The Brunei Malays of Brunei

The Brunei Malays of Brunei, numbering approximately 326,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an indigenous ethnic group of Brunei and Malaysia. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Brunei is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Brunei
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Brunei (kxd)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 326,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG018237
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Brunei Malays of Brunei

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: Brunei
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Brunei Speakers

Media Resources in Brunei:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Brunei:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Brunei bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Brunei Malays 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 Brunei Malays:
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 Brunei Malays of Brunei

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
readPsalm 96:5

Pray that those who are seeking after worthless idols will not be satisfied until they seek the truth and find it in Christ.

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
readRevelation 4:11

Pray that the good news will advance and people will recognize and worship the One who created all things by His will, giving glory and honor to Him alone.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
read2 Corinthians 9:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the principle of sowing and reaping, and be generous in their giving and serving, knowing that they will reap a generous harvest.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures the discernment they need to recognize the spiritual battle they are fighting. Pray God will protect their faith as they abide in Him.

Brunei-Kadaian Across Countries (ROP3 - 101679) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▲CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BruneiBruneiCanada5,400Unengaged and UnreachedBruneiSunni Islam
Brunei MalaysBrunei MalaysBrunei326,000Engaged yet UnreachedBruneiSunni Islam
Brunei-KadayanBrunei-KadayanUnited States750Unengaged and UnreachedBruneiSunni Islam
KedayanKedayanMalaysia91,000Unengaged and UnreachedBruneiSunni 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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