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The term Muslim world (also known as the Ummah or Islamosphere) has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization. In a modern geopolitical sense, the term usually refers collectively to Muslim-majority countries, states, districts, or towns.

Islamic lifestyles emphasise unity and defence of fellow Muslims, although many schools and branches (see Shi'a–Sunni relations, for example) exist. In the past both Pan-Islamism and nationalist currents have influenced the status of the Muslim world.

As of 2010, over 1.6 billion or about 23.4% of the world population are Muslims.[1] Of these, around 62% live in Asia-Pacific,[2] 20% in the Middle East-North Africa,[3] 15% in Sub-Saharan Africa,[4] around 3% in Europe[5] and 0.3% in the Americas.[6][7][8][9]

Map of the world of Muslim majority areas.

Contents [show]

History [edit]

See also: Timeline of Muslim history

The Islamic World expansion, 622-750

Expansion 622-632

Expansion 632-661

Expansion 661-750

Muslim history involves the history of the Islamic faith as a religion and as a social institution. The history of Islam began in Arabia with the Islamic prophet Muhammad's first recitations of the Quran in the 7th century. Under the Rashidun and Umayyads, the Caliphate grew rapidly geographically expansion of Muslim power well beyond the Arabian Peninsula in the form of a vast Muslim Empire with an area of influence that stretched from northwest India, across Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, southern Italy, and the Iberian Peninsula, to the Pyrenees.

During much of the 20th century, the Islamic identity and the dominance of Islam on political issues have arguably increased during the early 21st century. The fast-growing interests of the Western world in Islamic regions, international conflicts and globalization have changed the influence of Islam on the world in contemporary history.[10]

Classical culture [edit]

Main article: Islamic Golden Age

This section may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not verify the text. Please help improve this article by checking for inaccuracies. (help, talk, get involved!) (October 2010)

The Islamic Golden Age, also sometimes known as the Islamic Renaissance,[11] is traditionally dated from the 8th to 13th centuries C.E.[12] The Islamic Golden Age was under the Abbassid Dynasty,[13] which ruled from mid 8th until mid 13th century.Islamic culture became a blending of Arab, Persian, Egyptian, and European traditions. The result was an era of stunning intellectual and cultural achievements.[14]

Arts [edit]

The term "Islamic art and architecture" denotes the works of art and architecture produced from the 7th century onwards by people who lived within the territory that was inhabited by culturally Islamic populations.[15][16]

Interior view of the dome in the Selimiye Mosque, Edirne, Turkey.

Aniconism and Arabesque [edit]

Main articles: Aniconism in Islam and Arabesque (Islamic art)

No Islamic visual images or depictions of God are meant to exist because it is believed that such artistic depictions may lead to idolatry. Moreover, Muslims believe that God is incorporeal, making any two- or three- dimensional depictions impossible. Instead, Muslims describe God by the names and attributes that, according to Islam, he revealed to his creation. All but one sura of the Quran begins with the phrase "In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful". Images of Mohammed are likewise prohibited. Such aniconism and iconoclasm[17] can also be found in Jewish and some Christian theology.

Islamic art frequently adopts the use of geometrical floral or vegetal designs in a repetition known as arabesque. Such designs are highly nonrepresentational, as Islam forbids representational depictions as found in pre-Islamic pagan religions. Despite this, there is a presence of depictional art in some Muslim societies, notably the miniature style made famous in Persia and under the Ottoman Empire which featured not only paintings of people and animals but also depictions of Quranic stories and Islamic traditional narratives. Another reason why Islamic art is usually abstract is to symbolize the transcendence, indivisible and infinite nature of God, an objective achieved by arabesque.[18] Islamic calligraphy is an omnipresent decoration in Islamic art, and is usually expressed in the form of Quranic verses. Two of the main scripts involved are the symbolic kufic and naskh scripts, which can be found adorning the walls and domes of mosques, the sides of minbars, and so on.[18]

Distinguishing motifs of Islamic architecture have always been ordered repetition, radiating structures, and rhythmic, metric patterns. In this respect, fractal geometry has been a key utility, especially for mosques and palaces. Other significant features employed as motifs include columns, piers and arches, organized and interwoven with alternating sequences of niches and colonnettes.[19] The role of domes in Islamic architecture has been considerable. Its usage spans centuries, first appearing in 691 with the construction of the Dome of the Rock mosque, and recurring even up until the 17th century with the Taj Mahal. And as late as the 19th century, Islamic domes had been incorporated into European architecture.[20]

Ceramics [edit]

Further information: Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam

Between the 8th and 18th centuries, the use of glazed ceramics was prevalent in Islamic art, usually assuming the form of elaborate pottery.[21] Tin-opacified glazing was one of the earliest new technologies developed by the Islamic potters. The first Islamic opaque glazes can be found as blue-painted ware in Basra, dating to around the 8th century. Another significant contribution was the development of stone-paste ceramics, originating from 9th century Iraq.[22] Other centers for innovative ceramic pottery in the Old world included Fustat (from 975 to 1075), Damascus (from 1100 to around 1600) and Tabriz (from 1470 to 1550).[23]

The Great Mosque of Kairouan, also called the Mosque of Uqba, was founded in 670; it dates in its present form from the 9th century and is considered one of the masterpieces of Islamic architecture.[24] The mosque is located in the city of Kairouan, Tunisia.

Architecture [edit]

Main article: Islamic architecture

Et'hem Bey Mosque in Tirana, capital of Albania.

The Taj Mahal is one of the most notable example of Islamic architecture, it was constructed during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.

Perhaps the most important expression of Islamic art is architecture, particularly that of the mosque.[25] Through it the effect of varying cultures within Islamic civilization can be illustrated. The North African and Iberian Islamic architecture, for example, has Roman-Byzantine elements, as seen in the Great Mosque of Kairouan which contains marble columns from Roman and Byzantine buildings,[26] in the Alhambra palace at Granada, or in the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Persian-style mosques are characterized by their tapered brick pillars, large arcades, and arches supported each by several pillars. In South Asia, elements of Hindu architecture were employed, but were later superseded by Persian designs. The most numerous and largest of mosques exist in Turkey, which obtained influence from Byzantine, Persian and Syrian designs, although Turkish architects managed to implement their own style of cupola domes.[25]

Literature [edit]

Main articles: Islamic literature, Arabic literature, Arabic epic literature, Persian literature, Turkish literature, and Azerbaijani literature

Further information: Islamic poetry

Ali Baba by Maxfield Parrish.

The best known work of fiction from the Islamic world is One Thousand and One Nights or (Arabian Nights), which is a compilation of folk tales. The original concept is derived from a pre-Islamic Persian prototype that probably relied partly on Indian elements.[27] It reached its final form by the 14th century; the number and type of tales have varied from one manuscript to another.[28] All Arabian fantasy tales tend to be called Arabian Nights stories when translated into English, regardless of whether they appear in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights or not.[28] This work has been very influential in the West since it was translated in the 18th century, first by Antoine Galland.[29] Many imitations were written, especially in France.[30] Various characters from this epic have themselves become cultural icons in Western culture, such as Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Ali Baba.

A Magic carpet, was legendary carpet that can be used to transport persons who are on it instantaneously or quickly to their destination.

A famous example of Arabic poetry and Persian poetry on romance (love) is Layla and Majnun, dating back to the Umayyad era in the 7th century. It is a tragic story of undying love much like the later Romeo and Juliet, which was itself said to have been inspired by a Latin version of Layla and Majnun to an extent.[31] Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran, is a mythical and heroic retelling of Persian history. Amir Arsalan was also a popular mythical Persian story, which has influenced some modern works of fantasy fiction, such as The Heroic Legend of Arslan.

Ibn Tufail (Abubacer) and Ibn al-Nafis were pioneers of the philosophical novel. Ibn Tufail wrote the first Arabic novel Hayy ibn Yaqdhan (Philosophus Autodidactus) as a response to Al-Ghazali's The Incoherence of the Philosophers, and then Ibn al-Nafis also wrote a novel Theologus Autodidactus as a response to Ibn Tufail's Philosophus Autodidactus. Both of these narratives had protagonists (Hayy in Philosophus Autodidactus and Kamil in Theologus Autodidactus) who were autodidactic feral children living in seclusion on a desert island, both being the earliest examples of a desert island story. However, while Hayy lives alone with animals on the desert island for the rest of the story in Philosophus Autodidactus, the story of Kamil extends beyond the desert island setting in Theologus Autodidactus, developing into the earliest known coming of age plot and eventually becoming the first example of a science fiction novel.[32][33][unreliable source?]

Theologus Autodidactus, written by the Arabian polymath Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288), is the first example of a science fiction novel.[34] It deals with various science fiction elements such as spontaneous generation, futurology, the end of the world and doomsday, resurrection, and the afterlife. Rather than giving supernatural or mythological explanations for these events, Ibn al-Nafis attempted to explain these plot elements using the scientific knowledge of biology, astronomy, cosmology and geology known in his time. His main purpose behind this science fiction work was to explain Islamic religious teachings in terms of science and philosophy through the use of fiction.[35][unreliable source?]

Two pages from the Galland manuscript, the oldest text of the One Thousand and One Nights. Arabic manuscript, back to the 14th century from Syria in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

A Latin translation of Ibn Tufail's work, Philosophus Autodidactus, first appeared in 1671, prepared by Edward Pococke the Younger, followed by an English translation by Simon Ockley in 1708, as well as German and Dutch translations. These translations later inspired Daniel Defoe to write Robinson Crusoe, regarded as the first novel in English.[36][37][38][39] Philosophus Autodidactus also inspired Robert Boyle to write his own philosophical novel set on an island, The Aspiring Naturalist.[40] The story also anticipated Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile: or, On Education in some ways, and is also similar to Mowgli's story in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book as well as Tarzan's story, in that a baby is abandoned but taken care of and fed by a mother wolf.[41][unreliable source?]

Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, considered the greatest epic of Italian literature, derived many features of and episodes about the hereafter directly or indirectly from Arabic works on Islamic eschatology[citation needed] : the Hadith and the Kitab al-Miraj (translated into Latin in 1264 or shortly before[42] as Liber Scale Machometi, The Book of Muhammad's Ladder) concerning Muhammad's ascension to Heaven, and the spiritual writings of Ibn Arabi.[citation needed] The Moors also had a noticeable influence on the works of George Peele and William Shakespeare. Some of their works featured Moorish characters, such as Peele's The Battle of Alcazar and Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Titus Andronicus and Othello, which featured a Moorish Othello as its title character. These works are said to have been inspired by several Moorish delegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England at the beginning of the 17th century.[43]

Philosophy [edit]

Main article: Contemporary Islamic philosophy

Further information: Logic in Islamic philosophy and Ilm al-Kalam

In Al-Andalus, Averroes (Ibn Rushd) founder of the Averroism school of philosophy, was influential in the rise of secular thought in Europe.

One of the common definitions for "Islamic philosophy" is "the style of philosophy produced within the framework of Islamic culture."[44] Islamic philosophy, in this definition is neither necessarily concerned with religious issues, nor is exclusively produced by Muslims.[44] The Persian scholar Ibn Sina (Avicenna) (980-1037) had more than 450 books attributed to him. His writings were concerned with many subjects, most notably philosophy and medicine. His medical textbook The Canon of Medicine was used as the standard text in European universities for centuries. He also wrote The Book of Healing, an influential scientific and philosophical encyclopedia.

One of the most influential Muslim philosophers in the West was Averroes (Ibn Rushd), founder of the Averroism school of philosophy, whose works and commentaries had an impact on the rise of secular thought in Europe.[45] He also developed the concept of "existence precedes essence".[46] Avicenna also founded his own Avicennism school of philosophy, which was influential in both Islamic and Christian lands. He was also a critic of Aristotelian logic and founder of Avicennian logic, and he developed the concepts of empiricism and tabula rasa, and distinguished between essence and existence.[citation needed]

Another influential philosopher who had a significant influence on modern philosophy was Ibn Tufail. His philosophical novel, Hayy ibn Yaqdha, translated into Latin as Philosophus Autodidactus in 1671, developed the themes of empiricism, tabula rasa, nature versus nurture,[47] condition of possibility, materialism,[48] and Molyneux's problem.[49] European scholars and writers influenced by this novel include John Locke,[50] Gottfried Leibniz,[39] Melchisédech Thévenot, John Wallis, Christiaan Huygens,[51] George Keith, Robert Barclay, the Quakers,[52] and Samuel Hartlib.[40]

Islamic philosophers continued making advances in philosophy through to the 17th century, when Mulla Sadra founded his school of Transcendent theosophy and developed the concept of existentialism.[53]

Other influential Muslim philosophers include al-Jahiz, a pioneer in evolutionary thought; Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), a pioneer of phenomenology and the philosophy of science and a critic of Aristotelian natural philosophy and Aristotle's concept of place (topos); Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī, a critic of Aristotelian natural philosophy; Ibn Tufail and Ibn al-Nafis, pioneers of the philosophical novel; Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi, founder of Illuminationist philosophy; Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, a critic of Aristotelian logic and a pioneer of inductive logic; and Ibn Khaldun, a pioneer in the philosophy of history.[54]

Sciences [edit]

Main article: Timeline of science and engineering in the Islamic world

See also: Physics in medieval Islam, Psychology in medieval Islam, and Mathematics in medieval Islam

Illustration of medieval Muslim surgical instruments from physician Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi's 11th century medical encyclopedia: Kitab al-Tasrif.

A scientific manuscript written during the Abbasid era.

Muslim scientists made significant advances in the sciences. They placed far greater emphasis on experiment than had the Greeks. This led to an early scientific method being developed in the Muslim world, where significant progress in methodology was made, beginning with the experiments of Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) on optics from circa 1000, in his Book of Optics. The most important development of the scientific method was the use of experiments to distinguish between competing scientific theories set within a generally empirical orientation, which began among Muslim scientists. Ibn al-Haytham is also regarded as the father of optics, especially for his empirical proof of the intromission theory of light. Some have also described Ibn al-Haytham as the "first scientist" for his development of the modern scientific method.[55][56][57] However, later, it was found that al-Khwarzimi's works were nothing more than restatements of pre-existing Indian and Greek math.[58] Recent studies show that it is very likely that the Medieval Muslim artists were aware of advanced decagonal quasicrystal geometry (discovered half a millennium later in 1970s and 1980s in West) and used it in intricate decorative tilework in the architecture.[59]

Muslim physicians contributed significantly to the field of medicine, including the subjects of anatomy and physiology: such as in the 15th century Persian work by Mansur ibn Muhammad ibn al-Faqih Ilyas entitled Tashrih al-badan (Anatomy of the body) which contained comprehensive diagrams of the body's structural, nervous and circulatory systems; or in the work of the Egyptian physician Ibn al-Nafis, who proposed the theory of pulmonary circulation. Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine remained an authoritative medical textbook in Europe until the 18th century. Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (also known as Abulcasis) contributed to the discipline of medical surgery with his Kitab al-Tasrif ("Book of Concessions"), a medical encyclopedia which was later translated to Latin and used in European and Muslim medical schools for centuries. Other medical advancements came in the fields of pharmacology and pharmacy.[60]

In astronomy, Muḥammad ibn Jābir al-Ḥarrānī al-Battānī improved the precision of the measurement of the precession of the Earth's axis. The corrections made to the geocentric model by al-Battani, Averroes, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Mu'ayyad al-Din al-'Urdi and Ibn al-Shatir were later incorporated into the Copernican heliocentric model. Heliocentric theories were also discussed by several other Muslim astronomers such as Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī, Sijzi, Qotb al-Din Shirazi, and Najm al-Dīn al-Qazwīnī al-Kātibī. The astrolabe, though originally developed by the Greeks, was perfected by Islamic astronomers and engineers, and was subsequently brought to Europe.

Some of the most famous scientists from the medieval Islamic world include Jābir ibn Hayyān, al-Farabi, Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi, Ibn al-Haytham, Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī, Avicenna, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, and Ibn Khaldun.

Technology [edit]

Main articles: List of inventions in the medieval Islamic world and Arab Agricultural Revolution

Gun-wielding Ottoman Janissaries and defending Knights of Saint John at the Siege of Rhodes in 1522, from an Ottoman manuscript.

In technology, the Muslim world adopted papermaking from China.[61] The knowledge of gunpowder was also transmitted from China via Islamic countries, where the formulas for pure potassium nitrate and an explosive gunpowder effect were first developed.[62][63][unreliable source?]

Advances were made in irrigation and farming, using new technology such as the windmill. Crops such as almonds and citrus fruit were brought to Europe through al-Andalus, and sugar cultivation was gradually adopted by the Europeans. Arab merchants dominated trade in the Indian Ocean until the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century. Hormuz was an important center for this trade. There was also a dense network of trade routes in the Mediterranean, along which Muslim countries traded with each other and with European powers such as Venice, Genoa and Catalonia. The Silk Road crossing Central Asia passed through Muslim states between China and Europe.

Mughal Army artillerymen during the reign of Akbar.[64]

Muslim engineers in the Islamic world made a number of innovative industrial uses of hydropower, and early industrial uses of tidal power and wind power,[65] fossil fuels such as petroleum, and early large factory complexes (tiraz in Arabic).[66] The industrial uses of watermills in the Islamic world date back to the 7th century, while horizontal-wheeled and vertical-wheeled water mills were both in widespread use since at least the 9th century. A variety of industrial mills were being employed in the Islamic world, including early fulling mills, gristmills, hullers, sawmills, ship mills, stamp mills, steel mills, sugar mills, tide mills and windmills. By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic world had these industrial mills in operation, from al-Andalus and North Africa to the Middle East and Central Asia.[61] Muslim engineers also invented crankshafts and water turbines, employed gears in mills and water-raising machines, and pioneered the use of dams as a source of water power, used to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines.[67] Such advances made it possible for many industrial tasks that were previously driven by manual labour in ancient times to be mechanized and driven by machinery instead in the medieval Islamic world. The transfer of these technologies to medieval Europe had an influence on the Industrial Revolution.[68]

Modern world [edit]

Economy and trade [edit]

This section requires expansion. (May 2011)

Geographic spread [edit]

Main article: List of Muslim-majority countries

The Muslim population of the world map by percentage of each country, according to the Pew Forum 2009 report on world Muslim populations.

Belgrade, European part of the Ottoman Empire, c. 1865

Countries with the largest Muslim populations (2010) [edit]

Main article: List of countries by Muslim population

With the exception of India, Ethiopia, China and Russia, the majority of the population in the following countries are Muslim.[69]

Indonesia 204,847,000 (88.1%)

Pakistan 178,097,000 (96.4%)

India 177,286,000 (14.6%)

Bangladesh 145,312,000 (90.4%)

Nigeria 75,728,000 (47.9%)

Iran 74,819,000 (99.6%)

Turkey 74,660,000 (98.6%)

Egypt 73,746,000 (90%)

Algeria 34,780,000 (98.2%)

Morocco 32,381,000 (99.9%)

Iraq 31,108,000 (98.9%)

Sudan 30,855,000 (97%)[70]

Afghanistan 29,047,000 (99.8%)

Ethiopia 28,721,000 (33.8%)

Uzbekistan 26,833,000 (96.5%)

Saudi Arabia 25,493,000 (97.1%)

Yemen 24,023,000 (99.0%)

China 23,308,000 (1.8%)

Syria 20,895,000 (92.8%)

Malaysia 17,139,000 (61.4%)

Russia 16,379,000 (11.7%)

Niger 15,627,000 (98.3%)

Muslims girls of Malaysia, wearing the common tudong.

Many Muslims not only live in, but also have an official status in the following regions:

Southwest Asia: Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and non-Arab nations such as Iran, Turkey and Northern Cyprus.

Africa: North African countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan; Northeast African countries like Somalia, Somaliland (de facto state), Eritrea, Ethiopia and Djibouti; and West African countries like Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Niger and Nigeria.

Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, (North Caucasus and Idel-Ural) and Ukraine (especially in the Crimea)

Central Asia: Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

South Asia: Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and the Maldives

East Asia: parts of China (Xinjiang and Ningxia)

Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia

Muslim people participating in the Hajj, Mecca

The countries of Southwest Asia, and many in Northern and Northeastern Africa are considered part of the Greater Middle East. In Chechnya, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay–Cherkessia, Ingushetia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan in Russia, Muslims are in the majority.

Some definitions would also include the Muslim minorities in:

several countries of Europe, of which the Muslim population in Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Georgia, Germany, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and Ukraine make up at least 5% of the total population of each of those countries, and with more than half of European Muslims, 28,071,000, living in Russia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom,[69][71]

several regions of Russia, other than ethnic republics above (Adygea, North Ossetia–Alania, etc.)

some parts of India (India has the third-largest population of Muslims of any country)

Singapore, Burma (Myanmar), Pattani (Thailand), and Mindanao (Philippines)

Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Malawi, South Africa, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Uganda, Ethiopia

Crimea in Ukraine

Sri Lankan Muslims

Demographics [edit]

Muslim men in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Main article: Muslim population growth

Approximately 23% of the world's population is Muslim.[1][72] Current estimates conclude that the number of Muslims in the world is around 1.6 billion.[1] Muslims are the majority in 49 countries,[73] they speak about 60 languages, and come from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Major languages spoken by Muslims include Arabic, Bengali, Punjabi, Javanese, Turkish, Urdu, Persian, Pashto, Sindhi and Kashmiri.

Important organizations [edit]

Organisation of

Islamic Cooperation

Economy

GDP (PPP)

GDP (PPP) per capita

Exports

Imports

Education

Member states

By population

Largest cities

Parliamentary Union

v t e

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is an inter-governmental organization grouping fifty-seven states (Only 49 of which are Muslim countries, the others are non Muslim countries with Muslim minorities). The organisation is the collective voice of the Muslim world to safeguard the interest and ensure the progress and well-being of their peoples and those of other Muslims in the world over.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) includes many nations that are also in the Arab League.

Democracy [edit]

In the 2010 Democracy Index published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, no Muslim World countries were rated as a "Full Democracy" under its guidelines, and only 3 out of 49 were rated as a "Flawed Democracy." The rest were rated either an "Authoritarian Regime" or a "Hybrid Regime."[74]

The 2010 Freedom in the World, rated 3 of the nations as Free based on Political Rights and Civil Liberties in the member countries.[75]

Reporters Without Borders in its 2010 Press Freedom Index rated Mali and Suriname among the Muslim world as having a Satisfactory Situation. Other Muslim states had ratings ranging from Noticeable Problems to Very Serious Situation.[76][77]

The US Department of State 2010 International Religious Freedom Report cited Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan as being Countries of Particular Concern, where religious freedom is severely violated. It also cited Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan as "countries that face challenges in protecting religious freedom".[78]

The Open Doors USA organisation, in its 2012 survey of countries around the world that persecute Christians, listed 37 members of the Muslim world amongst the top 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. 9 of the top 10 countries are Islamic-majority states.[79]

Literacy and scholarship [edit]

Muslim states on average are countries with lower literacy rates. Though some members such as the former USSR states, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have over 99% literacy, literacy rates are as low as 54% in Pakistan and Bangladesh and under 30% in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and other countries.

While some Islamic countries like the Islamic Republic of Iran exhibited a high scientific publication growth rate in 2009-10,[80] this is still only a fraction of scientific papers published by any OECD nation. Some Muslim countries have tried to encourage scientific research. In Pakistan, establishment of the Higher Education Commission in 2002, resulted in a 5 fold increase in the number of PhDs and a 10 fold increase in the number of scientific research papers in 10 years with the total number of universities increasing from 115 in 2001 to over 400 in 2012.[citation needed] Saudi Arabia has established the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. United Arab Emirates has invested in Zayed University, United Arab Emirates University, and Masdar Institute of Science and Technology[81][clarification needed]

Economy [edit]

Indonesia has the highest GDP in 2011 among Muslim nations at US$845 billion at nominal exchange rates as of 2011 IMF outlook.[82] The richest country on the basis of GDP per capita is Qatar at USD 103,204 per capita.

Refugees [edit]

According to the UNHCR, Muslim countries hosted 18 million refugees by the end of 2010. Since then Muslim nations have absorbed refugees from other conflicts, including the uprising in Syria.[83]

Religion and state [edit]

Further information: Political aspects of Islam and Islam and secularism

Religion and state in Muslim majority countries.

Islamic state: Adopted Islam as the ideological foundation.

State religion: Endorsed Islam as state-religion.

Secular state: Declared separation between public life and religion.

No Declaration: No announcement formally or officially.

As the Muslim world came into contact with secular ideals of the Western world, Muslim societies responded in different ways. Azerbaijan became the first secular republic in the Muslim world, between 1918 and 1920, when it was incorporated into the Soviet Union.[84][85][86] Turkey has been governed as a secular state since the reforms of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. By contrast, the 1979 Iranian Revolution replaced a mostly secular regime with an Islamic republic led by the Ayatollah, Ruhollah Khomeini.[87]

Many Muslim countries have implemented some form of Sharia law or otherwise have Islam as the official state religion. Consequently, in those countries, areas of society ranging from politics to law to schooling, among others, have been affected. However, other states in the Muslim world remain officially secular.

Countries [edit]

Main articles: List of Muslim-majority countries and List of countries by Muslim population

Islamic states [edit]

Islamic states have adopted Islam as the ideological foundation of state and constitution.

Afghanistan[88]

Brunei

Iran[89]

Mauritania[90]

Pakistan[91]

Saudi Arabia[92]

Yemen[93]

Oman

Bahrain

State religion [edit]

Many Muslim-majority Nation-states have endorsed Islam as their State religion.

Algeria[94]

Egypt[95]

Iraq[96]

Kuwait[97]

Libya[98]

Malaysia[99]

Maldives[100]

Morocco[101]

Palestine

Somalia[102]

Tunisia[103]

United Arab Emirates[104]

Although Lebanon recognizes Islam as a state-religion it also recognizes 18 others making it the most religiously diverse country in the Middle East.

Secular states [edit]

Many Secular states in Muslim world have declared separation between civil/government affairs and religion.

Albania

Azerbaijan[105]

Bangladesh

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Burkina Faso[106]

Chad[107]

The Gambia[108]

Guinea[107]

Kazakhstan[109][110]

Kosovo

Kyrgyzstan[111]

Mali[112]

Northern Cyprus

Senegal[113]

Tajikistan[114]

Turkmenistan[115]

Turkey

Uzbekistan

No Declaration [edit]

These are neutral states without any constitutional or official announcement regarding status of Islam or secularism.

Indonesia

Syria

Sudan

Niger

Nigeria

Djibouti

Sierra Leone

Law and ethics [edit]

Further information: Islamic ethics

In some nations, Muslim ethnic groups enjoy considerable autonomy.

In some places, Muslims implement Islamic law, called sharia in Arabic. The Islamic law exists in many variations, but the main forms are the five (four Sunni and one Shia) and Salafi and Ibadi schools of jurisprudence (fiqh)[clarification needed]

Hanafi school in Pakistan, North India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, other Balkan States, Lower Egypt, Spain, Canada, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Russia, Caucasus Republics, China, Central Asian Republics, European Union, other countries of North and South America.

Maliki in North Africa, West Africa, Sahel, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Shafi'i in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Eritrea, Somalia, Yemen, Maldives, Sri Lanka and South India

Hanbali in Saudi Arabia,

Jaferi in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Azerbaijan. These four are the only "Muslim states" where the majority is Shia population. In Yemen, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey, and Syria, are countries with significant Shia population. In Lebanon, the majority Muslims (54%) were about equally divided between Sunni and Shia in 2010.

Ibadi in Oman and small regions in North Africa

Muslim women dress modestly to show their high characters. Thus, in some Muslim countries, the Islamic law requires women to cover either just legs, shoulders and head or the whole body apart from the face. In strictest forms, the face as well must be covered leaving just a mesh to see through. These rules for dressing cause tensions, concerning particularly Muslims living in Western countries, where restrictions are considered both sexist and oppressive. Many Muslims oppose this charge, and instead declare that the media in these countries presses on women to reveal too much in order to be deemed attractive, and that this is itself sexist and oppressive.

Islamic economics bans interest or Riba (Usury) but in most Muslim countries Western banking is allowed.

Modern politics and conflicts [edit]

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Further information: Islamic revival and Liberal movements within Islam

Many people in Islamic countries also see Islam manifested politically as Islamism. Political Islam is powerful in all Muslim-majority countries. Islamic parties in Turkey, Pakistan and Algeria have taken power at the provincial level. Many in these movements call themselves Islamists, which also sometimes describes more militant Islamic groups. The relationships between these groups (in democratic countries there is usually at least one Islamic party) and their views of democracy are complex.

Some of these groups are accused of practicing Islamic terrorism.

Conflicts in the Middle East [edit]

There has been conflict between Iran and the Arab states as well. While Iran and Iraq resolved their conflicts in a 1975 agreement, following the Iranian Revolution, Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in 1980. The resulting war, one of the deadliest since World War II, ended in 1988. Saddam then invaded Kuwait, sparking the Gulf War ending in the restoration of Kuwait by a coalition of countries. In 2001, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia invaded Afghanistan and in 2003 the US and the UK invaded Iraq as part of the war on terror.

Israel [edit]

See also: Arab–Israeli conflict and Arab–Iran relations

The Arab-Israeli conflict began in the 20th century in response to the attempt and successful creation of Israel on the territory of the mandate of Palestine. Hostilities turned to war in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Six-Day War in 1967, and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Following the 1973 war, Egypt negotiated peace with Israel in 1979. Israel also participated in the Lebanese Civil War. Following the First Intifada, Israelis and Palestinians signed the Oslo Accords and the following year Jordan and Israel also made peace. But the failure to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict resulted in the Second Intifada. War re-erupted between Israel and Lebanon in 2006 and Israel and Gaza in 2009.

Turkey was the first Muslim-majority state to recognize Israel, just one year after its founding, and they have the longest shared close military and economic ties. Prior to the Iranian Revolution, Iran and Israel maintained a strong political friendship, however the current Iranian government is strongly anti-Israeli and has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction. Once at war, both Egypt and Jordan have established diplomatic relations and signed peace treaties with Israel, and attempts to resolve the conflict with Palestinians have produced a number of interim agreements. Nine non-Arab Muslim states maintain diplomatic ties with Israel, and since 1994, the Persian Gulf states have lessened their enforcement of the Arab boycott, with Saudi Arabia even declaring its end in 2005, though it has yet to cancel its sanctions. States like Morocco that have large Jewish populations have generally had less hostile relations with Israel.

Recent history [edit]

1979 was a critical year in the Muslim world's relationship with the rest of the world. In that year, Egypt made peace with Israel, the monarchy of Iran was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan began.

Some of the events pivotal in the Muslim world's relationship with the outside world in the post-Soviet era were:

The Nagorno-Karabakh War

The Iran–Iraq War

The 1991 Gulf War

The Bosnian War

The Kosovo War

The South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000)

The Kargil War

The War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

The 2003 invasion of Iraq

The War on Terror

The Syrian occupation of Lebanon

The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy of 2005

The Second Sudanese Civil War

The 2006 Lebanon War

The 2006 controversy over remarks quoted by Pope Benedict XVI

The 2007 Lebanon conflict

The ongoing war in Darfur

The ongoing standoff with Iran over its nuclear program

The ongoing Second Chechen War

The ongoing War in North-West Pakistan

The ongoing Islamic insurgency in the Philippines

The War in Somalia (2009–)

The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence

The Arab Spring

Major denominations [edit]

The two main denominations of Islam are the Sunni and Shia sects. They differ primarily upon of how the life of the ummah ("faithful") should be governed, and the role of the imam. These two main differences stem from the understanding of which hadith are to interpret the Quran. Sunnis believe the true political successor of the Prophet in Sunnah is Abu Bakr, father of the Prophet's favoured wife, 'A'ishah (elected by people of Medina) while the religious succession ceased to exist on account of finality of Prophethood. Shia on the other hand believe that the true political as well as religious successor is 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, husband of the Prophet's daughter Fatimah (designated by the Prophet).[116]

The overwhelming majority of Muslims in the world, between 87–90%, are Sunni.[117]

Shias and other (Ibadiyyas-Ismailis) make up the rest, about 10–13% of overall Muslim population. The top 10 countries with the most Shia populations are: Iran—93%, Azerbaijan—61%, Iraq—55%, Lebanon—40%, Yemen—36%, Pakistan—25%, Syria—17%, Turkey—15%, Afghanistan—15%, and India—2.7%.[118]

The Kharijite Muslims, who are less known, have their own stronghold in the country of Oman holding about 75% of the population. The rest of the population being 15% Shia and the rest Sunni.

Geographical distribution [edit]

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