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Proselytizing by non-Muslims in Maldives, including the public possession and distribution of non-Muslim religious materials (such as the Bible), is illegal. Public worship by adherents of religions other than Islam is forbidden. [17] On the inhabited islands, the mosque forms the central place where Islam is practiced. [2]
Islam is the state religion of the Maldives. [2] The 2008 Constitution or "Fehi Qānoon" declares the significance of Islamic law in the country. The constitution requires that citizenship status be based on adherence to the state religion, which legally makes the country's citizens hundred percent Muslim. [3]
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 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]
Sunni Islam is the state religion. Historically, the Maldives were converted to Islam from Buddhism in the 12th century. Under the 2008 constitution Islam is the official religion of the entire population, as adherence to it is required for citizenship.
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 Maldives, [d] officially the Republic of Maldives, [e] and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is a country and archipelagic state in South Asia in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India , about 750 kilometres (470 miles; 400 nautical miles) from the Asian continent's mainland.
The culture of the Maldives is derived from a number of sources, the most important of which is its proximity to the shores of Sri Lanka and South India. The population is mainly Indo-Aryan from the anthropological point of view. Islam is considered the religion of the country and only Muslims can become legal citizens.