Islam in Africa

Islam in Africa is the second most professed faith behind Christianity, practiced by about 33% of the population, according to multiple survey waves by Afrobarometer between 2016 and 2023. Although other estimates may place the population of Muslims as a share of the continent closer to 45%. Africa was the first continent into which Islam spread from the Middle East, during the early 7th century CE. It is likely the earliest Muslims in Africa were disciples of Muhammad who sought refugee in the Christian Kingdom of Aksum, present-day Eritrea and Ethiopia, as a result of local dissatisfaction with Muhammad in Mecca.

Like the vast majority of Muslims in the world, most Muslims in Africa are also Sunni Muslims; the complexity of Islam in Africa is revealed in the various schools of thought, traditions, and voices in many African countries. Many African ethnicities, mostly in the northern half of the continent, consider Islam as their traditional religion. Islam in Africa has often adapted to African cultural contexts and belief systems forming Africa's own orthodoxies.

As of 2025, Islam is the main religion of North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Sahel, the Swahili Coast, and West Africa, with minority immigrant populations in Southern Africa. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a 2020 survey found about 30% of the population were Muslims.

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