Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

is a predominantly Christian country, with adherents of Islam representing a very small minority. Due to

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

nature of the Ecuador's constitution,

Muslims 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 ...

are free to proselytize and build places of worship in the country. The Pew Research Center estimates that

has a Muslim population of about 2000, representing 0.011% out of total population of 16,965,000 inhabitants. The first Muslim settlers in

were primarily

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

who emigrated from the Middle East during World War I and thereafter from former territories of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. They settled mostly in Quito, Ambato and

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

with smaller communities in Manabí, Los Ríos, and Esmeraldas provinces. Levantine Christians and Muslims created a secular ethnic organisation called ''Lecla'' in the 1940s and The Arab Club in the 1980s. By the mid 1990s, naturalized citizens and native Muslims of Arab extraction were using a private apartment located in Avenue Los Shyris and Eloy Alfaro as a communal prayer venue, especially on Fridays. At a later day the Egyptian Embassy provided another private apartment for the same purposes. The Centro Islámico del Ecuador, founded on October 15, 1994, was the first Muslim religious organization recognized by the government. However, it was not the first organization to open its doors in this city. A mosque under the name Khaled ibn al-Walid was founded in the year 1991; it conducted its religious rituals in a private apartment. Religious activities as well as social, cultural and educational activities are conducted according to Sunni Islam. The Khaled ibn al Walid mosque nowadays is run by Sheikh Mohamed Mamdouh, and had opened it doors for all Muslims domiciled in Quito. In Guayaquil, the Centro Islamico Al Hijra was established in 2004 by Juan Saud from Ecuador, Ali Said from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, and Mazhar Farooq from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

References

Religion in Ecuador {{Islam-country-stub