Islam in Bangladesh

Islam is the largest and the state religion of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. According to the 2022 census, Bangladesh had a population of about 150 million Muslims, or 91.04% of its total population of 165 million. Muslims of Bangladesh are predominant native Bengali Muslims. The majority of Bangladeshis are Sunni, and follow the Hanafi school of fiqh. Bangladesh is a de facto secular country.

Bangladeshi Muslims
বাংলাদেশী মুসলমান

Total population
150.8 million (91.04% of the country's population)
Regions with significant populations
Throughout Bangladesh
Religions
Islam
Languages
Bengali

The Bengal region was a supreme power of the medieval Islamic East. In the late 7th century, Muslims from Arabia established commercial as well as religious connection within the Bengal region before the conquest, mainly through the coastal regions as traders and primarily via the ports of Chittagong. In the early 13th century, Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji conquered Western and part of Northern Bengal and established the first Muslim kingdom in Bengal. During the 13th century, Sufi missionaries, mystics and saints began to preach Islam in villages. The Islamic Bengal Sultanate was founded by Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah who united Bengal on an ethno-linguistic platform. Bengal reached in her golden age during Bengal Sultanate's prosperous ruling period. Subsequently, Bengal viceroy Muhammad Azam Shah assumed the imperial throne. Mughal Bengal became increasingly independent under the Nawabs of Bengal in the 18th century.

History

Early explorers

One of the earliest mosques in South Asia is under excavation in northern Bangladesh, indicating the presence of Muslims in the area around the lifetime of Muhammad. By the 9th century, Muslim merchants had increased trade with Bengali seaports, introducing Islam to the region. Coins from the Abbasid era have been discovered across Bengal, further evidencing this connection. Additional evidence of these early Arab traders includes inscriptions found near the Meghna River close to Sandwip on the Bay of Bengal. Arab writers of the time also mentioned the kingdoms of Samrup and Rumi, the latter being identified with the empire of Dharmapal of the Pala Empire.

In the 10th century, Samatata, located in southeastern Bengal, was home to a diverse population with various religious backgrounds. During this period, the Arab geographer Al-Masudi visited the region and documented a thriving Muslim community in his work The Meadows of Gold. Islam first appeared in Bengal during Pala dynasty's rule, as a result of increased trade between Bengal and the Arab Abbasid Caliphate, facilitating the presence of Arab traders along the coast of Bengal which includes Port of Chittagong.

In addition to trade, Islam was also being introduced to the people of Bengal through the migration of Sufi missionaries prior to conquests. The earliest known Sufi missionaries were Syed Shah Surkhul Antia and his students, most notably Shah Sultan Rumi, in the 11th century. Rumi settled in present-day Netrokona, Mymensingh where he influenced the local ruler and population to embrace Islam.

The first Muslim conquest of Bengal was undertaken by the forces of General Bakhtiyar Khilji in the thirteenth century. This opened the doors for Muslim influence in the region for hundreds of years up until the present-day. Many of the people of Bengal began accepting Islam through the influx of missionaries following this conquest. Sultan Balkhi and Shah Makhdum Rupos settled in the present-day Rajshahi Division in northern Bengal, preaching to the communities there. Numerous small sultanates emerged in the region. During the reign of the Sultan of Lakhnauti Shamsuddin Firuz Shah, much of present-day Satgaon, Sonargaon and Mymensingh came under Muslim dominion. A community of 13 Muslim families headed by Burhanuddin resided in the northeastern city of Srihatta (Sylhet), claiming their descendants to have arrived from Chittagong. Srihatta (Sylhet) was ruled by an oppressive king called Gour Govinda. After being informed of Raja Gour Govinda's oppressive regime in Sylhet, Firuz Shah sent numerous forces led by his nephew Sikandar Khan Ghazi and subsequently his military commander-in-chief Syed Nasiruddin to conquer Sylhet. By 1303, over three hundred Sufi preachers led by Shah Jalal aided the conquest and confirmed a victory. Following the conquest, Jalal disseminated his followers across different parts of Bengal to spread Islam. Jalal is now a household name among Muslims in Bangladesh.

Sultanate of Bengal

Main articles: History of Bengal, History of Bangladesh, History of West Bengal, and Bengal Sultanate

The establishment of a single united Bengal Sultanate in 1352 by Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah finally gave rise to a "Bengali" socio-linguistic and cultural identity. The Ilyas Shahi dynasty highly acknowledged Muslim scholarship. Usman Serajuddin, also known as Akhi Siraj Bengali, was a native of Gaur in western Bengal and became the Sultanate's court scholar during Ilyas Shah's reign. The sovereign Sunni Muslim nation-state also enabled the language of the Bengali people to gain patronage and support, contrary to previous states which exclusively favoured Sanskrit, Pali and Persian. The converted Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah funded the construction of Islamic seminaries as far as Mecca and Madina in the Middle East. The people of Arabia came to know these institutions as al-Madaris al-Bangaliyyah (Bengali madrasas).

Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta's diary is one of the best known accounts of the prelude to the Bengal Sultanate. Ibn Battuta visited Bengal during the reign of Sultan Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah, a rebel governor of the Delhi Sultanate who established a city state in Sonargaon. At the time, Bengal was divided into the three city states of Sonargaon, Satgaon and Lakhnauti. In 1352, the three city states were united by Ilyas Shah into a single, unitary, independent Bengal Sultanate. The creation of the Bengal Sultanate sparked several Bengal-Delhi Wars, which resulted in Delhi recognizing Bengal's independence. The Ilyas Shahi dynasty consolidated Bengali statehood, the economy and diplomatic relations. A network of Mint Towns - provincial capitals which produced the Sultan's sovereign currency called the taka - was established across Bengal. The Bengali state followed the Persian model of statecraft. Muslims from other parts of the world were imported for military, bureaucratic and household services. These immigrants included Turks from northern India who were originally recruited in Central Asia; as well as Abyssinians imported via East Africa into the Bengali port of Chittagong. A highly commercialized and monetized economy evolved. Islamic architecture was introduced on a major scale. A huge mosque called the Adina Mosque was built following the design of the Great Mosque of Damascus. A distinct Bengali Muslim architectural style developed, with terracotta and stone buildings showing a fusion of Persian and Bengali elements. Mosques included two categories, including multi-domed rectangular structures and single-domed square structures. A distinct style of Bengali mihrabs, minbars, terracotta arabesque, and do-chala roofs developed; this influence also spread to other regions.

The Bengal Sultanate was ruled by five dynastic periods, with each period have a particular ethnic identity. The Ilyas Shahi dynasty was of Turkic origin. It was replaced by the Bengali-origin dynasty of Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah and Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah for a few decades before being restored. In the 1490s, a series of Abyssinian generals took turns in becoming the Sultan of Bengal. They were succeeded by the Hussain Shahi dynasty which was of Arab origin. They were in turn replaced by the Pashtun rulers of the Suri dynasty, who first acted as regional governors before restoring Bengali independence. The last dynasty, the Karrani dynasty, was also of Pashtun origin. The sultanate period saw a flourishing of Islamic scholarship and the development of Bengali literature. Scholars, writers and poets of sultanate-era Bengal included Usman Serajuddin, Alaul Haq, Sheikh Nur Qutb Alam, Alaol, Shah Muhammad Sagir, Abdul Hakim, Syed Sultan, Qadi Ruknu'd-Din Abu Hamid Muhammad bin Muhammad al-'Amidi, Abu Tawwama, Syed Ibrahim Danishmand, Syed Arif Billah Muhammad Kamel and Syed Muhammad Yusuf among others. Bengal's tradition of Persian prose was acknowledged by Hafez. The Dobhashi tradition saw Bengali transliteration of Arabic and Persian words in Bengali script to illustrate Islamic epics and stories.

During the independent sultanate period, Bengal forged strong diplomatic relations with empires outside the subcontinent. The most notable of these relationships was with Ming China and its emperor Yongle. At least a dozen embassies were exchanged between China and Bengal. The Sultan of Bengal even gifted an East African giraffe to the Emperor of China as a tribute to China-Bengal relations. The Chinese Muslim admiral Zheng He visited Bengal as an envoy of the Emperor of China. Bengali ships transported the embassies of Sumatra, Brunei and Malacca to the port of Canton. China and the Timurid ruler of Herat mediated an end to the Bengal Sultanate-Jaunpur Sultanate War. The Sultan of Bengal also acknowledged the nominal authority of the Abbasid caliph in Cairo. The Portuguese was the first European state entity to establish relations with the Bengal Sultanate. The Bengal Sultan permitted the opening of the Portuguese settlement in Chittagong.

During the Sultanate period, a syncretic belief system arose due to mass conversions. As a result, the Islamic concept of tawhid (the oneness of God) was diluted into the veneration of saints or pirs. Deities such as Shitala (goddess of smallpox), Olabibi (goddess of cholera) and Manasa (goddess of snakes) became venerated as pirs.

Under Mughal Empire

Main articles: Mughal Empire and Bengal Subah

In pre-Mughal times, there is less evidence for widespread adoption of Islam in what is now Bangladesh. What mention of Muslims there was usually in reference to an urban elite. Ibn Battuta met with Shah Jalal in Sylhet and noted the inhabitants of the plains were still Hindu. In 1591, Venetian traveller Cesare Federici mentioned Sondwip near Chittagong as having an entirely Muslim population. The seventeenth century European travellers generally understood Islam as being implanted after the Mughal conquest.

During the Mughal Empire, much of the region of what is now East Bengal was still heavily forested, but highly fertile. The Mughals incentivised the bringing of this land under cultivation, and so peasants were incentivised to bring the land under cultivation. These peasants were primarily led by Muslim leaders and so Islam became the main religion in the delta. Most of the Zamindars in the modern Barisal division, for instance, were upper caste Hindus who subcontracted actual jungle clearance work to a Muslim pir. In other instances, pirs themselves would organise the locals to clear the jungle and then contact the Mughals to gain legitimacy. In other instances, such as the densely-forested interior of Chittagong, Muslims came from indigenous tribals who never followed Hindu rituals.

In British India

Main articles: British India and Bengal Presidency

The British East India Company was given the right to collect revenue from Bengal and Bihar by the Treaty of Allahabad after defeating the combined armies of Nawab Mir Qasim of Bengal, Nawab of Awadh, and Mughal emperor at the Battle of Buxar. They annexed Bengal in 1793 after abolishing local rule (Nizamat). The British looted the Bengal treasury, appropriating wealth valued at US$40 billion in modern-day prices. Due to high colonial taxation, Bengali commerce shrank by 50% within 40 years, while at the same time British imports flooded the market. Spinners and weavers starved during famines and Bengal's once industrious cities became impoverished. The East India Company forced opium and indigo cultivation and the permanent settlement dismantled centuries of joint Muslim-Hindu political, military and feudal cooperation.

The Bengal Presidency was established in 1765. Rural eastern Bengal witnessed the earliest rebellions against British rule, including the Faraizi movement led by Haji Shariatullah and the activities of Titumir and Karamat Ali Jaunpuri. The mutiny of 1857 engulfed much of northern India and Bengal, including in Dhaka and Chittagong. Following the end of the mutiny, the British Government took direct control of Bengal from the East India Company and instituted the British Raj. The influence of Christian missionaries increased during this period. To counter this trend, Reazuddin Ahmad Mashadi, Muhammad Reazuddin Ahmad of the Sudhakar newspaper and Munshi Mohammad Meherullah played prominent roles.

The colonial capital Calcutta, where Bengali Muslims formed the second largest community, became the second largest city in the British Empire after London. The late 19th and early 20th-century Indian Renaissance brought dramatic social and political change. The introduction of Western law, government and education introduced modern enlightenment values which created a new politically conscious middle class and a new generation of leaders in science, politics and the arts. The First Partition of Bengal incubated the broader anti-colonial struggle and in 1906 the All India Muslim League was formed during the Muhammadan Education Conference in Dhaka. During this period a Muslim middle class emerged and the University of Dhaka played a role at the beginning of the emancipation of Bengali Muslim society, which was also marked by the emergence progressive groups like the Freedom of Intellect Movement and the Muslim Literary Society. Bengali Muslims were at the forefront of the Indian Independence Movement, including the Pakistan Movement.

Bangladesh War of Independence

Main article: Bangladesh Liberation War

See also: History of East Pakistan

President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with Mufti Mahmud.

Islamic sentiments powered the definition of nationhood in the 1940s, when Bengali people united with Muslims in other parts of the subcontinent to form Pakistan. In the 70s, the society they then envisioned was based on principles such as socialism, nationalism and democracy. While Islam was still a part of faith and culture, it was no longer the only factor that formed national identity.

Bangladesh was established as a constitutionally secular state and the Bangladeshi constitution enshrined secular, socialist and democratic principles.

Denominations

Further information: Islamic schools and branches

Muslims in Bangladesh religion percent Sunni Muslim   99% Other Muslim   1%

Kakrail Mosque, Dhaka. The Tablighi Jamaat movement in Bangladesh is mostly based here.

Overview

Bangladesh has always been sunni since its conversion to Islam. Among the early sects shia have always had some presence in Bangladesh but there is no mention of significant mutazilite or kharijite presence in the records. The shias, who were viewed as followers of Abdullah Ibn Saba, were never accepted into the mainstream of Islam. Sunni Islam or Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat considers deviant sects to be "munafiq murtad" or hypocrite apostates and are considered more distant from Islam than those who openly deny Islam. Among the later sects wahhabis and deobandis are notable. Wahhabis, who were considered a deviant sect like the kharijites and mushabbiha because of extremism, denial of taqlid and ziyarat, anthropomorphism, etc have been presented as orthodox muslims by the related deobandi sect and many have accepted it because deobandis do not openly admit that they are not sunnis to new followers and their control of the Islamic Foundation has been backed by India and other powers. Even then Bangladesh remains a largely sunni majority country different from how they are often presented as either wahhabi deobandis or half hindu syncretic atheists/marxists who worship graves and many Bangladeshis consider it the reason behind why Bangladeshis are often persecuted.

Sunni

Shah Jalal Mazar at Sylhet

As with the rest of the Indian subcontinent, Muslims in Bangladesh are sunni, who mainly follow the Hanafi school of jurisprudence (madh'hab) and the Maturidi school of theology. Those who call themselves sunni are divided in to Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, called Barelawi by adherents of other religions, and Deobandis. The Qawmi Madrasa in the country are run by Deobandis even though historically all Islamic education followed the classical sunni teachings which are nowadays wrongly called "Barelawi" or "sufi" teachings. Both these terms are misnomers because sufism was considered an important subject of Islamic education till the rise of reform movements such as Deobandism and its take over of most mosques and dargahs which then started to popularize the idea among many ordinary people that sufis believe one can reach spiritual success without offering salat. So the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat does not prefer to be called by any name that makes them and the idea of sufism appear like a mysterious sect and the name "Barelawi" is mostly by followers Ahmad Yaar Khan Naeemi about whom it is believed that he falsely claimed to be a disciple of Sheikh Naeem-Ud-Deen Muradabadi and crossed the extreme limits of sufism by craeting a new sect that worship his grave. At the same time Deobandis never claimed that they completely oppose sufism unlike Wahhabis who reject sufism entirely. This was because they claim to be Hanafis and not Wahhabis and rejecting sufism entirely would contradict this claim. What they try to achieve instead is convincing the public that those who follow Hanafi school of fiqh are not allowed to literally follow one of the schools of sufism known as tariqas or orders such as the Qadiriyya except only nominally as an unavoidable tradition. Those who deny taqlid openly but call themselves sunni such as the Ahle Hadith, which is almost a renamed version Wahhabism followed in some countries, have a small community in Bangladesh. There are others such as Jamaat-e-Islami, a Deobandi aligned political party similar to the Wahhabi aligned Muslim Brotherhood.

Revivalism

Before the 19th century, Bangladeshi Muslims practiced a very syncretic version of Islam. This included Muharram processions that included immersion of tazias. In the early 19th century, a large number of more fundamentalist and Wahabi-influenced preachers would return to abolish these customs from Muslim religious life. The leading preachers included several disciples of Syed Ahmad Shaheed such as Karamat Ali Jaunpuri, Titumir, Inayat Ali and Wilayat Ali Khan. They forbade customs such as offering of sweets to tombs of dead ancestors, worship of pirs, as well as the playing of music at weddings, viewing them all as corrupting influences of Hinduism. Many of these movements also unified and empowered Muslim peasantry with their preaching of equality of all Muslims, to the extent that many of these movements also led the peasants against the Zamindars and the British.

The influence of conservative Sunni Islam 'revivalism' has been noted by some. On 5 May 2013 a demonstration organized by the Deobandi organization known as the Hefazat-e-Islam movement paralyzed the city of Dhaka when half a million people demanded the institution of a conservative religious program, to include a ban on mixing of men and women in public places, the removal of sculptures and demands for the retention of "absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah" in the preamble of the constitution of Bangladesh. In 2017 author K. Anis Ahmed complained that attacks on and killings of liberal bloggers, academics and religious minorities, had been brought about by "a significant shift ... in the past few decades" up to 2017 in attitudes towards religion in Bangladesh.

During my school years in the 1980s, religion was a matter of personal choice. No one batted an eyelid if you chose not to fast during Ramadan. Today, eat in public during the holiday and you may be chided by strangers. Thanks to shows on cable TV, social media and group meetings, Islamists have succeeded to an alarming degree in painting secularism as a threat to Islam.

Ahmed and others also attacked the deletion of non-Muslim writers in the new 2017 primary school textbooks, alleging they were dropped "per the demand" of Hefajat-e Islam and the Awami Olema League who had demanded "the exclusion of some of the poems written by `Hindus and atheists`". These changes, as well as such errors as spelling mistakes and the incorrect arrangement of paragraphs, triggered newspaper headlines and protests on social media. According to Prof. Akhtaruzzaman, head of the textbook committee, the omissions happened "mainly because the NCTB did the job in such a hurry that the authors and the editors got little time to go through the texts." The Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman has promised the errors will be corrected.

There have also been attacks on Sufi preachers and personalities by puritanical/revivalist groups.

Small minorities

Further information: Shia Islam in Bangladesh and Ahmadiyya in Bangladesh

There are also few Shi'a Muslims, particularly belonging to the Bihari community. The Shi'a observance commemorating the martyrdom of Ali's sons, Hasan and Husayn, are still widely observed by the nation's Sunnis, even though there are small numbers of Shi'as. Among the Shias, the Dawoodi Bohra community is concentrated in Chittagong.

There are no adherents of the Kharijite sect in Bangladesh except foreigners such as Omani diplomats and workers at Omani missions residing in Bangladesh. Those who reject the authority of hadith, known as Quranists, are present in Bangladesh, though having not expressed publicly but are active virtually due to fear of gruesome persecution considering the present political situation. The Ahmadiyya community, which is widely considered to be non-Muslim by mainstream Muslim leaders, is estimated to be around 100,000, the community has faced discrimination because of their beliefs and have been persecuted in some areas. There is a very small community of Bangladeshis whom are adherents to the Mahdavia creed. There are some people who do not identify themselves with any sect and just call themselves Muslims.

Demography

Map of percentage of Bangladeshi Muslims by Upazila (2011 census)

Percentage and population of Muslims in Bangladesh by decades

Year	Percentage (%)	Muslim Population	Total population	Notes
1901	66.1%	19,121,160	28,927,626
1911	67.2%	21,205,203	31,555,363	Before partition
1921	68.1%	22,646,387	33,254,607
1931	69.5%	24,744,911	35,604,189
1941	70.3%	29,525,452	41,999,221
1951	76.9%	32,346,033	42,062,462	During Pakistan period
1961	80.4%	40,847,150	50,804,914
1974	85.4%	61,042,675	71,478,543	After independence of Bangladesh
1981	86.7%	75,533,462	87,120,487
1991	88.3%	93,881,726	106,315,583
2001	89.6%	110,406,654	123,151,871
2011	90.4%	135,394,217	149,772,364
2022	91.04%	150,360,404	165,158,616

The population of Bangladesh have gone up from 28.92 million in 1901 to 150.36 million in 2022, as per as statistics the same way the high fertility rate among Muslims have led to over population of the country as according to census, Muslim population have gone up from 19.12 million in 1901 to 150.36 million in 2022. The Muslim percentage have also got increased from 66.1% in 1901 to 91.04% in 2022. Socio-Economic and Demographic Survey 2023 Report of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics estimates the Muslim share 91.58% of the population.

Muslim women, wearing hijab which is a version of modest Islamic clothing, can be seen shopping at a department store in Comilla, Bangladesh.

Entrance of the Shah Jalal Mazar in Sylhet

An urban congregation for Eid-ul-Adha prayers in Dhaka.

Historical Muslim Population

Year	Pop.	±%
1901	19,121,160	—
1911	21,205,203	+10.9%
1921	22,646,387	+6.8%
1931	24,744,911	+9.3%
1941	29,525,452	+19.3%
1951	32,346,033	+9.6%
1961	40,847,150	+26.3%
1974	61,042,675	+49.4%
1981	75,533,462	+23.7%
1991	93,881,726	+24.3%
2001	110,406,654	+17.6%
2011	135,394,217	+22.6%
2022	150,360,404	+11.1%
Source: God Willing: The Politics of Islamism in Bangladesh by Ali Riaz, p. 63 Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS)

Estimation shows that over 1 million Rohingya Muslim refugees live in Bangladesh who have came here during the period of (2016–17) crisis. On 28 September 2018, at the 73rd United Nations General Assembly, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said there are 1.1-1.3 million Rohingya refugees now in Bangladesh.

According to Pew research center, Muslim population of Bangladesh will reach 218.5-237.5 million by the year 2050, and will constitute overwhelming 95% of the country's population, thus making the country 4th largest Muslim populated around that time.

Islam by Districts

Muslim Population across districts of Bangladesh (2022)

District	Muslim population	Total population	Percentage (%)
Barguna	937,545	1,010,531	92.78%
Barisal	2,283,728	2,570,446	88.85%
Bhola	1,876,758	1,932,518	97.11%
Jhalokati	599,622	661,160	90.69%
Patuakhali	1,617,155	1,727,254	93.63%
Pirojpur	1,017,024	1,198,195	84.88%
Bandarban	253,756	481,106	52.74%
Brahmanbaria	3,084,642	3,306,563	93.29%
Chandpur	2,488,435	2,635,748	94.41%
Chattogram	8,026,102	9,169,465	87.53%
Cumilla	5,936,391	6,212,216	95.56%
Cox's Bazar	2,669,977	2,823,268	94.57%
Feni	1,556,695	1,648,896	94.41%
Khagrachhari	332,687	714,119	46.59%
Lakshmipur	1,875,790	1,937,948	96.79%
Noakhali	3,476,457	3,625,442	95.89%
Rangamati	234,834	647,586	36.26%
Dhaka	13,980,953	14,734,701	94.88%
Faridpur	1,979,011	2,162,879	91.50%
Gazipur	4,971,543	5,263,450	94.45%
Gopalganj	933,708	1,295,057	72.10%
Kishoreganj	3,108,432	3,267,626	95.13%
Madaripur	1,146,678	1,293,027	88.68%
Manikganj	1,418,353	1,558,025	91.04%
Munshiganj	1,500,984	1,625,416	92.34%
Narayanganj	3,722,125	3,909,138	95.22%
Narsingdi	2443210	2,224,944	94.53%
Rajbari	1,078,677	1,189,818	90.66%
Shariatpur	1,251,521	1,294,562	96.88%
Tangail	3,762,822	4,037,608	93.20%
Bagerhat	1,342,836	1,613,076	83.25%
Chuadanga	1,204,617	1,234,054	97.61%
Jessore	2,756,729	3,076,144	89.62%
Jhenaidah	1,836,273	2,005,849	91.55%
Khulna	2,055,902	2,613,385	78.67%
Kushtia	2,090,622	2,149,692	97.25%
Magura	870,482	1,033,115	84.26%
Meherpur	690,349	705,356	97.87%
Narail	663,961	788,671	84.19%
Satkhira	1,851,516	2,196,582	84.29%
Jamalpur	2,458,714	2,499,738	98.36%
Mymensingh	5,665,649	5,899,005	96.04%
Netrokona	2,103,091	2,324,853	90.46%
Sherpur	1,456,087	1,501,853	96.95%
Bogra	3,516,157	3,734,297	94.16%
Chapai Nawabganj	1,753,993	1,835,528	95.56%
Joypurhat	859,960	956,431	89.91%
Naogaon	2,419,236	2,784,599	86.88%
Natore	1,744,274	1,859,922	93.78%
Pabna	2,828,381	2,909,624	97.21%
Rajshahi	2,740,180	2,915,009	94.00%
Sirajganj	3,210,116	3,357,706	95.61%
Dinajpur	2,605,781	3,315,236	78.60%
Gaibandha	2,380,128	2,562,233	92.89%
Kurigram	2,185,248	2,329,160	93.82%
Lalmonirhat	1,242,388	1,428,406	86.98%
Nilphamari	1,763,751	2,092,568	84.29%
Panchagarh	991,764	1,179,843	84.06%
Rangpur	2,872,953	3,169,614	90.64%
Thakurgaon	1,181,774	1,533,895	77.04%
Habiganj	1,981,089	2,358,886	83.98%
Maulvibazar	1,585,235	2,123,447	74.65%
Sunamganj	2,377,349	2,695,496	88.20%
Sylhet	3,570,400	3,857,123	92.57%

Islamic culture in Bangladesh

See also: Culture of Bangladesh, Culture of Bengal, Culture of Dhaka, Indo-Persian culture, Culture of South Asia, Islamic culture, and Bengali Muslims

Bishwa Ijtema held in Dhaka by Tablighi Jamat

Muslim males can be seen attending Khutbah as part of the Eid-ul-Adha prayers. Photo taken at Barashalghar union of Comilla's Debidwar upazila.

Although Islam played a significant role in the life and culture of the people, religion did not dominate national politics because Islam was not the central component of national identity. When in June 1988 an "Islamic way of life" was proclaimed for Bangladesh by constitutional amendment, very little attention was paid outside the intellectual class to the meaning and impact of such an important national commitment. However, most observers believed that the declaration of Islam as the state religion might have a significant impact on national life. Aside from arousing the suspicion of the non-Islamic minorities, it could accelerate the proliferation of religious parties at both the national and the local levels, thereby exacerbating tension and conflict between secular and religious politicians. Unrest of this nature was reported on some college campuses soon after the amendment was promulgated.

Islamic architecture in Bangladesh

Khan Mohammad Mirdha Mosque in Dhaka, built in 1706 (18th century old mosque).

Further information: Architecture of Bangladesh, Architecture of Bengal, Indo-Islamic architecture, and Islamic architecture

Mosques

Main article: List of mosques in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a vast amount of historic mosques with its own Islamic architecture.

• Abu Aqqas Mosque-648
• Shahbaz Khan Mosque-1679
• Shona Mosque-1493
• Bagha Mosque-1523
• Khan Mohammad Mridha Mosque-1703
• Sixty Dome Mosque -15th century

Tombs and mausoleums

Lalbagh Fort-1664

Law and politics

Legal issues

In Bangladesh, where a modified Anglo-Indian civil and criminal legal system operates, there are no official sharia courts. Most Muslim marriages, however, are presided over by the qazi, a traditional Muslim judge whose advice is also sought on matters of personal law, such as inheritance, divorce, and the administration of religious endowments.

The inheritance rights of Muslim in Bangladesh are governed by The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act (1937) and The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance (1961). Article 2 of The Muslim Personal Law Application Act provides that questions related to succession and inheritance are governed by Muslim Personal Law (Shariat). Article 2 proclaims: "any custom or usage to the contrary, in all questions (save questions relating to agricultural land) regarding intestate succession, special property of females, including personal property inherited or obtained under contract or gift or any other provision of Personal Law, marriage, dissolution of marriage, including talaq, ila, zihar, lian, khula and mubaraat, maintenance, dower, guardianship, gifts, trusts and trust properties, and waqfs (other than charities and charitable institutions and charitable and religious endowments) the rule of decision in cases where the parties are Muslims shall be the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat)."

Political issues

Post-1971 regimes sought to increase the role of the government in the religious life of the people. The Ministry of Religious Affairs provided support, financial assistance, and endowments to religious institutions, including mosques and community prayer grounds (idgahs). The organization of Hajj also came under the auspices of the ministry because of limits on the number of pilgrims admitted by the government of Saudi Arabia and the restrictive foreign exchange regulations of the government of Bangladesh. The ministry also directed the policy and the program of the Islamic Foundation Bangladesh, which was responsible for organizing and supporting research and publications on Islamic subjects. The foundation also maintains the Baitul Mukarram (National Mosque), and organized the training of imams. Some 18,000 imams were scheduled for training once the government completed establishment of a national network of Islamic cultural centers and mosque libraries. Under the patronage of the Islamic Foundation, an encyclopedia of Islam in the Bengali language was being compiled in the late 1980s.

Another step toward further government involvement in religious life was taken in 1984 when the semiofficial Zakat Fund Committee was established under the chairmanship of the president of Bangladesh. The committee solicited annual zakat contributions on a voluntary basis. The revenue so generated was to be spent on orphanages, schools, children's hospitals, and other charitable institutions and projects. Commercial banks and other financial institutions were encouraged to contribute to the fund. Through these measures the government sought closer ties with religious establishments within the country and with Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Leaders and organizations

The members of the Ulama include Mawlānā, Imams, Ulama and Muftis. The first two titles are accorded to those who have received special training in Islamic theology and law. A maulvi has pursued higher studies in a madrassa, a school of religious education attached to a mosque. Additional study on the graduate level leads to the title Mawlānā.

Educational institutions

The madrassas are also divided in two mainstreams;Alia Madrasah and Qawmi Madrasah.

Status of religious freedom

Further information: Freedom of religion in Bangladesh and Secularism in Bangladesh

See also: Persecution of Ahmadiyya

Friday prayer for Muslims in Dhaka

The Constitution establishes Islam as the state religion but upholds the right to practice—subject to law, public order, and morality—the religion of one's choice. The Government generally respects this provision in practice. The Government (2001–2006) led by an alliance of four parties Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Islami Oikya Jote and Bangladesh Jatiyo Party banned Ahmadiya literature by an executive order. However, the government, led by Bangladesh Awami League strongly propagates secularism and respect towards other religions. Despite all Bangladeshis saying that religion is an important part of their daily lives, Bangladesh's Awami League won a landslide victory in 2008 on a platform of secularism, reform, and a suppression of radical Islamist groups. According to a Gallup poll conducted in 2009, simultaneous strong support of the secular Awami League and the near unanimous importance of religion in daily life suggests that while religion is vital in Bangladeshis' daily lives, they appear comfortable with its lack of influence in government. The current interim government led by Muhammad Yunus also propagates secularism.

In Bangladesh, the International Crimes Tribunal tried and convicted several leaders of the Islamic Razakar militias, as well as Bangladesh Muslim Awami league (Forid Uddin Mausood), of war crimes committed against Hindus during the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. The charges included forced conversion of Bengali Hindus to Islam.

See also

• Hinduism in Bangladesh
• Buddhism in Bangladesh
• Christianity in Bangladesh
• Islam in West Bengal
• Islam in Pakistan
• Islam in Myanmar
• Islam in India
• Islam in South Asia
• Islam by country

External links

• Eaton, Richard M. (1993). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20507-3.
• Karim, Abdul (2012). "Islam, Bengal". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
• Development Cooperation and Islamic values in Bangladesh
• US State Department Bangladesh