The Ishelhayn Imazighen of Morocco

The Ishelhayn Imazighen of Morocco, numbering approximately 5,055,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Amazigh people indigenous to the Souss Valley, Anti-Atlas, and western High Atlas of southern Morocco, whose Tachelhit heritage includes longstanding traditions of oral poetry and song. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Tachelhit is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Amazigh, Ishelhayn

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Morocco
People Cluster: Amazigh-Shilha
Primary Language(s): Tachelhit (shi)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 5,055,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011858
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Ishelhayn Imazighen of Morocco

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: Tachelhit
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Tachelhit Speakers

Media Resources in Tachelhit:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Tachelhit:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
UBS Version✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Tachelhit bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Ishelhayn Imazighen 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 Ishelhayn Imazighen:
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 Ishelhayn Imazighen of Morocco

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
read1 John 3:8

Pray for those living in darkness to recognize the destructive power of sin and the victory Christ has won over it.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that they will receive the Word of God as a lamp to their feet and commit their ways to Him.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
readActs 4:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak God's Word with boldness, sharing the love of Jesus with those around them.

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
read1 Corinthians 9:22

Ask God to raise up believers from around the world to go and share the hope of Jesus with the lost so that they might trust in Him and have the hope of eternal life.

Amazigh, Tachelhit Across Countries (ROP3 - 108945) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Ishilhayn ImazighenIshilhayn ImazighenFrance147,000Engaged yet UnreachedTachelhitSunni Islam
Ishelhayn ImazighenIshelhayn ImazighenMorocco5,055,000Engaged yet UnreachedTachelhitSunni 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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