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

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
readIsaiah 59:2

Pray that those who are separated from God will turn to Him in humility and repentance, seeking His forgiveness and the restoration of a right relationship with their Heavenly Father.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by my name."
readIsaiah 65:1

Pray that the lost will be found by God, even when they are not seeking Him. Pray that He will reveal Himself to them in a way they cannot ignore and that they will respond in faith.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
read2 Corinthians 9:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust God in all things, especially in times of persecution.

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.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
Brunei MalaysBrunei MalaysBrunei326,000Engaged yet UnreachedBruneiSunni Islam
BruneiBruneiCanada5,400Unengaged and 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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