page_title: Islam in Bangladesh
section_title: Law and politics
hierarchical_section_title: Islam in Bangladesh / Law and politics
caption_attribution_description: English: Rally of Madrasa students in Dhaka. Photo: Soman
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.
caption: Muslim students rally in Dhaka, protesting closures of madrasas
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