Bengali Muslims

For the people of Bangladesh, who are overwhelmingly Bengali Muslims, see Bangladeshis and Bangladeshi Muslims.
"Islam in Bengal" redirects here. For other uses, see Islam in Bengal (disambiguation).

Bengali Muslims
বাঙালি মুসলমান
Muslim-majority districts of Bengal highlighted in green on a map of 1909
Total population
200 million (2013)[1]
Regions with significant populations
 Bangladesh150,360,405 (2022)[2]
 India (West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura)35,000,000 (2011)[3][4][5][6][7]
 Saudi Arabia2,000,000 (2021)[8][9]
 Pakistan2,200,000[10]
 United Arab Emirates700,000[11]
 Great Britain596,189[a][12][13]
 MalaysiaUnknown
 Qatar550,000[14]
 KuwaitUnknown
 United States304,800[15]
 ItalyUnknown
 Oman130,000[16]
Languages
Bengali
Arabic (liturgical)
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam
with a Shia & Ahmadiyyah minority
Related ethnic groups
Bengali people, Bangladeshis, Bangladeshi Muslims, South Asian Muslims
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Bengali history
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Bengali people
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Bengali Muslims (Bengali: বাঙালি মুসলমান; pronounced [baŋali musɔlman])[17][18] are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ethnic group among Muslims after Arabs.[19][20] Bengali Muslims make up the majority of Bangladesh's citizens, and are the largest minority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam.[21]

They speak or identify the Bengali language as their mother tongue. The majority of Bengali Muslims are Sunnis who follow the Hanafi school of jurisprudence.

The Bengal region was a supreme power of the medieval Islamic East.[22] European traders identified the Bengal Sultanate as "the richest country to trade with".[23] Bengal viceroy Muhammad Azam Shah assumed the imperial throne. Mughal Bengal became increasingly independent under the Nawabs of Bengal in the 18th century.[24]

The Bengali Muslim population emerged as a synthesis of Islamic and Bengali cultures. After the Partition of India in 1947, they comprised the demographic majority of Pakistan until the independence of East Pakistan (historic East Bengal) as Bangladesh in 1971.

  1. ^ Khan, Mojlum (2013). The Muslim Heritage of Bengal: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of Great Muslim Scholars, Writers and Reformers of Bangladesh and West Bengal. Kube Publishing Ltd. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-84774-052-6. Bengali-speaking Muslims as a group consists of around 200 million people.
  2. ^ "Religions in Bangladesh | PEW-GRF". Archived from the original on 9 April 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference PopWestBengal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference PopAssam was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "'Not cows to be milked' — Muslims in Bengal, Kerala, Assam are now assertive, want recognition". ThePrint. 7 April 2021. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  6. ^ Bhattacharya, Abhik (26 October 2022). "Museum To Display 'Miya' Culture In Assam Sealed, CM Says Only 'Lungi' Belongs To Them". Outlook.
  7. ^ "Explained: Why religious fault lines are emerging in Tripura". scroll.in. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Stateless and helpless: The plight of ethnic Bengalis in Pakistan". Al Jazeera. 29 September 2021. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022. Ethnic Bengalis in Pakistan – an estimated two million – are the most discriminated ethnic community
  9. ^ Chaudhury, Dipanjan Roy. "Bengali-speaking Muslims languish in Pakistan". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022. There are around three million Bengalis in Pakistan
  10. ^ "Microsoft Word — Cover_Kapiszewski.doc" (PDF). United Nations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  11. ^ "Labor Migration in the United Arab Emirates: Challenges and Responses". Migration Information Source. 18 September 2013. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  12. ^ "Ethnic group by religion - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  13. ^ Scotland’s Census 2021 Ethnic Group and Religion Update (2021). Scotland's Census.
  14. ^ Snoj, Jure (18 December 2013). "Population of Qatar by nationality". Bqdoha.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  15. ^ "South Asian, Bengali-speaking in United States".
  16. ^ "Oman lifts bar on recruitment of Bangladeshi workers". News.webindia123.com. 10 December 2007. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  17. ^ Sarkar, Benoy Kumar (April 1941). "Bengali Culture as a System of Mutual Acculturations". Calcutta Review. Vol. LXXIX, no. 1. p. 10. [Mussalman also used in this work.]
  18. ^ Choudhury, A. K. (1984). The Independence of East Bengal: A Historical Process. A.K. Choudhury. [Mussalman also used in this work.]
  19. ^ Richard Eaton (2009). "Forest Clearing and the Growth of Islam in Bengal". In Barbara D. Metcalf (ed.). Islam in South Asia in Practice. Princeton University Press. p. 275. ISBN 978-1-4008-3138-8.
  20. ^ Meghna Guhathakurta; Willem van Schendel (2013). The Bangladesh Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0822353188. Archived from the original on 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  21. ^ Andre, Aletta; Kumar, Abhimanyu (23 December 2016). "Protest poetry: Assam's Bengali Muslims take a stand". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  22. ^ Mohammad Yusuf Siddiq (2015). Epigraphy and Islamic Culture: Inscriptions of the Early Muslim Rulers of ... Routledge. p. 30. ISBN 9781317587460. Archived from the original on 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  23. ^ Nanda, J. N (2005). Bengal: the unique state. Concept Publishing Company. p. 10. ISBN 978-81-8069-149-2. Bengal [...] was rich in the production and export of grain, salt, fruit, liquors and wines, precious metals, and ornaments besides the output of its handlooms in silk and cotton. Europe referred to Bengal as the richest country to trade with.
  24. ^ Ghosh, Shiladitya. Transitions – History and Civics – 8. Vikas Publishing House. ISBN 9789325993969 – via Google Books.


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