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

Claiming to be wise, they became fools.
readRomans 1:22

Ask God to pour out His mercy and bring those who are walking in their own wisdom to faith in Jesus.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
readIsaiah 52:7

Pray that those who don't know the good news of peace and salvation through Jesus Christ will have an opportunity to receive it. Pray that it will bring hope and healing to their souls.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have a heart that longs to see all people from all parts of the world worshiping Jesus as He deserves.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
readMatthew 7:28-29

Pray that God will remind believers that they have His authority as they share His truth with the lost, and pray He will draw crowds of people to this message and plant it deeply in their hearts.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

22 people groups

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