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Sri Lanka, Islam in
Sri Lankan Muslims are often called Moors and are largely Sunni Muslims following the Shafii school of law. The small Muslim community, numbering about 1.2 million out of a total population of 15 million, is largely urban. They trace their ancestry through migration and conversion dating back to the seventh century. Sri Lankan Muslims were forced to develop in isolation from the subcontinent's other Muslims for three centuries during occupations by the Portuguese and British. A revival of Islamic learning, observance, piety, scriptural norms, and ritual activities was brought by Sufi orders in the nineteenth century. Muslims supported the nationalist movement and have been included in governments that have ruled Sri Lanka since 1947 .
