Freedom of religion in Tanzania

Freedom of religion in Tanzania refers to the extent to which people in Tanzania are freely able to practice their religious beliefs, taking into account both government policies and societal attitudes toward religious groups.

The government of Tanzania and the semiautonomous government of Zanzibar both recognize religious freedom as a principle and make efforts to protect it. The government of Zanzibar appoints Muslim religious officials in Zanzibar. The main body of law in Tanzania and Zanzibar is secular, but Muslims have the option to use religious courts for family-related cases.

Individual cases of religiously motivated violence have occurred against both Christians and Muslims.^[1] There are reports of young men in Zanzibar being recruited into organizations such as al-Shabaab and ISIS-M.^[2]

The policies and ideology of Ujamaa espoused by Tanzania's first government following independence from the United Kingdom in the 1960s emphasized national unity over religious or ethnic division,^[3] and this is reflected by the strong anti-discrimination rhetoric in Tanzania's constitution, which is still in effect as of 2019. While Ujamaa was abandoned as a state project in 1985, and religious discord has risen somewhat since then,^[4] academic and NGO sources credit Ujamaa for contributing to a climate of religious freedom and relative social stability in Tanzania.^[4][5]