Islam in Afghanistan

Afghan Muslims (مسلمانان افغان)
Total population
38,200,000[1] (2022 est.)
Regions with significant populations
Throughout Afghanistan
Religions
Predominantly Sunni Islam, Minority : Shia Islam
Languages
Liturgical
Common
Dari (Persian), Pashto, Uzbek, Turkmen, Balochi, Pashayi

Islam in Afghanistan (Pew)[3]

  Sunni Islam (87%)
  Shia (13%)
Religion Percent
Islam
99.7%
Others
0.3%
Distribution of religions

Islam in Afghanistan began to be practiced after the Arab Islamic conquest of Afghanistan from the 7th to the 10th centuries, with the last holdouts to conversion submitting in the late 19th century. It was generally accepted by local communities as a replacement of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, local tribes began converting to the new religion. Islam is the official state religion of Afghanistan, with approximately 99.7% of the Afghan population being Muslim. Roughly 90% practice Sunni Islam, while around 10% are Shias.[4][5] Most Shias belong to the Twelver branch and only a smaller number follow Ismailism.[4]

After the Islamic conquest of Persia was completed, the Muslim Arabs then began to move towards the lands east of Persia and in 652 captured Herat.[6] By the end of the 10th century CE the Turkic Ghaznavids subdued Kabul Shahi kings.

  1. ^ "Afghanistan". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 8 October 2022. (Archived 2022 edition.)
  2. ^ Al-Jallad, Ahmad (30 May 2011). "Polygenesis in the Arabic Dialects". Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. BRILL. doi:10.1163/1570-6699_eall_EALL_SIM_000030. ISBN 9789004177024.
  3. ^ "Religious Identity Among Muslims". 9 August 2012.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Pew was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Factbook was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Afghanistan | history - geography". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-01-09.

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