لطفا منتظر باشید ...
There are no exact figures
for the number of Muslims in the world today. It seems clear, however, that in
terms of numbers Islam at least matches those of Christianity, the other most
widespread religion today.From its heartlands in the Middle East and North Africa the religion spread
before the modern period to many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, to central Asia,
to the Indian subcontinent, and to East and South East Asia. In Europe, Sicily
and most of Spain were part of the Islamic world during the Middle Ages, and
most of the Balkans came to be ruled by the Muslim Ottoman Empire, with its
capital at Istanbul, at various times between about 1300 and the end of World
War I. In modern times Islam has spread as a result of emigration so that there
are now large Muslim communities in parts of western
Europe, North America, South Africa, and Australia.The Sunni form of the religion is dominant in most countries apart from Iran, but there are large Shiite populations in Iraq and Lebanon, in Bahrain and eastern Saudi Arabia, and, to a lesser extent, in Central and South Asia.It is a mistake to think that Islam has always been spread by warfare.
Although, as has been noted above, its birth was associated with the Arab
conquest of the Middle East and North Africa in the 7th century, and although
it entered the Balkans as a result of the Ottoman expansion from 1300 onwards
and spread in west Africa following a jihad in the 18th century, the religion
of Islam has not generally been forced upon people by the sword. Periods of
military conquest have usually been aimed at expanding the territories under
Muslim rule rather than at forcing the conversion of non-Muslims to Islam.Conversion to Islam has usually followed quite slowly, sometimes against the
wishes of the Muslim rulers, after a territory has come under Muslim rule. The
adoption of Islam as their religion has usually resulted from the wishes and
actions of people wanting to become Muslim, not because it was forced upon them
against their will. Why some people have been attracted to Islam and others not
is a complex question involving many different religious, social, political,and economic factors. In
some parts of the world, trade and the cultural attraction of Islamic
civilization have been as important as preaching in the spread of the religion.
Sufi brotherhoods have also done much to spread the religion in particular
areas.Like Christianity (and like Buddhism) Islam is a universal religion open to all
irrespective of nationality, gender or social status. Of course, normal ethnic
and social divisions exist among Muslims, but one of the attractions of Islam
is its insistence on the fundamental equality of all Muslims before God. One of
its greatest strengths has been the way in which various peoples have been able
to find a sense of their own identity in Islam.
