Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

is an overwhelmingly Christian majority country, with adherents of Islam being a minuscule 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 Tonga'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. Most Muslims in Tonga belong to either Sunni or

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

denominations. The number of Muslims was estimated at less than 1000 in 2010 by the Pew Research Center in a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of about 108,000, while a report by the

Fiji Muslim League Fiji Muslim League (FML) is an organisation founded in 1926 in Fiji. Following its foundation the organisation set up branches across the country. Most of the Muslim schools in Fiji are operated by the Fiji Muslim League. History Formation ...

estimated that in 2002 there were about 70 Muslim Tongan nationals out of a Muslim population of 100.

Muslim school

’s Muslim community is planning to raise funds in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

to build a new boarding school on

Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the nation ...

. The school is to follow the Tongan school curriculum, but additionally offer the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

language and Islamic studies as options. Sheikh Imam Abdul Fader, a spiritual leader of the Tongan Muslim community and a mathematics teacher, said their project is to build a three-story boarding school that will serve

and non-Muslims, especially orphans who are often deprived of

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

. The children in the school will not be forced to study or convert to Islam. He also said that a small delegation of Tongan Muslims will leave in June 2007 for

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

to seek donations and funding for the new school, since these two countries are well known for their strong contributions to the Muslim community in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Mosques

* Al-Khadeejah Mosque

Notable Muslims

* Ofa Tu'ungafasi

References

External links

*“Tonga 2006 Census of Population and Housing,” Tonga Department of Statistics, June 2008

Islam in Tonga, {{Tonga-stub

Muslim school

Mosques

Notable Muslims

See also

References

External links