Mutesa fasted the month of Ramadan for the first time, maintaining this for the next 10 years. More strikingly, he made fasting obligatory for all his subjects. He even sent an unsuccessful mission to the neighboring kingdom of Bunyoro in the hopes of convincing Kabarega to adopt Islam.
Thus, whereas under Suuna the spread of Islam had been confined mainly to the court and its immediate surroundings, under Mutesa the influence of Islam began to spread into the countryside and Muslims became commanders and heads of provinces. Indeed, during these years, Islam became a kind of "state" religion.
In 1875 the situation changed as Henry Morton Stanley visited the kabaka's court, then two years later the first Christian missionaries arrived, changing Mutesa's perception of Islam marking a turning point in the history of Islam in Buganda. At the same time, the Kabaka was feeling threatened by the advance of the Khedivate southwards from Egyptian Equatoria. From 1877 to 1884, the year of Mutesa's death, the Muslim position in Buganda deteriorated, as the Christian missionaries succeeded in arousing doubts and weakening Mutesa's practice of the Muslim faith. Mutesa's interest in Islam continued, as did his open admiration of the culture of the sultans of Zanzibar, but his relations with Muslims came to be exercised within the context of contemporary political circumstances. Mutesa seems to have had an overriding interest in obtaining guns from whomever he could; Muslim, Protestant or Catholic.
After his death, Buganda entered into a period known as the "wars of religion," during which the forces of Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism and traditional religion vied for power. The Baganda who had adopted Islam under Mutesa occupied many important posts and they were able to set Prince Kalema who ruled as a Muslim kabaka (1888-89), but in 1890 the arrival in Buganda of agents of the Imperial British East Africa Company helped to turn the tide irreversibly against Islam. [6]
However, one of the consequences of the loss of influence by Muslims in the court and government was the emigration of Baganda Muslims. They sought their fortunes elsewhere, going to neighboring areas, like Busoga, Toro, and Bunyoro, and a large group of Muslims from Buganda was also given refuge by the ruler of Ankole, helping to spread Islam wherever they went.
Meanwhile, Islam was also spread to northern Uganda via the expansion of the Khedivate of Egypt and the garrisoning of Muslim Sudanese troops under the command of Emin Pasha.[7] Later they were employed by British colonial administrator Frederick Lugard when Egyptian control collapsed in the south. [8]. These Sudanese soldiers imparted a permanent Muslim character to the towns they lived in. A legacy of this is Aringa County, the only part of East Africa where the Maliki school of law (madhhab) prevails. [9] Baganda Muslims were also recruited by the British as administrative agents, interpreters, and chiefs in such places as Lango, Teso, and Bukedi, using their influence to spread Islam. [10]
Despite persecution by the British, Islam flourished in the colonial period and was said to be fastest growing religion in Uganda by a colonial officer in the 1950s. Mosques were built in almost every established city in Uganda and the Uganda Muslim Education Association, founded by prince Badru Kakungulu with help by Asian Muslims, built hundreds of primary schools through introducing western educational curriculum into madrasah schools across the country.[11]
2002 census
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The 2002 national census recorded that Muslims represented 12.1 percent of the population.[12]: 11
| Region | % Muslim |
|---|---|
| Central | 18.4%[13] |
| Eastern | 17.0%[13] |
| Northern | 8.5%[13] |
| Western | 4.5%[13] |
| Total | 12.1% |
Geographical distribution
[edit]Yumbe District is the only district with a Muslim-majority (76%). Muslims form a significant minority in the districts of Mayuge (36%) and Iganga (34%).
| Region/District | Population
(2014 census) [14] |
Number of Muslims | Share of Muslims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kampala District | 1,187,795 | 268,787 | 22.6% |
| Iganga District | 708,630 | 239,582 | 33.8% |
| Yumbe District | 251,758 | 191,913 | 76.2% |
| Mukono District | 795,114 | 165,817 | 20.9% |
| Masaka District | 770,379 | 164,950 | 21.4% |
| Wakiso District | 907,736 | 164,256 | 18.1% |
| Mbale District | 717,534 | 132,247 | 18.4% |
| Arua District | 833,538 | 123,229 | 14.8% |
| Mayuge District | 324,668 | 117,526 | 36.2% |
| Kamuli District | 707,242 | 112,177 | 15.9% |
| Bugiri District | 412,365 | 101,571 | 24.6% |
| Jinja District | 387,249 | 100,257 | 25.9% |
| Pallisa District | 520,532 | 94,231 | 18.1% |
| Luwero District | 478,492 | 89,232 | 18.6% |
| Mpigi District | 407,739 | 87,314 | 21.4% |
| Kayunga District | 294,568 | 76,127 | 25.8% |
| Mubende District | 689,305 | 74,781 | 10.8% |
| Tororo District | 536,732 | 63,381 | 11.8% |
| Mbarara District | 1,088,012 | 61,273 | 5.6% |
| Rakai District | 470,144 | 51,348 | 10.9% |
| Moyo District | 194,734 | 35,569 | 18.3% |
| Kasese District | 522,726 | 33,790 | 6.5% |
| Masindi District | 459,244 | 31,753 | 6.9% |
| Bushenyi District | 731,217 | 31,293 | 4.3% |
| Sironko District | 283,056 | 28,961 | 10.2% |
| Kiboga District | 229,297 | 27,839 | 12.1% |
| Sembabule District | 180,028 | 27,408 | 15.2% |
| Busia District | 224,887 | 22,322 | 9.9% |
| Ntungamo District | 379,829 | 20,688 | 5.1% |
| Bundibugyo District | 209,820 | 18,601 | 8.9% |
| Nebbi District | 435,252 | 17,829 | 4.1% |
| Kabarole District | 356,704 | 17,696 | 5.0% |
| Hoima District | 343,480 | 17,438 | 5.1% |
| Kapchorwa District | 190,282 | 16,324 | 8.6% |
| Kibaale District | 405,761 | 13,044 | 3.2% |
| Kyenjojo District | 377,109 | 11,754 | 3.1% |
| Kumi District | 389,599 | 11,632 | 3.0% |
| Adjumani District | 202,223 | 11,273 | 5.6% |
| Kamwenge District | 263,595 | 10,865 | 4.1% |
| Lira District | 740,893 | 9,566 | 1.3% |
| Nakasongola District | 127,048 | 9,428 | 7.4% |
| Soroti District | 369,621 | 8,541 | 2.3% |
| Kanungu District | 204,640 | 5,564 | 2.7% |
| Rukungiri District | 275,101 | 5,339 | 1.9% |
| Kalangala District | 34,699 | 4,986 | 14.4% |
| Gulu District | 475,071 | 4,597 | 1.0% |
| Apac District | 683,987 | 3,999 | 0.6% |
| Kabale District | 458,107 | 3,753 | 0.8% |
| Katakwi District | 298,900 | 3,131 | 1.0% |
| Kotido District | 591,870 | 2,313 | 0.4% |
| Moroto District | 189,907 | 1,707 | 0.9% |
| Kisoro District | 220,202 | 1,693 | 0.8% |
| Kitgum District | 282,270 | 1,617 | 0.6% |
| Pader District | 326,320 | 1,463 | 0.4% |
| Nakapiripirit District | 154,494 | 1,390 | 0.9% |
| Kaberamaido District | 131,627 | 956 | 0.7% |
| Uganda (total) | 24,433,132 | 2,956,121 | 12.1% |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Uganda". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
- ^ "Global Religious Diversity: Appendix 2, Religious Diversity Index Scores and Religious Adherents by Region and Country" (PDF). Pew Research Center. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
- ^ "The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity" (PDF). Pew Forum on Religious & Public life. 9 August 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ United States Department of State (26 October 2009). "Uganda". International Religious Freedom Report 2009. Archived from the original on 30 November 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
- ^ Levtzion, Nehemia; Pouwels, Randall Lee (2000). The history of Islam in Africa. Athens (Ohio): Ohio university press. p. 291. ISBN 978-0-8214-1296-1.
- ^ Levtzion, Nehemia; Pouwels, Randall Lee (2000). The history of Islam in Africa. Athens (Ohio): Ohio university press. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-8214-1296-1.
- ^ Levtzion, Nehemia; Pouwels, Randall Lee (2000). The history of Islam in Africa. Athens (Ohio): Ohio university press. p. 354. ISBN 978-0-8214-1296-1.
- ^ Kasozi 1985, p. 36.
- ^ Levtzion, Nehemia; Pouwels, Randall Lee (2000). The history of Islam in Africa. Athens (Ohio): Ohio university press. p. 294. ISBN 978-0-8214-1296-1.
- ^ Levtzion, Nehemia; Pouwels, Randall Lee (2000). The history of Islam in Africa. Athens (Ohio): Ohio university press. p. 294. ISBN 978-0-8214-1296-1.
- ^ Kasozi 1985, p. 36-37.
- ^ "2002 Uganda Population and Housing Census - Main Report" (PDF). Uganda Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
- ^ a b c d "2002 Uganda Population and Housing Census - Population Composition (Household Composition, Religious and Ethnic Composition and Marriage)" (PDF). Uganda Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ^ http://www.ubos.org/onlinefiles/uploads/ubos/centableB7.pdf [dead link]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division.
Bibliography
[edit]- Kasozi, Abdu B.K. (January 1985). "The Uganda Muslim supreme council: an experiment in Muslim administrative centralisation and institutionalisation, 1972–82". Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs Journal. 6 (1): 34–52. doi:10.1080/13602008508715923.
Further reading
[edit]- Kasule, Joseph (2022). Islam in Uganda: The Muslim Minority, Nationalism & Political Power. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9781847012432.
External links
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