Ahmadiyya Islam is a fast growing religion in

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...

. Muslims comprise 1 percent of the population of

. São Tomé and Príncipe was for many years a colony of Portugal, which is overwhelmingly

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

History

Before 1970, there were no recorded Muslims in São Tomé and Príncipe. After independence, the religion was introduced by immigrants from the neighbouring countries of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, which led to a rise in the number of Muslims in São Tomé and Príncipe, from zero in 1970 to 51 in 1994 and 64 in 2009. However, according to M. Ali Kettani in ''Muslims Minorities'' (1986) that the Muslim population in São Tomé and Príncipe was closer to 1,000 and comparable with that of

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

and

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

Population

According to the International Religious Freedom Report 2006, some three percent of the population are Muslim, although the total number of Muslims in the country has increased due to an influx of illegal immigrants from neighbouring

and

. The

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...

claims to have "hundreds" of members in the country, thereby representing a large proportion of the Muslim population. However, according to a 2009 study by the Pew Research Center, Muslims in São Tomé and Príncipe make up less than 0.1% of the population.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Islam In Sao Tome And Principe Religion in São Tomé and Príncipe

Sao Tome SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...