Muslims constitute 5.6 percent of the population of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. The majority live in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

but there are a handful in

Tobago Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...

as well.

Masjid al Tawbah - Lowlands, Tobago, West Indies

History

The first Muslims to arrive in the country arrived from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

brought as slaves by the colonists. The second group arrived in 1816 as a small proportion of those of the

Corps of Colonial Marines The Corps of Colonial Marines were two different British Marine units raised from former black slaves for service in the Americas, at the behest of Alexander Cochrane. The units were created at two separate periods: 1808-1810 during the Napol ...

who were African-born and had been recruited in 1815 in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

during the War of 1812, mostly settled in Fifth and Sixth Companies within the Company Villages near

Princes Town Princes Town is a town within the Princes Town Regional Corporation, located on southern Trinidad island in Trinidad and Tobago. The population of the town is 28,335. History Founded as the Amerindian '' Mission of Savana Grande'', the town ...

. They were followed by African Muslims among disbanded members of the

West India Regiment The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced t ...

s settled between 1817 and 1825 in Manzanilla on the East Coast and in a group of villages south-east of Valencia, and further African Muslims were brought to Trinidad as a result of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

's interception of slaving ships following the

Slave Trade Act Slave Trade Act is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom and the United States that relates to the slave trade. The "See also" section lists other Slave Acts, laws, and international conventions which developed the conce ...

s. From the 1840s, Muslims came from

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

as part of the

Indian indenture system The Indian indenture system was a system of indentured servitude, by which more than one million Indians were transported to labour in European colonies, as a substitute for slave labor, following the abolition of the trade in the early 19th c ...

to work on sugar cane and

cacao plantation ''Theobroma cacao'', also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. The largest pro ...

s. Muslims today are mostly of South Asian descent but there are converts from all races. In Trinidad there are Islamic primary and secondary schools. The first Muslim secondary school in the country, ASJA Boys' College, San Fernando, was established in 1960. Masjid - Hermitage Village, Trinidad and Tobago

Masjid - Hermitage Village, Trinidad and Tobago

There are many mosques and

Eid ul Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , date ...

is a public holiday. There are several mosques belonging to the

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

Muslim Community and 5 mosques belonging to the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha'at Islam Lahore. In 2005, an Islamic television channel IBN Channel 8 was born. In 2006 Darut Tarbiyah - The Islamic Network (T.I.N.) was established.

Notable Muslims

* Inshan Ali * Mahaboob Ben Ali * Radanfah Abu Bakr * Yasin Abu Bakr, leader of the attempted ''coup d’état'' of 1990. * Khalid Hassanali *

Noor Hassanali Noor Mohamed Hassanali (; 13 August 1918 – 25 August 2006) was the second president of Trinidad and Tobago (1987–1997). A retired high-court judge, Hassanali was the first person of Indian descent along with being the first Muslim to hold the ...

, former President * Imran N. Hosein * Haji Gokool Meah * Jamaal Shabazz * Inshan Ishmael, the owner of IBN *Yacoob Ali

References

External links

Muslims in T&T - Trinidad Guardian, Indian Diaspora Supplement May 30, 2000. National Library Archive

The Trinidad & Tobago Masjid Project (at TriniMuslims.com)
- comprehensive list of masaajid in T&T.
Pictures of Masjids in Trinidad and Tobago

* ttp://www.islamweb.net/ver2/archive/article.php?lang=E&id=135534 How a Minister in Trinidad and Tobago entered Islam {{Islam in the Americas

Religion in Trinidad and Tobago