Spread of Islam in modern world

Spread of Islam in modern world

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Between 2015 AD and 2060 AD, Muslim population is projected to increase by 70%, from 1.76 billion to 3 billion. This compares with the 32% growth of world population during the same period. Muslims will be greater in number than Christians in 2070 AD.

Pew Research have estimated that the number of Muslims will be around 2.2 billion in 2030 AD and 2.8 billion, or 30 percent of world population, in 2050 AD. According to another study published in 2015 by the Pew Research Center, Islam is expected to gain a net of 3 million adherents through religious conversion between 2010 AD and 2050 AD, which makes Islam the largest religion in terms of net gains through religious conversion.

According to Guinness World Records 2003 AD, approximately 12.5 million more people converted to Islam than people converted to Christianity between 1990 AD and 2000 AD.

Historical Muslim population

Historical estimate of Muslim population in the World.

Year    World population           Muslim population     Islamic followers share (%)

1800    1 billion                                     91 million                  (9.1%)

1900    1.6 billion                                200 million                  (12.5%)

1970    3.7 billion                                577 million                  (15.6%)

2000    6.14 billion                              1.291 billion                (21%)

2013    7.21 billion                              1.635 billion                (22.7%)

2016    7.46 billion                              1.8 billion                    (24.1%)

2020    7.8 billion                                2 billion                       (26%)

World Muslim population by percentage (Pew Research Center, 2014)

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Now let us have a look at regional data:

Asia

Islam is currently the largest religion in Asia. According to the Pew Research Center, 27.3% of the people living in the Asia-Pacific region in 2030 AD will be Muslim, up from about a quarter in 2010 AD (24.8%) and 21.6% in 1990 AD.

         India

Islam is the fastest-growing religion in India. India will have 311 million Muslim         population   in 2050

         China

There are 20 million Muslims in China.

USA

According to The New York Times, an estimated 25% of American Muslims are converts; 77% of new converts to Islam are from Christianity, whereas 19% are atheists. A report in Huffington Post reads “observers estimate that as many as 20,000 Americans convert to Islam annually.”

Among the new Muslims, women are 4 times more than men.

Europe

Islam is the fastest-growing religion in Europe. According to the Pew Research Center, the Muslim population in Europe (excluding Turkey) was about 30 million in 1990, and 44 million in 2010; the Muslim share of the population increased from 4.1% in 1990 to 6% in 2010.

       France:

There are an estimated 100,000 Muslim converts, compared with about 50,000 in 1986. As   of mid-2016, there are 5.7 million Muslims in France (8.8% of the population) and the         Muslim population continues to grow. Every year 4000 persons in France embrace Islam and majority of them are of young age.

        United Kingdom:

UK is home to 3.5 million Muslims (6.5% of the population) according to the 2021 census. In Britain, around 6,000 people convert to Islam every year and the majority of new Muslim converts are women. Last year 5200 people in UK converted to Islam. The number of Muslims doubled in past decade. Muhammad is the most popular name for baby boys in London. Some observers think that Islam may become the dominant religion in UK in 10 years time.  

        Russia:

There are over 23 million muslims,i.e., 1 out of 5 Russians is a Muslim. The number of Muslims is increasing in Moscow in such numbers that mosques are short of space.

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Now let us see what some of the converts to Islam have to say:

• Arnourd Van Dourn former Dutch anti Islamic (member of the far right Freedom party of Geert Wilders) and involved in production of an anti Islamic film says:

        “High school is being a Christian, graduate is embracing Islam.”

• Former anti-Muslim Dutch MP Joram van Klaveren (right hand man for Geert Wilders) converted to Islam when trying to write an anti Islam book. He had said in the past “Quran is poison” and “Islam is a disease”. Now he says:

        “When I stared writing my book I gradually found that most of my ideas about Islam had           no basis. In fact I got satisfying answers to my many Christian questions such as trinity,             sacrifice of Christ and origin of sin.”

• German far right politician Arthur Wagner has this to say:

         “Islam gives cleaning to your soul and your body. Feeling for Allah is very important for              me.”

• Muhammad Ali (formerly Cassius Clay), the greatest boxer in the history said:

“My conversion to Islam was a way to find freedom and a better life.”

• Father Michael Manning, a former Christian priest gave the reason for his conversion as:
• “I was touched by the simple approach of Islam to praying and five times of praying and by Ramadan when you can feel the presence of God.”

• Another former priest says:

       “Allah is the true name of God. Followers of Abraham prayed just like Muslims,i.e, sajda        as  written in Genesis 17:3. And Moses also did sajda (Exodus 8:34). Jesus fell to the ground and prayed (Mathew 26:39).”

• Yet another former priest said:

       “Two chapters in Quran are devoted to Virgin Mary. By name Jesus is mentioned 25 times in Quran, Prophet Muhammad only 4 times. More information about Jesus is given in Quran as compared to Bible.”

• TV presenter Christiana Baker embraced Islam because:

      “I could not understand the concept of God until I embraced Islam.”

• An Australian convert woman said:

       “Islam answered my questions in a way that made sense.”

• Shuhada’ Sadaqat (formely Sinead O’Conner) a famous Irish singer who converted to Islam said in an interview:

       “ Islam is the natural conclusion of any theologian”.

• Frank Ribery (footballer):

        “Islam has strengthened me.”

• Mike Tyson (former world heavyweight champion):

      “I am very grateful to be a Muslim. I need Allah.”

• Emanuel Adebayer (Tottenham footballer):

       “Jesus guided me to Islam.”

Indeed, many former Christian women also say that Jesus led them to Islam.

• French Rap artist Diam’s says:

         “I converted to Islam and I am happy. I gained comfort. This has warmed my heart as I              know now the purpose of my existence, and why I am here on earth”.

• Janet Jackson, sister of Michael Jackson also converted to Islam. She says:

         “I have found a new home.”

• Joshua Evans:

         “Quran says that Mary was the greatest woman and especially chosen by God.”

• Amina:

         “I can ask any question to Quran and get a scientifically proven answer.”

• A formally atheist woman says:

          “I converted to Islam because the development of a baby as given in Quran was                 amazing.”

Here is a list of some other famous persons who embraced Islam:

• Blake Feguson (footballer)
• Thiery Henry (footballer)
• Danny Blum (footballer)
• Eric Abidal (footballer)
• Paul Pobga (Manchester United footballer)
• Sony Bill Williams (American football)
• Jermaine Jackson (brother of Michael Jackson)
• Wilhelm Ott (Austrian MMA fighter)

 

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My concluding words are that Islam should not been seen through the lens of terrorism. Acts of a misled minority should not define a religion. Was Hitler not a Christian? Can we define Christianity by his acts. Certainly not. Similarly Islam should not be referred with terrorism.

Anybody who is interested in finding the truth about Islam should read the Holy Quran or its translations just like so many celebrities I mentioned above.

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References:

1. “Muslims projected to be fastest-growing major religious group”. Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
2. “The Changing Global Religious Landscape”. Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project. 2017-04-05. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
3. “Why Muslims are the world’s fastest-growing religious group”. Pew Research Center. 23 April 2015. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
4. A brief illustrated guide to understanding Islam
5. Documentary: What Drives People to Convert to Islam?
6. Muslim population growth. Wikipedia
7. The Future of the Global Muslim Population (Report). Pew Research Center. 27 January 2011. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2017.