Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
No law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives. [16] The traditional Islamic law code of sharia forms the Maldives' basic code of law, as interpreted to conform to local Maldivian conditions by the President, the attorney general, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Majlis. [2] Article 142 of the constitution states,
Numerous significant Muslim holy days are celebrated as national holidays in the Maldives, including Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan; Eid al-Adha, commemorating the end of the Hajj pilgrimage. Islam is thought to have been brought to the Maldives around the 12th century by Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari, a Moroccan traveller. [16]
The 2008 Constitution of Maldives designates Sunni Islam as the state religion. Only Sunni Muslims are allowed to hold citizenship in the country and citizens may practice Sunni Islam only. Non-Muslim citizens of other nations can practice their faith only in private and are barred from evangelizing or propagating their faith.
The Maldives rates "high" on the Human Development Index, [17] with per capita income significantly higher than other SAARC nations. [18] The Maldives was a member of the Commonwealth of Nations from July 1982 until withdrawing from the organisation in October 2016 in protest of allegations of its human rights abuses and failing democracy. [19]
The Maldives – island nation comprising a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean. [1] The Maldives is located south of India's Lakshadweep islands, and about seven hundred kilometres (435 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka. The twenty-six atolls of Maldives' encompass a territory featuring 1,192 islets, two hundred and fifty islands of which are inhabited.
The Constitution of the Maldives designates Islam as the official state religion, [1] [2] and the government and many citizens at all levels interpret this provision to impose a requirement that all citizens must be Muslims. The Constitution states the president must be a Sunni Muslim. There is no freedom of religion or belief. [3]
The Sultanate of the Maldive Islands [2] was an Islamic monarchy that controlled the Maldives for 815 years (1153–1968), with one interruption from 1953–1954.. Maldives was a Buddhist kingdom until its last monarch, King Dhovemi, converted to Islam in the year 1153; thereafter he also adopted the Muslim title and name Sultan Muhammad al-Adil.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs (Dhivehi: އިސްލާމީ ކަންތައްތަކާ ބެހޭ ވުޒާރާ) is a government agency of the Republic of Maldives, handling the country's religious affairs. It was previously known as Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, and was constituted by the president of Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in 1996. [4]