Religion in Niger

Most Muslims in Niger follow Sunni Islam, commonly associated with the Maliki school. Roman Catholics, Protestants, Baha'i communities and people maintaining Indigenous beliefs are present, with Baha'i communities particularly reported in Niamey and along the western Niger River. Some Islamic and animist practices overlap in local life, although this mixture has declined under outside Islamic influences. Mosques, churches and other places of worship serve as community institutions. The Conseil Islamique du Niger, the Grand Imam de Niamey, Christian church bodies, Baha'i organizations and traditional religious leaders are among the bodies involved in religious affairs. The Direction Générale des Cultes and its departments for Islamic, Christian and other beliefs and places of worship operate within the Ministry of the Interior, Public Security and Territorial Administration. The 2025 Charte de la Refondation recognizes Islam as the majority religion while recognizing coexistence with other confessions. It guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, religion, worship and expression of beliefs, subject to public order, morals, social peace, tolerance, fraternity, solidarity and national unity. Religious organizations generally register with the Ministry of the Interior. A registration file can include the organization's charter, board minutes, annual action plan and founders' list. Registered bodies receive legal recognition. National religious gatherings and preaching can require registration or a special permit. Permanent status follows a review or probation period of up to three years, and the construction and financing of places of worship are supervised. Ramadan, Aïd al-Fitr, Aïd al-Adha or Tabaski, Mawlid or Maouloud, Christmas and Easter are observed by relevant communities. Islamic dates follow the lunar calendar, so annual administrative notices determine public holiday arrangements. The 2026 government proposal provides for Aïd al-Fitr and the following day as holidays, while the day after Maouloud was declared a paid public holiday on 5 September 2025. The current year's decree should be checked for exact dates and legal status. Religious ceremonies such as Muslim naming and nikah, Christian or Muslim marriage rites, baptisms and janazah funerals may involve religious leaders, but a religious ceremony is not automatically proof of civil registration. Religious education is offered through écoles coraniques, médersas, franco-arabe schools and modernized Qur'anic schools. Project-linked programs identified as PAREC and PAPEC have supported these pathways, including the renovation of 15 Qur'anic schools serving 434 learners in 2021 and 2022. UNICEF reported in 2025 that Niger was modernizing popular Qur'anic schools and working to strengthen links with formal and franco-arabe education. No blanket equivalence with a formal diploma is established by the available evidence. More than half of children aged 7 to 16 are out of school, and national data for religious schooling are not directly comparable. The Comité national de dialogue inter et intra-religieux supports cooperation between religious communities. Examples include mutual messages at Mawlid and Christmas, joint donations, well projects and mosque repairs, as well as state roundtables with religious and traditional leaders, civil society, women and young people. Local donations, member contributions and costs for venues or religious leaders vary, and no reliable nationwide tariff is available. Access to worship is generally open, but security conditions differ sharply by region. Parts of Diffa, Tillabéri and Tahoua face extremist control or threats associated with groups including JNIM, IS-GS, ISWAP and Boko Haram. Reports from controlled areas include restrictions on women, gender-based limits and bans or threats against Christian worship. These conditions must not be generalized to Niger as a whole.