page_title: Islam in South Africa
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Islam in South Africa / History
caption_attribution_description: English: 214 Loop St, Cape Town. This media shows a South African Protected Site with SAHRA file reference 9/2/018/0122.
context_page_description: Islam in South Africa is a minority religion, practised by roughly 1.5-2.0% of the total population. It is also one of the fastest growing religion in South Africa. Islam in South Africa has grown in three phases. The first phase brought the earliest Muslims as part of the involuntary migration of slaves, political prisoners, and political exiles from Africa and Asia that lasted from about 1652 to the mid-1800s. The second phase was the arrival of indentured labourers from British India to work in the sugar-cane fields in Natal between 1860 and 1868, and again from 1874 to 1911. Of the approximately 176,000 Indians of all faiths who were transported to the Natal province, almost 7-10% of the first shipment were Muslims.
  The third phase has been marked by a wave of African Muslims following the end of apartheid in 1994. Recent figures put the number of these immigrants at approximately at between 75,000 and 100,000. In addition, a considerable number of Muslims from South Asia that have arrived as economic migrants. Although the majority of Muslims are Sunni, smaller numbers are Shia and there is also a large Ahmadi following, particularly in Cape Town.
caption: Mosque in Cape Town
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