Hinduism in Sudan
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Hinduism can be found in the Arab world from the mid of 19th century, millions of members of the Indian diaspora, of different religions, reside and work in
Arab states of the Persian Gulf The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...
. Many of them are Hindu. Many came due to the migration of Indians and Nepalese expatriates and employees to the around the Persian Gulf. Hindu temples have been built in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Oman.


Demographics

The number of Hindus in other Arab countries, including the countries of the Levant and North Africa, is thought to be negligible. It is not known whether any Hindu temples exist in these countries.


Historical background

Indian settlers came to live in Oman, creating settlements and practicing Hinduism. Arab sailors were using the southwest monsoon winds to trade with western Indian ports before the first century CE. An Arab army conquered
Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
in 711 and Arab traders settled in Kerala in the 6th century. In the opposite direction, medieval
Gujaratis The Gujarati people or Gujaratis, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who reside in or can trace their ancestry or heritage to the present-day western Indian state of Gujarat. They primarily speak Gujarati, an Indo-Aryan language. While G ...
, Kutchis, and other Indians traded extensively with Arab and Somali ports, including Hormuz, Salalah, Socotra, Mogadishu, Merca, Barawa, Hobyo, Muscat and
Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
. Arab merchants were the dominant carriers of Indian Ocean trade until the Portuguese forcibly supplanted them at the end of the 15th century. Indo-Arabian links were renewed under the British Empire, when many Indians serving in the army or civil service were stationed in Arab lands such as
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
. The current wave of Indian immigration to the
Arab states of the Persian Gulf The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...
dates roughly to the 1960s. Hinduism is also one of the fastest growing religions in the Middle East, mainly due to immigration from the Indian Subcontinent. In 2001, Belgian speleologists found a large number of inscriptions, drawings and archaeological objects on the Socotra island in Yemen left by sailors who visited the island in the 1st century BC to 6th century AD and most of the texts found were written in the Indian Brahmi script.


Egypt

There were about 2,700 Hindus in Egypt in 2010.


Oman

Oman has an immigrant Hindu minority. The number of Hindus has declined in the 20th century although it is now stable. Hinduism first came to Muscat in 1507 from Kutch. The original Hindus spoke Kutchi. By the early 19th century there were at least 4,000 Hindus in Oman, all of the intermediate merchant caste. By 1900, their numbers had plummeted to 300. In 1895, the Hindu colony in Muscat came under attack by the
Ibadhis The Ibadi movement or Ibadism ( ar, الإباضية, al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a school of Islam. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis. Ibadism emerged around 60 years after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death in 632 AD as a moderate sc ...
. By the time of independence, only a few dozen Hindus remained in Oman. The historical Hindu Quarters of al-Waljat and al-Banyan are no longer occupied by Hindus. The most prominent immigrant Hindus, are Visoomal Damodar Gandhi (Aulad Kara), Khimji Ramdas, Dhanji Morarji, Ratansi Purushottam and Purushottam Toprani. The only Hindu crematorium is located in
Sohar Sohar ( ar, صُحَار, also Romanized as Suḥār) is the capital and largest city of the Al Batinah North Governorate in Oman. An ancient capital of the country that once served as an important Islamic port town, Suhar has also been credited ...
, northwest of Muscat.


Temples

Hindu temples once located in Ma'bad al Banyan and Bayt al Pir, no longer exist. The only active Hindu temples today are the Shiva temple complex in Muscat (locally known as ''Motishwar Mandir''), and the Krishna temple located in Darsait.


Qatar

Hindus make up 15.1% of Qatar. There are an estimated 422,118 Hindus in the country.Global Religious Landscape
Pew Forum.
Many Hindus are from South and Southeast Asia.


Saudi Arabia

Saudi authorities interpret Hindu icons as idols, and idol worship is strongly condemned in
Sunni Islam 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 disagre ...
. This is likely the foundation for the stringent position of Saudi authorities when it comes to idol worshiper religious practice.


United Arab Emirates

South Asians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) constitute the largest ethnic group in the country. Over 2 million Indian migrants (mostly from the
southern Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...
states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh,
Coastal Karnataka Kanara, also known as Karavali is the historically significant stretch of land situated by the southwestern coast of India, alongside the Arabian Sea in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. The region comprises three civil districts, ...
and Tamil Nadu) are estimated to be living in the UAE, constituting 28% of the total population of the Emirates as of 2017. A majority of Indians live in the three largest cities of the UAE —
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...
, Dubai and Sharjah. From the estimated 2 million migrants, 1 million are from Kerala and 450,000 from Tamil Nadu, thus constituting a majority of the Indian community in the UAE. The population of Indian migrants in the UAE had grown from 170,000 in 1975 to an estimated value of 750,000 in 1999. By 2009, this value had grown to an estimated value of 2 million. A majority of Indians in the UAE (approximately 50%—883,313 in 2011) are from the South Indian state of Kerala, followed by migrants from Tamil Nadu. The majority of Indian migrants to UAE are Muslim (50%), followed by Christian (25%) and Hindu (25%). Estimates suggest Hindu population in UAE to be anywhere from 6-10%.


Temples

Despite a sizable of the population practicing the Hindu faith, there is currently just one Hindu temple in the two largest sheikhdoms. The
Hindu Temple, Dubai The Dubai Hindu Temple is a place of worship for Hindus in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The small temple caters to the large Hindu community in the United Arab Emirates. Services The temple is only a prayer hall with two altars or shrines (" ...
(locally referred to as ''Shiva and Krishna Mandir'') has been pointed out as just a small prayer hall operating on the upper floor of a rented commercial building, with two altars. Permitted to be built in 1958, the small temple had become a foreign policy issue during the visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UAE in late 2016. Instead, Hindus living in Abu Dhabi and Dubai practice their religion within their homes. The first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi is currently under construction. The new temple, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Abu Dhabi, had its foundation stone laying ceremony in April, 2019. There are two operating cremation facilities for the Hindu community, one in Abu Dhabi and one in Dubai.


Yemen

There are about 200,000 Hindus in Yemen. Many of them are from India and Nepal.


Hindu temples

*
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS; ) is a Hindu denomination within the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. It was formed in 1905 by Yagnapurushdas ( Shastriji Maharaj) following his conviction that Swaminarayan remained present ...
in Abu Dhabi, UAE * Sindhi Guru Darbar Temple in Dubai, UAE * Motishwar Shiv Mandir in Muscat, Oman * Shiva and Krishna Mandir in Dubai, UAE *
Shrinathji Temple, Bahrain Shrinathji Temple is a heritage Hindu temple in Manama established in the year 1817. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shrinathji, a form of Krishna, manifested as a seven-year-old child. The temple is located in the Bahrain's capital city of Manama. ...
*Hinglaj Mataji Mandir in
Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
, Yemen *Ramchanderji Temple in Aden, Yemen *Trikamraiji-Haveli Temple in
Crater Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...
, Yemen


See also

* Hinduism by country * BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Abu Dhabi *
Buddhism in the Middle East It is estimated that in the Middle East, over 900,000 people profess Buddhism as their religion. Buddhist adherents make up just over 0.3% of the Middle East total population. Many of these Buddhists are workers who have migrated from Asia to the ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinduism In Arab States Middle Eastern culture