Islam is the second largest religion in Norway after Christianity. As of 2020, the number of Muslims living in Norway was 182,607 (3.4% of the total population). The majority of Muslims in Norway are Sunni, with a significant Shia minority. 55 percent of Muslims in the country live in Oslo, Akershus, Buskerud and Østfold. The vast majority of Muslims have an immigrant background, and very few ethnic Norwegians are Muslim.
History
Icelandic annals date the arrival of representatives from the Muslim sultan of Tunis in Norway in the 1260s, after King Håkon Håkonsson had sent embassies to the Sultan with rich gifts. However, the number of Muslims in the country was not significant until the latter half of the 20th century. By 1958, Ahmadiyya missionaries had attracted a small number of converts and established a small community in Oslo. Immigration from Muslim countries to Norway began late compared to other western European countries and did not gather pace until the late 1960s. However, due to the oil boom, labor migration lasted longer than in other countries. The first Pakistani immigrant laborers arrived in 1967. In 1975, labor immigration to Norway was halted, but rules for family reunification were relatively relaxed for several more years. As a result, while most immigrants until the 1970s were laborers, immigration in the 1980s and 1990s was dominated by those seeking asylum.
The number of Muslims in Norway was first registered in official statistics in 1980 when it was given as 1006. These statistics were based on membership of a registered congregation. The actual number is likely to be higher given that few Muslims were then members of a mosque. Historian of religion Kari Vogt estimates that 10% of Norwegian Muslims were members of a mosque in 1980, a proportion which had increased to 70% by 1998. Being a member of a mosque was an alien concept to many immigrants from Muslim countries. The number of registered members of mosques increased to 80,838 in 2004, but then dropped to 72,023 in 2006. Part of the reason for the drop could be a new methodology in the compilation of statistics.
At the end of the 1990s, Islam passed the Roman Catholic Church and Pentecostalism to become the largest minority religion in Norway, provided Islam is seen as one group. However, as of 2013, the Roman Catholic Church regained its position as the largest minority religion in Norway due to increasing immigration from European countries and less immigration from Muslim-majority countries. In 2009, the total number of registered Muslim congregations was 126. More than 40 prayer locations exist in the city of Oslo.
In 2010 a Muslim from Örebro in Sweden wanted to build a mosque in Tromsø with money from Saudi Arabia but the Norwegian government declined to give permission on the grounds that Saudi Arabia has no freedom of religion and potential Norwegian money to churches in the opposite direction would be stopped as churches are illegal there.
In June 2018, the parliament of Norway passed a bill banning clothing covering the face at educational institutions as well as daycare centres, which included face-covering Islamic veils. The prohibition applies to pupils and staff alike.
Religiosity Studies conducted for a TV channel in 2006 found that 18% of Norwegian Muslims reported visiting the mosque once a week. A similar study in 2007 reported that 36% of Muslim youth visit the mosque less than once a month.
According to a 2007/2008 survey of students at upper secondary schools in Oslo, 25% of Muslims pray regularly while 12% attend religious services weekly.
Opinion According to a survey in 2016, about 98% of Norwegian Muslims believed that Human rights are important, about 94% believed Democracy is important, and 95% believed that Muslims should live in peace with Non-Muslims. In the same poll a minority of 47% said that it is not important to follow Sharia.
According to a 2017 poll, 3 out of 10 Muslims agree it's important to follow Sharia.
According to a survey of 4,000 Muslims in 2017, only two percent agreed to statements such as "Islam allows the use of violence" and that the September 11 attacks on America in 2001 can be justified.
Radicalizations
About 70 people have left Norway to become foreign fighters in Syria or Iraq, while around 20 have returned.
In May 2019 it was announced that those who had joined the Islamic State who only had residence permits in Norway would have their permits annulled to prevent them from returning to Norway. And in September 2019, 15 foreigners in Norway had their residence permits revoked.
Conversion In 2004, it was estimated that 500–1,000 Norwegians have converted to Islam. Many Norwegians, both men and women, have converted in order to marry Muslims.
Demographics
Muslims in Norway are a very fragmented group, coming from many different backgrounds. Kari Vogt estimated in 2000 that there were about 500 Norwegian converts to Islam.Cited by Jorgen Nielsen (ed.), "Islam in Denmark: The Challenge of Diversity," Lexington Books (December 21, 2011), pg. 53. . The rest are mostly first or second-generation immigrants from a number of countries. The largest immigrant communities from Muslim countries in Norway are from Pakistan, Iraq and Somalia: Country of originNumber (2008)Source: Statistics Norway Pakistan 30,134Somalia 27,881Iraq 21,795Bosnia and Herzegovina 15,649Iran 15,134Turkey 15,003 Converts 1,000-3,000
An unknown, but presumably high, proportion of these immigrant populations is Muslim. In other words, the largest group of Norwegian Muslims originate in Pakistan, but no single nationality constitute as much as a quarter of the total population.
The Turkish, Pakistani and Iranian communities are quite established in Norway. 55% of Iranians have lived in Norway for more than 10 years. The Iraqis are a more recent group, with 80% of the Iraqi community having arrived in the past 10 years.
In the 1990s there was a wave of asylum seekers from the Balkans, mostly Bosniaks. In recent years most immigrants arrive as part of family reunification.
According to the Verdens Gang newspaper, during the 1990s around 500 people converted to Islam in Norway and this number increased to around 3,000 in 2019.
By electoral districts (2019) + Population of Muslims by Norwegian electoral districts: Electoral districts % Muslim# Muslim Oslo 9.5%64 882 Akershus 3.8%23 812 Østfold 4.6%13 620 Buskerud 4.6%13 011 Rogaland 2.5%11 742 Hordaland 1.5%7 837 Vestfold 2.3%5 820 Telemark 2.8%4 796 Vest-Agder 2.4%4 565 Hedmark 1.5%3 045 Oppland 1.6%3 005 Nordland 1.1%2 593 Møre og Romsdal 1.0%2 635 Trøndelag 1.5%7 017 Troms 1.3%2 170 Aust-Agder 1.7%2 051 Sogn og Fjordane 1.2%1 359 Finnmark 1.4%1 029 Norway 3.3%175 507
By region (2019) Region Percent Muslim Eastern Norway 4.9% Western Norway 1.7% Trøndelag 1.5% Southern Norway 2.2% Northern Norway 1.2%
Year Muslims Percent 2006Muslim religious communities grow Norwaytoday, December 1, 2017 76,000 1.6% 2010 144,000 2.9% 2018 166,861 3.2% 2030 359,000 6.3%
Organizations
Mosques have been important, not just as places of prayer, but also as a meeting place for members of minority groupings. Several mosques also do different forms of social work, e.g. organising the transport of deceased members back to their countries of origin for burial. The mosques are mostly situated in regular city blocks, and are not easily visible features of the cities.
Some of the earliest attempts to organize Islamic worship in Norway was done by labor organizations as early Muslims were labor migrants. The first mosque was established in 1972 by Pakistani immigrants. Another mosque, the Islamic Cultural Centre (ICC) opened in Oslo in 1974. The initiative for the mosque came from Pakistanis who were helped by the Islamic Cultural Centre which had already opened in Copenhagen in Denmark. The new mosque adhered to the deobandi branch of Sunni Islam. Adherents of the Sufi inspired Barelwi movement, who constituted the majority of Pakistanis in Norway, soon felt the need for a mosque of their own, and opened the Central Jamaat-e Ahl-e Sunnat in 1976. Today this is the second largest mosque in Norway, with over 6,000 members. The first Shia mosque, Anjuman-e hussaini, was founded in 1975, and until 1994 was the only Shia congregation. The Tablighi Jamaat came to Norway in 1977. An Albanian mosque was established in 1989, and a Bosnian mosque in the 1990s. Until the 1990s, mosques and Islamic organizations in Norway were established along ethnic lines. Such establishments were by immigrants from Pakistan, Turkey, Morocco, Arab world, Somalia, The Gambia and Bosnia.
Starting , Muslims of different ethnicities and sects came together to form umbrella organizations. The Muslim Defence Committee was established in 1989 to give an Islamic response to the Salman Rushdie affair. The Islamic Women's Group of Norway and Urtehagen Foundation were established in 1991, and in 1993 the Islamic Council of Norway was established to conduct dialogue with the Church of Norway. Another major change in the 1990s was that mosques became more inclusive to women. For example, in 1999 the ICC began offering Arabic and Qur'an classes to women and including women in Eid prayers.
Also in the 1990s, Muslim youth and student associations were established. In 1995, the Muslim Student Society (MSS) was founded at the University of Oslo, driven by a need to find prayer space for Islamic prayer. The MSS soon expanded its activities to include conducting interfaith dialogue, courses on dawah, iftar during Ramadan, and other community projects. In 1996, the Muslim Youth of Norway (NMU) was founded. In 1999, NMU began publishing Explore (later called Ung Muslim) a magazine geared towards Norwegian Muslim youth.
By 2005, only one purpose-built mosque existed in Norway, built by the Sufi-inspired Sunni Muslim World Islamic Mission in Oslo in 1995. Minhaj-ul-Quran International established its mosque and centre in 1987. In 2000, this was the first Norwegian mosque to start performing the adhan - the call to prayer. Initially, the mosque received permission from Gamle Oslo borough to perform the adhan once a week. This was appealed to county authorities by the Progress Party. The ruling of the fylkesmann (county governor) of Oslo and Akershus stated that no permission was required for performing the adhan, leaving the mosque free to perform it at their own discretion. Lov med bønnerop , Aftenposten, November 1, 2000 The mosque decided to limit themselves to performing the adhan once a week.
While less than 10% of Muslims were members of an Islamic organization in 1980, this figure rose to 50% in 1990, and increased to 55% by 2007.
Umbrella organisations