Islam in the Indian Ocean was established by

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 ...

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

merchants A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...

well before the European discovery of

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

. However, unlike in other island states including the

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

and

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

, there were no permanent inhabitants in Seychelles until the French settlement in 1770. Today, the Muslim population of the islands is reported to be only 1.1%, roughly 900 people. Many of its island neighbors in the southern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, including

, the

and

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

, have a much larger Muslim influence because of their colonization by Muslims, before

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an colonization.

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

also has a much higher Muslim population due to the importation of labour from

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

on a scale not seen in Seychelles. The government of Seychelles allows 15 minutes of religious broadcasting every Friday for the Muslim community.

Background

Approximately 1.6 percent of Seychelles is Islam, though many Islam mosques have been built around the country. One of the prominent islands with many of the Muslims and mosques is the island of Mahe.

Demographics

According to the 2010 Census, there were 1,459 Muslims in the

constituting 1.6 % of the population of

. This is an increase of 593 from the 2002 census, which reported 866 Muslims constituting 1.1 % of the population. In 1994, there were 506 Muslims constituting 0.7 % of the country's population.

Islamic Society of Seychelles and fasting

An Islamic Society of Seychelles (current president: Ibrahim Afif) attempted to start their own program named ''Explore Islam''. However, the program was closed down unexpectedly. On 5 June 2019, the Islamic community held an

Eid-ul-Fitr Eid al-Fitr (; ar, عيد الفطر, Eid al-Fiṭr, Holiday of Breaking the Fast, ) is the earlier of the two official Islamic holidays, holidays celebrated within Islam (the other being Eid al-Adha). The religious holiday is celebrated by Musli ...

celebration at Stad Popiler (which is located in the capital,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Mosques

Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Mosque The Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Mosque is a mosque in Bel Air, Seychelles, Bel Air, Victoria, Seychelles, Victoria, Seychelles. History The mosque was built in September 1982, making it the first mosque in the country. In 2013, it underwent reno ...

References

External links

US Government report in Religious Freedom in Seychelles

Religion in Seychelles {{Seychelles-stub