Religious Beliefs and Unity in Diversity
Senior 2 · Religion and Ethics
Religious Beliefs and Unity in Diversity
Lesson 2 of 5
18 min
Rwanda welcomes visitors, students and workers from all over the world. At Kigali Convention Centre or in a university classroom you may meet a Hindu engineer, a Buddhist doctor, a Jewish tourist or a Sikh businessman. Knowing the basic facts about the world's major religions helps you to respect people of other faiths and to avoid false ideas about them.
The figures below are rounded estimates for 2020, from a 2025 study by the Pew Research Center. The world population in 2020 was about 7.9 billion.
| Religion | Founder or key figure | Holy writings | Place of worship | Followers (about) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christianity | Jesus Christ | the Bible | church | 2.3 billion (29%) |
| Islam | revealed to the Prophet Muhammad | the Qur'an | mosque | 2.0 billion (26%) |
| Hinduism | no single founder | the Vedas, the Bhagavad Gita | temple (mandir) | 1.2 billion (15%) |
| Buddhism | Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha | the Tripitaka | temple, monastery | 300 million (4%) |
| Judaism | Abraham and Moses | the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), especially the Torah | synagogue | 15 million (0.2%) |
Other religions, such as Sikhism, Jainism, the Bahá'í Faith and many traditional religions, together have about 200 million followers (2%). About 1.9 billion people (24%) say they have no religion.
Muslims believe that Islam is the same message of submission to God that all the prophets brought, and that Muhammad is the last prophet, rather than a "founder". You should write "revealed to the Prophet Muhammad", not "founded by Muhammad".
Christianity, Islam and Judaism are called the Abrahamic religions, because all three look back to the prophet Abraham and believe in one God.
In Rwanda's 2012 census, 43.7% of the population was Catholic, 37.7% Protestant, 11.8% Seventh-day Adventist, 2.0% Muslim and 0.7% Jehovah's Witness, while 2.5% said they had no religion. In the 2022 census, about 40% were Catholic and about 2% Muslim. Kigali also has small Hindu, Buddhist and Bahá'í communities.
Question: Using the 2012 census figures, what percentage of Rwandans belonged to the Catholic, Protestant and Seventh-day Adventist churches together?
Working: 43.7 + 37.7 + 11.8 = 93.2
Answer: 93.2% of Rwandans belonged to these three groups of churches.
Follow-up: Is it correct to say Muslims are "not important" in Rwanda because they are only 2% of the population? No. Rwanda's Constitution gives every citizen the same freedom of religion, whatever the size of their community. Muslims are full citizens who have contributed to Rwanda's trade, education and national life for over a century.
Tip
Exam technique. Learn one fact in each column of the table for every religion: figure, book, building. A common exam error is to give a religion the wrong place of worship; for example, Jews worship in a synagogue, not a temple or church.
Which two religions have the most followers in the world?
Answer: Christianity (about 2.3 billion) and Islam (about 2.0 billion).
Name the holy writings and the place of worship of Hinduism and of Judaism.
Answer: Hinduism: the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita; temple (mandir). Judaism: the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), especially the Torah; synagogue.
Why are Christianity, Islam and Judaism called Abrahamic religions?
Answer: because all three look back to the prophet Abraham and believe in one God.
In 2012, what percentage of Rwandans were Christians of the Catholic or Protestant churches (not counting Adventists)?
Working: 43.7 + 37.7 = 81.4. Answer: 81.4%.
Why do Muslims prefer to say that the Qur'an was "revealed to" Muhammad rather than that he "founded" Islam?
Answer: Muslims believe Islam is God's message, taught by all the prophets from Adam onwards, and that Muhammad received the final revelation from God. He did not invent it.
Remember
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
