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 Indo-Iranians in Malaysia. They are an Diaspora people, in the Urdu people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Urdu.

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): Islam - Sunni
Population: 17,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active 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: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Urdu
Language Family: Indo-European

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Media Resources in Urdu:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Urdu:

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Or check out the Urdu bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Urdu

The Urdu are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Urdu

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.

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

Next steps for the Urdu

The Urdu are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Urdu of Malaysia

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
read1 John 4:10

Pray for those without the hope of Christ to understand the depth of God's love and the sacrifice He made for them.

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
readMatthew 13:23

Pray that their hearts will have good soil that receives the Word, understands it, and bears fruit for God's kingdom.

Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
readHebrews 10:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not neglect meeting together but encourage one another as they see the Day approaching.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Ask God to raise up people who will trust in His sovereignty as they share the gospel, knowing that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

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

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 Definitions page.

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