page_title: Islam in Bangladesh
section_title: Status of religious freedom
hierarchical_section_title: Islam in Bangladesh / Status of religious freedom
caption_attribution_description: বাংলা: মুসল্লিগণ জুমার নামাজ পড়ছেন, ঢাকা, বাংলাদেশ English: Saying Juma Namaz (Friday prayer for Muslims), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
context_page_description: Bangladesh is a Muslim majority nation and Islam is the state religion of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The Muslim population was approximately 152 million, constituting 90% of the total population as of 2011 and making Bangladesh the third-largest Muslim majority nation in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan. The majority of Bangladeshis are Sunni. They follow the Hanafi Islamic jurisprudence, but there is also an increasing numbers of the Ahle Hadith. Religion has always been a strong part of Bangladeshi identity, but the specific identity has varied at different times. Bangladesh although a developing country is one of the few secular Muslim majority countries in the world.
  Islam in Bangladesh existed in communities along the Arab coastal trade routes in Bengal as soon as the religion originated and had gained early acceptance in the Arabian Peninsula. Following the conquests of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji and the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate, Indian Islamic missionaries achieved their greatest success in terms of successful dawah and number of converts to Islam in Bengal.
context_section_description: The Constitution establishes Islam as the state religion but upholds the right to practice—subject to law, public order, and morality—the religion of one's choice. The Government generally respects this provision in practice. The Government (2001–2006) led by an alliance of four parties Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Islami Oikya Jote and Bangladesh Jatiyo Party banned Ahmadiya literature by an executive order. However, the present government, led by Bangladesh Awami League strongly propagates secularism and respect towards other religions. Despite all Bangladeshis saying that religion is an important part of their daily lives, Bangladesh's Awami League won a landslide victory in 2008 on a platform of secularism, reform, and a suppression of radical Islamist groups. According to a Gallup poll conducted in 2009, simultaneous strong support of the secular Awami League and the near unanimous importance of religion in daily life suggests that while religion is vital in Bangladeshis' daily lives, they appear comfortable with its lack of influence in government.
caption: Friday prayer for Muslims in Dhaka
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS Kiss X4", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Picasa", "Image DateTime": "2012:09:08 01:30:49", "Image Artist": "Picasa", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "232", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[23, 45, 268425/32768]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "E", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[90, 22, 321585/8192]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "Image GPSInfo": "8008", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "8282", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6674", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "11", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:07:13 01:37:34", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:07:13 01:37:34", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "67/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "7", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "49", "EXIF SubSecTime": "81", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "81", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "81", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5177", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2921", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "5184", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "3456", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "8134", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "da3434c2170938b264cb6197742746fe"}