Islam in Trinidad and Tobago - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Muslims constitute 6 percent of the population on Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...

, representing 65,318 individuals. The majority live in Trinidad

Trinidad

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

but there are a handful in Tobago

Tobago

Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...

as well. The first Muslims to arrive in the country arrived from Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land 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

Corps of Colonial Marines

Corps of Colonial Marines were raised from former slaves as auxiliary units of the Royal Marines for service in the Americas: Two of these units were raised and subsequently disbanded...

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

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

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

Princes Town

Princes Town is a town in southern Trinidad .Originally founded as the Amerindian Mission of Savana Grande, the town was renamed after the 1880 visit by Queen Victoria's grandsons, Prince Albert and Prince George...

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

West India Regiment

The West India Regiment was an infantry unit of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. The regiment differed from similar forces raised in other parts of the British Empire in that it formed an integral part of the...

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

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

's interception of slaving ships following the Slave Trade Act

Slave Trade Act

The Slave Trade Act was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 25 March 1807, with the long title "An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade". The original act is in the Parliamentary Archives...

s. From the 1840s, Muslims came from South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

as part of the Indian indenture system

Indian indenture system

The Indian indenture system was an ongoing system of indenture by which thousands of Indians were transported to various colonies of European powers to provide labour for the plantations...

to work on sugar cane and cacao plantations. 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

ASJA Boys' College

ASJA Boys' College is a Muslim secondary school in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. It is the oldest Muslim secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago, having been established in 1960 at the Jinnah Memorial hall at the back of the Jama Masjid on Mucurapo Street in San Fernando.-Early history:The...

, San Fernando, was established in 1960.

There are many mosques and Eid ul Fitr is a public holiday. In 2005, an Islamic television channel IBN Channel 8 was born. This station stills holds an appeal to the widest Muslim Community and does not represent the ideas of one man like other Media houses ( www.ibntt.com)Subjective,article most likely written by member of IBN .In 2006 a website TriniMuslims.com was created. In the same year, born was Darut Tarbiyah The Islamic Network (T.I.N.).

On Friday July 27, 1990, 114 members of the Jamaat al Muslimeen

Jamaat al Muslimeen

The Jamaat al Muslimeen is a Muslim organisation within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago with a membership of predominantly Afro-Trinidadians....

, led by Yasin Abu Bakr

Yasin Abu Bakr

Yasin Abu Bakr, born Lennox Philip is the leader of the Jamaat al Muslimeen a Muslim group in Trinidad and Tobago. The group has long-standing links with Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi. Under the leadership of Abu Bakr and Bilaal Abdullah, the group staged an attempted coup d’état in 1990.Abu...

and Bilaal Abdullah attempted to stage a coup d'état

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

against the government of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

.A pardon was obtained at gunpoint for the members of this group.

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