Islam by country · Asia
Islam in Yemen: history and Muslim population data
Explore CoMPS research on the historical journey of Islam in Yemen, alongside population data and an interactive timeline.
Open Yemen in the interactive map
History of Islam in Yemen
In 628, Prophet Muhammad sent his companion Shuja bno Wahb as anenvoy to the king of Persia Khosrau II inviting him to Islam. TheShahinshah (Persian for King of Kings) or Kisra (Arabic nickname forKing of Persia) got furious, complaining that the Prophet started theletter with his name, “from Mohammed the messenger of God to Kisra,the leader of Persia,” instead of starting with Kisra’s name. Khorsau IIthen cut the letter into pieces, and sent to Batham, his proxy in Yemenwhich was under the Persian control, to send two strong men to bringthe Prophet to Kisra. When they arrived to the Prophet, he informedthem that Kisra was killed by his son Sheraweh, who is now the King ofPersia. The Prophet also informed them to inform Batham of this, and toinvite him to Islam. This was in Jumada I 7H, or September 628AD. Thetwo men went back and informed Batham, who waited for the newsfrom Persia, and received a letter from Sheraweh, informing him withwhat the Prophet has already told him. So, he knew that Mohammed(PBUH) must be God’s Prophet, and accepted Islam together with hispeople, and Muslims remained the Majority of the population since then.Currently, the Republic of Yemen has an area of 527,968 sq km
A 1922 estimate shows 93% of the population as Muslim. As a resultof the decrease of the number of Jews as they left for Palestine inpreparation for the establishment of Israel, the percentage of Muslimsincreased to 95% in 1929, then 98% in 1949. The first census covering allYemen was conducted in 1973 and 1975 in the southern and northernparts, respectively. The former found 1,590,275 inhabitants, while thelatter found 5,237,893. Both parts were united in 1990. Censuses in thiscountry do not inquire on religious affiliation; however, the entirepopulation is estimated to be Muslim according to the 2013 WorldValues Survey (WVS). A summary of the data is provided in Table2.3.12. Assuming the entire population remains Muslim; then the Muslim population is expected to increase to 55 million by 2050 and 74 million by 2100.
Historical Muslim population dataset for Yemen
The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.
| Year | Total population (thousands) | Muslim population (thousands) | Muslim share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 3,143 | 2,922 | 92.96% |
| 2000 | 18,371 | 18,371 | 100.00% |
| 2100 | 74,145 | 74,145 | 100.00% |
For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.