Practitioners of Islam first entered Somalia in the northwestern city of Zeila during prophet Muhammad's lifetime whereupon they built the Masjid al-Qiblatayn; as such, Islam has been a part of Somali society since the 7th century.
Ruins of the Muslim Adal Sultanate in Zeila.
The Mosque of Islamic Solidarity in Mogadishu is the largest masjid in the Horn region.
Eid al-Fitr prayers in Baidoa, Somalia, 2014
13th century Fakr ad-Din mosque, built by Fakr ad-Din, the first Sultan of the Sultanate of Mogadishu.
The Somali people are a Cushitic ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The East Cushitic Somali language is the shared mother tongue of ethnic Somalis, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, and they are predominantly Sunni Muslim. Forming one of the largest ethnic groups on the continent, they cover one of the most expansive landmasses by a single ethnic group in Africa.
A Somali man in a traditional Koofiyad
Ruins of the Adal Sultanate in Zeila, a kingdom led in the 16th century by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi (Ahmed Gurey).
Queen Ati of Land of Punt as depicted on the walls of Deir el-Bahari
The Citadel of Gondershe was an important site in the medieval Ajuran Empire.
