Comorians and Mahorais of Réunion
The island's Muslim minority from the archipelago to the north — Comorian and Mahorais families who came for work and schooling, built mosques in a Catholic department, and occupy an uneasy position between French citizenship and foreign origin.
Identity
Population: Estimated tens of thousands of Comorian and Mahorais descent
Location: Saint-Denis, Le Port and Saint-André, with concentrations in specific quarters
Language: Shikomori varieties and Shimaore at home; Réunion Creole and French in public life
Language family: Niger-Congo → Bantu (Sabaki) alongside French-lexified creole
Traditional governance: Mosque associations and cultural organisations; Mahorais hold French citizenship, while Comorian nationals face immigration law — a distinction that runs through families.
Clans, Sections & Sub-groups (3)
Most African peoples are federations of named sub-groups — clans, sections, chiefdoms or sub-tribes — each with its own dialect, territory and traditions.
Mahorais
French citizens from Mayotte, moving within the republic rather than immigrating to it.
Comorian nationals
Families from Ngazidja, Anjouan and Mohéli, subject to immigration rules.
Réunion-born generations
Children and grandchildren, French by birth and Réunionnais by upbringing.
Culture
Clothing: Salouva and kishali for women, kandu and kofia for men at religious occasions; French dress in schools and workplaces.
Food: Comorian rice and coconut dishes alongside Réunionnais cari; halal butchery serving a growing Muslim population.
Ceremonies: Friday prayer and the two Eids; Comorian grand mariage celebrations held on Réunion at reduced scale; twarab and mbiwi at weddings.
Marriage customs: Islamic marriage with civil registration; the grand mariage obligation persists at a distance, with money sent home for ceremonies performed on Ngazidja.
Initiation rites: Quranic school alongside French schooling; the completion celebrated publicly as in the archipelago.
Stories & Oral Literature
Two Islands, Two Legal StatusesContemporary account
A Mahorais arriving in Réunion is a French citizen exercising freedom of movement. A Comorian from Anjouan, seventy kilometres from Mayotte and culturally identical, is a foreign national. The distinction was created by a 1974 referendum and it now divides extended families across immigration law, schooling entitlements and the right to remain.
Building a Mosque in a Catholic DepartmentReligious history
Réunion's Muslim community, Gujarati Zarabes first and Comorians later, built mosques in the town centres alongside churches and Hindu temples. The island is often cited in France as a model of religious coexistence, a claim Réunionnais treat with a mixture of pride and realism about the tensions that also exist.
Proverbs
“The sea between brothers is still the sea.”
Kinship divided by borders.
“Prayer travels lighter than luggage.”
Religion as the portable inheritance.
“The wedding is here, the ceremony is at home.”
The grand mariage performed at a distance.
Mythology & Spiritual Beliefs
Creation: Islamic cosmology; djinn and spirit belief from the archipelago surviving in healing practice.
Beliefs: Sunni Shafi'i Islam with Sufi orders; djinn and possession specialists; participation in Réunion's wider festival life as neighbours.
Ancestors: Ancestral graves lie in the Comoros; repatriation of bodies is common and expensive, and shapes family finances.
Gods, Goddesses & Spirits
Allah
The one God
Djinn of place
Spirits carried in belief from the archipelago
Sufi saints
Order founders honoured in Comorian tradition
Architecture
Traditional settlements: Urban quarters in Saint-Denis, Le Port and Saint-André; mosques in the town centres; social housing estates where much of the community lives.
Building techniques: Standard French urban construction; mosque building combining Comorian and local idioms.
Village layout: Apartment blocks and houses in the town quarters, with the mosque as the community's fixed point.
Artifacts
Réunion's mosques
Heritage site
Places of worship serving Zarabe and Comorian communities.
Mbiwi sticks
Instrument
Bamboo sticks of the Comorian women's dance, played at Réunion weddings.
Twarab instruments
Instrument
Oud, violin and percussion of the Comorian urban song tradition.
Grand mariage gold
Regalia
Ceremonial jewellery saved for and displayed at the anda.
Historical Timeline
1900s–1950s
Comorian migration to Réunion begins, largely for labour.
1974–1976
Mayotte remains French while the other Comorian islands take independence, splitting the community's legal status.
1970s–1990s
Migration accelerates; mosques and associations are established.
1995
The Balladur visa restricts movement within the archipelago, complicating family ties.
Present
A settled community with divided legal status and continuing links to the archipelago.
Sources & Further Reading
Open sources
- INSEE: Réunion population statisticsINSEE
- Britannica: RéunionEncyclopaedia Britannica
Premium & scholarly sources