Islam in Ethiopia

Islam in Ethiopia
Total population
	42,362,000 (2022)
Regions with significant populations
	Somali (98.4%), Afar (96%), Dire Dawa (70.9%), Harari (69%), Oromia (47.5%), Benishangul-Gumuz (45.6%)

Islam is the second-largest religion in Ethiopia behind Christianity, with 31.3 to 35.9 percent of the total population of around 113.5 million people professing the religion as of 2022.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Islam in Ethiopia dates back to the founding of the religion; in 615, when a group of Muslims were counseled by Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca and travel to Ethiopia via modern-day Eritrea, which was ruled by Najashi, a pious Christian king. It is agreed by Islamic scholars that Najashi gave shelter to the Muslim refugees around 615–616 at Axum.^[6]^[7] Bilal ibn Ribah, the first Muezzin, the person chosen to call the faithful to prayer, and one of the foremost companions of Muhammad, was born in Mecca to an Abyssinian (Ethiopian) mother.

^ "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
^ "2007 Ethiopian census, first draft" (PDF). Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
^ "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
^ "Ethiopia", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2021-12-14, retrieved 2021-12-16
^ "Ethiopia". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 24 September 2022. (Archived 2022 edition.)
^ M. Elfasi; Ivan Hrbek (1988). Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century. UNESCO. p. 560. ISBN 9789231017094.
^ Ibn Ishāq (2004). Sīratu Rasūlillāh (tr. Alfred Guillaume). Oxford University Press. pp. 150–153.

[1] "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2020-10-29.

[Religion-2007-2] "2007 Ethiopian census, first draft" (PDF). Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.

[3] "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2020-10-29.

[4] "Ethiopia", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2021-12-14, retrieved 2021-12-16

[5] "Ethiopia". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 24 September 2022. (Archived 2022 edition.)

[6] M. Elfasi; Ivan Hrbek (1988). Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century. UNESCO. p. 560. ISBN 9789231017094.

[sira150-7] Ibn Ishāq (2004). Sīratu Rasūlillāh (tr. Alfred Guillaume). Oxford University Press. pp. 150–153.

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Total population
42,362,000 (2022)^[1]
Regions with significant populations
Somali (98.4%), Afar (96%), Dire Dawa (70.9%), Harari (69%), Oromia (47.5%), Benishangul-Gumuz (45.6%) ^[2]