Islam is the third largest religion in Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

 after Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 and indigenous beliefs.

Number of Muslims

In 1999, a Namibian Muslim leader estimated that there were approximately 1,500 Muslims in the country. In 2009, leaders estimated that there were between 3,000 and 5,000 Namibian Muslims.

Growth of Namibia's Muslim community

Most of Namibia's Muslim community are members of the Namaqua

Namaqua

Nama are an African ethnic group of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They traditionally speak the Nama language of the Khoe-Kwadi language family, although many Nama now speak Afrikaans. The Nama are the largest group of the Khoikhoi people, most of whom have largely disappeared as a group,...

 ethnic group. It is believed that this is mostly as a result of the efforts of a prominent politician among the Nama, Jacobs Salmaan Dhameer, who converted to Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 in 1980. The first mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

 in the country, called the Soweto Islamic Centre, was established 1986 and is located in Katutura

Katutura

Katutura is a township of Windhoek, Khomas Region, Namibia. Katutura was created in 1961 following the forced removal of Windhoek's black population from the Old Location, which afterwards was developed into the suburb Hochland Park. Sam Nujoma Stadium, built in 2005, is located within Katutura...

. As of May 2009, there were twelve mosques in the country, six of which were in Windhoek. Twenty-four Namibians are currently studying in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

 while others have been sent for long term Islamic training in institutions in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. The Namibia Islamic Judicial Council is based on Ondobe, Ohangwena Region

Ohangwena Region

Ohangwena is one of the thirteen regions of Namibia. The northern and western parts of the region are the most densely populated of this essentially subsistence agricultural region in which small scale mahangu cultivation and the keeping of cattle form the predominant activities...

.