Islam in Madagascar

Islam has been well established in what is now known as Madagascar for centuries and today Muslims represent 7% of the population. Almost all Muslims in Madagascar practice Sunni Islam of the Shafi school of jurisprudence, with a smaller population of Ahmadis who first established themselves in the country in the 1980s.

Beginning in the 10th or 11th century, Arabic and Zanzibari ivory merchants working their way down the east coast of Africa in their dhows and established settlements on the west coast of Madagascar. The most noteworthy of these were the Zafiraminia, traditional ancestors of the Antemoro, Antanosy and other east coast ethnicities. The last wave of Arab immigrants would be the Antalaotra who immigrated from eastern African colonies. They settled the north-west of the island (Majunga area) and were the first to actually bring Islam to the island.

Arab immigrants were few in total number compared to the Indonesians and Bantus, but they left a lasting impression. The Malagasy names for seasons, months, days, and coins are Arabic in origin, as is the practice of circumcision, the communal grain pool, and different forms of salutation. The Arab magicians, known as the ombiasy, established themselves in the courts of many Malagasy tribal kingdoms. Arab immigrants brought their patriarchal system of family and clan of non Islamic civilization rule to Madagascar, which differed from the Polynesian matriarchal system whereby rights of privilege and property are conferred equally on men and women. Sorabe is an alphabet based on Arabic used to transcribe the Malagasy language and the Antemoro dialect in particular. The Arabs were also the first to correctly identify the origin of most Malagasy by suggesting that the island was colonized by the Indonesians.

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