Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

is the most followed religion in

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesCIA World Factbook
/ref> According to Pew, roughly 80% of

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s are

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Maliki The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...

school of

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

, whilst 20% are

non-denominational Muslim Non-denominational Muslims () are Muslims who do not belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under one of the identifiable Islamic schools and branches. Non-denominational Muslims are found primarily in Central Asi ...

s, International Religious Freedom Report 2010: Niger
United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (November 17, 2010). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

.'' Other religions practiced in Niger include

Animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

Islam

Islam in Niger accounts for the vast majority of the nation's religious adherents. The faith is practiced by at least 99% of the population, although this figure varies by source and percentage of population who are classified as Animist. The official 2012 census found that 99.3% of the population self-identified as Muslim. The majority of the Muslim population identifies itself as

Many of the communities who continue to practice elements of traditional religions do so within a framework of syncretic Islamic belief, making agreed statistics difficult. Islam in Niger, although dating back more than a millennium, gained dominance over traditional religions only in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and has been marked by influences from neighboring societies. Sufi brotherhoods have become the dominant Muslim organisation, like much of West Africa. Despite this, a variety of interpretations of Islam coexist—largely in peace—with one another as well as with minorities of other faiths. The government of Niger is secular in law while recognising the importance of Islam to the vast majority of its citizens.

Christianity

Christianity first contacted Niger with French colonial expansion, and its adherents include local believers from the educated, the elite, and colonial families, as well as immigrants from neighboring coastal countries, particularly

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

, and

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Christians, both

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, account for less than 1% of the population. The official 2012 census found that 0.3% of the population (56,856 respondents) was Christian. Another estimate has Christians at 0.4%, of which Evangelicals account for 0.1% and Roman Catholics for most of the rest. Christians are mainly present in the regions of Maradi and

Dogondoutchi Dongondoutchi ("High Hill", also nicknamed Doutchi) is a commune in Niger. It is located about 300 km east of the capital Niamey and 40 km from the Nigerian border. It lies on national route 1 which links the capital to the towns of ...

, and in Niamey and other urban centers with expatriate populations. Current estimates place the current Christian population at about 56,000 individuals with projected growth resulting in about 84,500 Christians by the year 2025.World Christian Database, www.worldchristiandatabase.org, accessed 3-3-2011 A number of foreign Christian

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

organizations are active in the country, and have been since the French colonial period. The first Catholic mission was founded in 1931, while the first Protestant missionaries came to

Zinder Zinder (locally, ''Damagaram''), formerly also spelled Sinder, is the third largest city in Niger, with a population of 170,574 (2001 census);

in 1924 and to Tibiri a few years later. In the late 1970s, there were some 12,000 Catholic and 3,000 Protestant converts in Niger, comprising the Christian population alongside foreigners.James Decalo. Historical Dictionary of Niger. Scarecrow Press/ Metuchen. NJ — London (1979) pp. 156-7, 193-4.

Baháʼí Faith in Niger

The

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

in Niger began during a period of wide scale growth in the religion across

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

near the end of its colonial period. The first Baháʼís arrive in

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languages and the growth of the religion reached a point of electing its National Spiritual Assembly in 1975. Following a period of oppression, making the institutions of the religion illegal in the late 1970s and 80s, the National Assembly was re-elected starting in 1992. The Baháʼí community in Niger has grown mostly in the south-west of the country where they number about 5,600 (0.04% total population.)

African Traditional Religion

A small percentage of the population practices Animism or traditional indigenous religious beliefs. Although studies estimate that such practitioners number around 1,055,000 individuals, or about 6.6% of the total population, such numbers can be misleading as there is a high rate of syncretism within Muslim communities throughout the country. However, syncretism has become less common over the past decade. The official 2012 census found that only 0.2% of the population (34,786 respondents) self-identified as Animist.

African Traditional Religion The traditional beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse beliefs that include various ethnic religions.Encyclopedia of African Religion (Sage, 2009) Molefi Kete Asante Generally, these traditions are oral tradition, oral rather ...

beliefs include both festivals and traditions (such as the Bori cult) practiced by some syncretic Muslim communities (in some Hausa areas as well as among some

Toubou The Toubou or Tubu (from Old Tebu, meaning "rock people") are an ethnic group native to the Tibesti Mountains that inhabit the central Sahara in northern Chad, southern Libya and northeastern Niger. They live either as herders and nomads or as ...

and Wodaabe pastoralists), as opposed to several small communities who maintain their pre-Islamic religion. These include the Hausa speaking Maouri (or ''Arna'', the Hausa word for "pagan") community in Dogondoutci in the south-southwest and the Kanuri speaking

Manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

near Zinder, both of whom practice variations of the pre-Islamic Hausa

Maguzawa Maguzawa are a subcategory of the Hausa people. Most of the citizens are found in the rural areas close to Kano and Katsina and other parts of Northern Nigeria. They are known to have facial scarification similar to early rulers of Kano and Katsina ...

religion. There are also some tiny Boudouma and Songhay African Traditional Religion communities in the southwest.

No religion

The 2012 census also found 0.1% of the population (23,048 respondents) declaring they had no religion.

Legal status

The

Constitution of Niger The Republic of Niger has had seven constitutions, two substantial constitutional revisions, and two periods of rule by decree since its independence from French colonial rule in 1960. The current "''Seventh Republic''" operates under the Constitu ...

provides for

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

, and the government generally respects this right in practice, as long as persons respect public order, social peace, and national unity. The US government received no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice in 2007.

Interfaith relations

Niger has a history of good relations between the majority Muslim believers and the much smaller minority faiths. In 2008, the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Archbishop of Niamey Mgr Michel Cartatéguy was quoted in the press as saying that Niger is one of the "best examples" of cohabitation and cooperation between Christians and Muslims. In January 2015 Muslim protestors burned churches and cars and attacked French-linked businesses across Niger on Saturday, in violent protests against the publication of a cartoon of Muhammad on the cover of Charlie Hebdo magazine.

References

{{Africa religion