The Urdu of Malaysia

The Urdu of Malaysia, numbering approximately 17,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a diaspora community of Urdu-speaking migrants and their descendants, primarily of Pakistani and North Indian Muslim heritage, who maintain a distinct Urdu linguistic and cultural identity within Malaysian society. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Urdu is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Urdu

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Urdu
Primary Language(s): Urdu (urd)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 17,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG019330
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Urdu of Malaysia

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Urdu
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Urdu Speakers

Media Resources in Urdu:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film
The SaviorView Film

4 films

Bible Resources in Urdu:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Easy-to-Read Version✓✓
Geo Version✓✓
Geo Version✓✓
Geo Version✓✓
Pakistan Bible Society✓
Revised✓

6 entries

Or check out the Urdu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Urdu are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Urdu:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Urdu of Malaysia

While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
readLuke 9:42

Pray that those who are living outside of the hope of the gospel will know and trust that Jesus offers freedom from the oppression of sin and hope in eternal life.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed"
readGalatians 3:8

Ask the Lord to fulfill His promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed by advancing the gospel to every people group who has yet to receive it.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
readColossians 4:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, their speech will always be gracious and ready to answer for the hope which is within them.

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
readActs 17:32

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures wisdom and discernment as they engage in spiritual conversations with those who are curious about the gospel.

Urdu Across Countries (ROP3 - 110423) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

22 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▲CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
PakistaniPakistaniUnited States668,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPakistaniThailand5,600Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPakistaniSpain92,500Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduSaudi Arabia2,150,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduCanada221,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduFrance110,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduBelgium9,900Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduTurkiye27,000Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduAfghanistan20,500Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduMalaysia17,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduGuyana4,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduUnited Arab Emirates253,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduDenmark26,500Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduQatar180,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduOman137,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduKuwait4,200Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduIraq4,500Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduBahrain78,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduPakistan17,570,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduUnited Kingdom1,220,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduIreland9,400Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduGermany96,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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