View source for Islamic world

{{Short description|Muslim-majority countries, states, districts, or towns}}
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[[File:Islam percent population in each nation World Map Muslim data by Pew Research.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|World [[percentage]] of [[Muslims]] by country]]{{Islam}}{{Islamic culture}}

The terms '''Islamic world''' and '''Muslim world''' commonly refer to the [[Islamic]] community, which is also known as the [[Ummah]]. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, [[Islamic politics|politics]], and laws of Islam<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islamic-world|title=Islamic world|first1=Marilyn R.|last1=Waldman|first2=Malika|last2=Zeghal|year=2009|access-date=29 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202012901/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islamic-world|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> or to societies in which Islam is practiced.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Preface|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|editor-first=John L.|editor-last=Esposito|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|quote=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World (OEIW) deals with all aspects of Islam—the world's second largest and fastest-growing religion—and the societies in which it exists, including their religion, politics, economics, everyday life, culture, and thought|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001|isbn=9780195305135}}</ref><ref name="BEWH">{{cite encyclopedia|first=Asma|last=Afsaruddin|encyclopedia=Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History|edition=2nd|editor-first=William H.|editor-last=McNeill|title=Islamic World|volume=1|publisher=Berkshire Publishing Group|year=2016|quote=The Islamic world is generally defined contemporaneously as consisting of nation-states whose population contains a majority of Muslims. [...] in the contemporary era, the term ''Islamic world'' now includes not only the traditional heartlands of Islam, but also Europe and North America, both of which have sizeable minority Muslim populations|doi=10.1093/acref/9780190622718.001.0001|isbn=9781933782652}}</ref> In a modern [[geopolitics|geopolitical]] sense, these terms refer to [[Islam by country|countries in which Islam is widespread]], although there are no agreed criteria for inclusion.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/06/02/what-muslim-world/|magazine=Foreign Policy|title=What Muslim World?|author=Scott Carpenter, Soner Cagaptay|date=2 June 2009|access-date=10 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326231548/https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/06/02/what-muslim-world/|archive-date=26 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BEWH" /> The term '''Muslim-majority countries''' is an alternative often used for the latter sense.<ref name="Jones">{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Gavin W. |date=2005 |title=Islam, the State and Population |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6v38-ZDJYUMC&pg=PA11 |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers |pages=11–14 |isbn=9781850654933 |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-date=20 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620163440/https://books.google.com/books?id=6v38-ZDJYUMC&pg=PA11 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[History of Islam|history of the Muslim world]] spans about 1,400 years and includes a variety of socio-political developments, as well as advances in the arts, science, medicine, philosophy, law, economics and technology during the [[Islamic Golden Age]]. [[Muslims]] look for guidance to the [[Quran]] and believe in the prophetic mission of the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]], but disagreements on other matters have led to the appearance of different religious [[Islamic schools and branches|schools of thought]] and [[Sects of Islam|sects]] within Islam.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Islam|url=https://www.history.com/topics/religion/islam|access-date=22 July 2020|website=HISTORY|date=5 January 2018 |language=en|archive-date=3 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503051151/https://www.history.com/topics/religion/islam|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Early Muslim conquests|Islamic conquests]], which culminated in the [[Caliphate]] being established across three continents ([[Asia]], [[Africa]], and [[Europe]]), enriched the Muslim world, achieving the economic preconditions for the emergence of this institution owing to the emphasis attached to Islamic teachings.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G6bfDQAAQBAJ&dq=enriched+the+Muslim+world+beyond+imagination,+achieving+the+economic+preconditions+for+the+emergence+of+this+institution+owing+to+the+emphasis+attached+to+Islamic+teachings+on+the+importance+of+righteous&pg=PA195|title=Handbook of Empirical Research on Islam and Economic Life|first=M. Kabir|last=Hassan|date=30 December 2016|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|isbn=9781784710736 |via=Google Books}}</ref> In the modern era, most of the Muslim world came under European [[Colonialism|colonial domination]]. The nation states that emerged in the post-colonial era have adopted a variety of political and economic models, and they have been affected by secular as well as religious trends.<ref>{{Cite book| first=Ira M. | last=Lapidus | title = A History of Islamic Societies | publisher = Cambridge University Press (Kindle edition) | year = 2014| isbn=978-0-521-51430-9 | pages=829–834}}</ref>

{{as of|2013}}, the combined [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|GDP (nominal)]] of 50 Muslim majority countries was US$5.7&nbsp;trillion.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1035026|title=Economies of the ummah|access-date=16 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216224140/https://www.dawn.com/news/1035026|archive-date=16 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> {{as of|2016}}, they contributed 8% of the world's total.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1186109/trailing-behind-muslim-states-make-thin-contribution-global-economy/|title=Muslim countries make thin contribution to global economy|date=22 September 2016|access-date=16 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813011442/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1186109/trailing-behind-muslim-states-make-thin-contribution-global-economy/|archive-date=13 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020, the [[Economy of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]] which consists of 57 member states had a combined GDP(PPP) of US$ 24 trillion which is equal to about 18% of world's GDP or US$ 30 trillion with 5 OIC observer states which is equal to about 22% of the world's GDP. Some OIC member countries - [[Ivory Coast]], [[Guyana]], [[Gabon]], [[Mozambique]], [[Nigeria]], [[Suriname]], [[Togo]] and [[Uganda]]  are not Muslim-majority.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1587249/6-will-stand-palestine/|title=Who will stand up for Palestine?|date=19 December 2017 }}</ref>

As of 2020, 1.8 billion or more than 25% of the world population are Muslims.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/06/why-muslims-are-the-worlds-fastest-growing-religious-group/ |title=Why Muslims are the world's fastest-growing religious group |first1=Michael|last1=Lipka|first2=Conrad|last2=Hackett|publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |date=6 April 2017 |access-date=14 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823093024/http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/06/why-muslims-are-the-worlds-fastest-growing-religious-group/ |archive-date=23 August 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="pew1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/religion/religious-demographics/pew-templeton-global-religious-futures-project/|title=Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project - Research and data from Pew Research Center|access-date=27 November 2023|archive-date=5 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205195540/https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/religion/religious-demographics/pew-templeton-global-religious-futures-project/|url-status=live}}</ref> By the percentage of the total population in a region considering themselves Muslim, 91% in the [[Religion in the Middle East#Islam|Middle East]]-[[Islam in Africa|North Africa]] ([[MENA#Religion|MENA]]),<ref name="pewmena">{{cite web |url=http://pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-middle-east.aspx |title=Region: Middle East-North Africa |website=The Future of the Global Muslim Population |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=3 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309233947/http://www.pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-middle-east.aspx |archive-date=9 March 2013 |url-status=live  |date=27 January 2011}}</ref> 89% in [[Islam in Central Asia|Central Asia]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/files/2014/01/global-religion-full.pdf|title=The Global Religious Landscape|date=December 2012|website=Pew|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924113632/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2014/01/global-religion-full.pdf|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> 40% in [[Islam in Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/Public/focus/essay1009_southeast_asia.html|title=Oxford Islamic Studies Online|website=www.oxfordislamicstudies.com|language=en|access-date=14 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320170459/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/Public/focus/essay1009_southeast_asia.html|archive-date=20 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> 31% in [[Islam in South Asia|South Asia]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-asia/|title=Region: Asia-Pacific|date=27 January 2011|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|access-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010061404/http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-asia/|archive-date=10 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/politics/muslims-moment-khan/index.html|title=The moment American Muslims were waiting for|last=Burke|first=Daniel|website=CNN |date=29 July 2016|access-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312235900/http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/politics/muslims-moment-khan/index.html|archive-date=12 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> 30% in [[Sub-Saharan Africa#Religion|Sub-Saharan Africa]],<ref name="pewssa">{{cite web |url=http://pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-sub-saharan-africa.aspx |title=Region: Sub-Saharan Africa |website=The Future of the Global Muslim Population |date=27 January 2011 |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=3 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309234009/http://www.pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-sub-saharan-africa.aspx |archive-date=9 March 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> 25% in [[Islam in Asia|Asia]], 1.4% in [[Islam in Oceania|Oceania]],<ref name="pewaspa">{{cite web |url=http://pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-asia.aspx |title=Region: Asia-Pacific |website=The Future of the Global Muslim Population |date=27 January 2011 |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=3 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309233927/http://www.pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-asia.aspx |archive-date=9 March 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kettani |first=Houssain |date=2010 |title=Muslim Population in Oceania: 1950-2020 |url=https://microdata.pacificdata.org/index.php/citations/390#:~:text=Muslims%20in%20Oceania%20Oceania%20consists,total%20population%20of%20the%20continent |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002044500/https://microdata.pacificdata.org/index.php/citations/390#:~:text=Muslims%20in%20Oceania%20Oceania%20consists,total%20population%20of%20the%20continent |archive-date=Oct 2, 2023 |website=Pacific Data Hub Microdata Library}}</ref> 6% in [[Islam in Europe|Europe]],<ref name="peweur">{{cite web |url=http://pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-europe.aspx |title=Region: Europe |website=The Future of the Global Muslim Population |date=27 January 2011 |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=3 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407080033/http://www.pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-europe.aspx |archive-date=7 April 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> and 1% in [[Islam in the Americas|the Americas]].<ref name="pewame">{{cite web |url=http://pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-americas.aspx |title=Region: Americas |website=The Future of the Global Muslim Population |date=27 January 2011 |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=3 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407082305/http://www.pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-americas.aspx |archive-date=7 April 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Number of Muslims ahead of Catholics, says Vatican|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/31/religion|website=The Guardian|first=Tom|last=Kington|date=31 March 2008|access-date=17 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902042814/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/31/religion|archive-date=2 September 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Muslim Population|url=http://www.islamicpopulation.com/|publisher=IslamicPopulation.com|access-date=17 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525045557/http://www.muslimpopulation.com/index.html|archive-date=25 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Field Listing Religions|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html|access-date=17 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604221011/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html|archive-date=4 June 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Most Muslims are of one of two [[Islamic schools and branches|denominations]]: [[Sunni Islam]] (87–90%)<ref name="Sunni-eb">* {{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population/ |title=Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population |access-date=24 September 2013 |website=[[Pew Research Center]] |quote=Of the total Muslim population, 10–13% are Shia Muslims and 87–90% are Sunni Muslims. |date=7 October 2009 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225005131/http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population/ |url-status=live }}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=D5_N97bAiJ0C&dq=Sunni+Islam&pg=PA3 Sunni Islam: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516213612/https://books.google.com/books?id=D5_N97bAiJ0C&pg=PA3&dq=Sunni+Islam#v=onepage&q=Sunni%20Islam |date=16 May 2020 }} "Sunni Islam is the dominant division of the global Muslim community, and throughout history it has made up a substantial majority (85 to 90 percent) of that community."
* {{cite web |url=http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/sunni |title=Sunni |publisher=[[Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs]] |quote=Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam, comprising about 85% of the world's over 1.5&nbsp;billion Muslims. |access-date=20 December 2012 |archive-date=12 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012090751/http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/sunni |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html |title=Religions |access-date=25 August 2010 |website=[[The World Factbook]] |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |quote=Sunni Islam accounts for over 85% of the world's Muslim population... |archive-date=24 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224211645/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html%20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Shia Islam|Shia]] (10–13%).<ref name="Shia">See
* {{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shii |title=Shiʿi |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |date=4 October 2019 |access-date=30 September 2019 |quote=In the early 21st century some 10–13 percent of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims were Shiʿi. |archive-date=20 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720054917/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shii |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population/ |title=Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population |date=7 October 2009 |access-date=24 September 2013 |work=[[Pew Research Center]] |quote=The Pew Forum's estimate of the Shia population (10%) is in keeping with previous estimates, which generally have been in the range of 10%. Some previous estimates, however, have placed the number of Shias at nearly 15% of the world's Muslim population. |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225005131/http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |url=http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/shi-a |title=Shia |publisher=Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs |quote=Shi'a Islam is the second largest branch of the tradition, with up to 150 million followers who comprise around 10% of all Muslims worldwide... |access-date=5 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215070956/http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/shi-a |archive-date=15 December 2012 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite book |first=Jalil |last=Roshandel |title=Iran, Israel and the United States |publisher=Praeger Security International |year=2011 |page=15 |isbn=9780313386985 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVcmKRyID2EC&pg=PA15 |quote=The majority of the world's Islamic population, which is Sunni, accounts for over 85 percent of the Islamic population; the other 10 to 15 percent is Shia. |access-date=8 March 2020 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803113257/https://books.google.com/books?id=nVcmKRyID2EC&pg=PA15 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, other denominations exist in pockets, such as [[Ibadi Islam|Ibadi]] (primarily in [[Oman]]). Muslims who do not belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under one of the identifiable [[Islamic schools and branches]] are known as [[non-denominational Muslims]].<ref name="theod">{{cite news |last=Benakis |first=Theodoros |date=13 January 2014 |title=Islamophoobia in Europe! |url=http://neurope.eu/article/islamophobia-europe/ |newspaper=New Europe |location=Brussels |access-date=20 October 2015 |quote=Anyone who has travelled to Central Asia knows of the non-denominational Muslims – those who are neither Shiites nor Sounites, but who accept Islam as a religion generally. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131145036/http://neurope.eu/article/islamophobia-europe/ |archive-date=31 January 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Longton">{{cite news|last1=Longton|first1=Gary Gurr|title=Isis Jihadist group made me wonder about non-denominational Muslims|url=http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Isis-Jihadist-group-wonder-non-denominational/story-21340790-detail/story.html|access-date=21 October 2015|publisher=The Sentinel|date=2014|quote=THE appalling and catastrophic pictures of the so-called new extremist Isis Jihadist group made me think about someone who can say I am a Muslim of a non-denominational standpoint, and to my surprise/ignorance, such people exist. Online, I found something called the people's mosque, which makes itself clear that it's 100 per cent non-denominational and most importantly, 100 per cent non-judgmental.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326065118/http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/isis-jihadist-group-wonder-non-denominational/story-21340790-detail/story.html|archive-date=26 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="Kirkham">{{cite news|last1=Kirkham|first1=Bri|title=Indiana Blood Center cancels 'Muslims for Life' blood drive|url=http://www.ballstatedaily.com/article/2015/04/nli-muslim-blood-drive|access-date=21 October 2015|date=2015|quote=Ball State Student Sadie Sial identifies as a '''non-denominational Muslim''', and her parents belong to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. She has participated in multiple blood drives through the Indiana Blood Center.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125113410/http://www.ballstatedaily.com/article/2015/04/nli-muslim-blood-drive|archive-date=25 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="Pollack">{{cite book|last1=Pollack|first1=Kenneth|title=Unthinkable: Iran, the Bomb, and American Strategy |publisher=Simon and Schuster|date=2014 |page=[https://archive.org/details/unthinkableiranb0000poll/page/29 29] |isbn=9781476733920|url=https://archive.org/details/unthinkableiranb0000poll |url-access=registration|quote=Although many Iranian hardliners are Shi'a chauvinists, Khomeini's ideology saw the revolution as pan-Islamist, and therefore embracing Sunni, Shi'a, Sufi, and other, more '''nondenominational Muslims'''}}</ref> About 13% of Muslims live in [[Islam in Indonesia|Indonesia]], the largest Muslim-majority country;<ref name=pew2015countries>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/muslims/pf_15-04-02_projectionstables74/|title=10 Countries With the Largest Muslim Populations, 2010 and 2050|date=2015-04-02|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|access-date=7 February 2017|archive-date=4 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504075835/http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/muslims/pf_15-04-02_projectionstables74/|url-status=live}}</ref> {{#expr: 100 * 480/1570 round 0}}% of Muslims live in South Asia,<ref>{{Cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=kaubzRxh-U0C}}|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kaubzRxh-U0C&pg=PA193 193] |title=South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today|last1=Pechilis|first1=Karen|last2=Raj|first2=Selva J.|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415448512 |language=en}}</ref> the largest population of Muslims in the world;<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/01/how-south-asia-will-save-global-islam/|title=How South Asia Will Save Global Islam|last=Diplomat|first=Akhilesh Pillalamarri, The|newspaper=The Diplomat|access-date=7 February 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=27 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327102711/https://thediplomat.com/2016/01/how-south-asia-will-save-global-islam/|url-status=live}}</ref> {{#expr: 100 * 315/1571 round 0}}% in the Middle East–North Africa,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population10/|title=Middle East-North Africa Overview|date=7 October 2009|work=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|access-date=18 January 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=28 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128210559/http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population10/|url-status=live}}</ref> where it is the dominant religion;<ref name="pewmuslim22">{{cite web|url=http://pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-middle-east.aspx|title=Region: Middle East-North Africa|website=The Future of the Global Muslim Population|publisher=Pew Research Center|access-date=22 December 2011|date=27 January 2011|archive-date=25 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725215915/http://www.pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-middle-east.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> and 15% in Sub-Saharan Africa and [[West Africa#Religion|West Africa]] (primarily in [[Islam in Nigeria|Nigeria]]).<ref name="pewmuslim32">{{cite web|url=http://pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-sub-saharan-africa.aspx|title=Region: Sub-Saharan Africa|website=The Future of the Global Muslim Population|publisher=Pew Research Center|access-date=22 December 2011|date=27 January 2011|archive-date=28 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728160720/http://www.pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-sub-saharan-africa.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Muslims are the overwhelming majority in Central Asia,<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/central-asia-ii |title=CENTRAL ASIA ii. Demography |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |last=Rowland |first=Richard H. |volume=2 |pages=161–164 |language=en |access-date=25 May 2017 |archive-date=16 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916105914/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/central-asia-ii |url-status=live }}</ref> make up half of the [[Caucasus#Demographics|Caucasus]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/azerbaijan/|title=Middle East :: Azerbaijan — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|website=www.cia.gov|access-date=1 December 2019|archive-date=27 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127171042/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/azerbaijan/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://eurasianet.org/the-many-languages-of-islam-in-the-caucasus|title=The Many Languages of Islam in the Caucasus|website=Eurasianet|language=en|access-date=1 December 2019|archive-date=21 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721131035/https://eurasianet.org/the-many-languages-of-islam-in-the-caucasus|url-status=live}}</ref> and widespread in Southeast Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yusuf|first=Imtiyaz|title=The Middle East and Muslim Southeast Asia: Implications of the Arab Spring|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/Public/focus/essay1009_southeast_asia.html|journal=Oxford Islamic Studies|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320170459/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/Public/focus/essay1009_southeast_asia.html|archive-date=20 March 2017}}</ref> [[Islam in India|India]] has the largest Muslim population outside Muslim-majority countries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/world/india-invited-as-guest-of-honour-to-oic-meet-sushma-swaraj-to-attend/article26349752.ece |title=India invited as 'Guest of Honour' to OIC meet, Sushma Swaraj to attend |website=@businessline |date=23 February 2019 |access-date=17 November 2019 |archive-date=16 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316053117/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/world/india-invited-as-guest-of-honour-to-oic-meet-sushma-swaraj-to-attend/article26349752.ece |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Islam in Pakistan|Pakistan]], [[Islam in Bangladesh|Bangladesh]], [[Islam in Iran|Iran]], and [[Islam in Egypt|Egypt]] are home to the world’s second, fourth, sixth and seventh largest Muslim populations respectively. Sizeable [[Islam by country|Muslim communities]] are also found in the [[Islam in the Americas|Americas]], [[Islam in Russia|Russia]], [[Islam in India|India]], [[Islam in China|China]], and [[Islam in Europe|Europe]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Book review: Russia's Muslim Heartlands reveals diverse population|date=21 April 2018|url=https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/book-review-russia-s-muslim-heartlands-reveals-diverse-population-1.723230|work=[[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National]]|language=en|access-date=13 January 2019|archive-date=14 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114210257/https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/book-review-russia-s-muslim-heartlands-reveals-diverse-population-1.723230|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="pewmuslim122">{{cite web|url=http://features.pewforum.org/muslim-population/|title=Muslim Population by Country|website=The Future of the Global Muslim Population|publisher=Pew Research Center|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209094904/http://www.pewforum.org/The-Future-of-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx|archive-date=9 February 2011|access-date=22 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/indepth/features/islam-russia-180307094248743.html&ved=2ahUKEwjnwtPN1OXfAhXNSxUIHQhBA4gQFjAMegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw27U7hQK-1THu2LP_Be0os7&ampcf=1&cshid=1547207388328|title=Islam in Russia|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=25 January 2022|archive-date=11 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190111175543/https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/indepth/features/islam-russia-180307094248743.html%26ved%3D2ahUKEwjnwtPN1OXfAhXNSxUIHQhBA4gQFjAMegQIBhAB%26usg%3DAOvVaw27U7hQK-1THu2LP_Be0os7%26ampcf%3D1%26cshid%3D1547207388328|url-status=dead}}</ref> Islam is the [[Growth of religion|fastest-growing major religion in the world]] partially due to their high birth rate,<ref name="NRP">{{cite news |url= https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/12/25/460797744/a-religious-forecast-for-2050-atheism-is-down-islam-is-rising |title= A Religious Forecast For 2050: Atheism Is Down, Islam Is Rising |newspaper= NPR |date= 25 December 2015 |quote= This growth has to do with the relatively young age of the Muslim population as well as high fertility rates.|last1= Whitehead |first1= Nadia }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Muslims are the world's fastest-growing religious group |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/06/why-muslims-are-the-worlds-fastest-growing-religious-group/ |access-date=2023-02-02 |website=Pew Research Center |date=6 April 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/main-factors-driving-population-growth/|title=Main Factors Driving Population Growth|date=2 April 2015|work=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|access-date=23 October 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=1 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201205139/https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/main-factors-driving-population-growth/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/02/living/pew-study-religion/|title=The world's fastest-growing religion is ...|last1=Burke|first1=Daniel|date=4 April 2015|access-date=18 April 2015|agency=CNN|archive-date=15 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515234633/https://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/02/living/pew-study-religion/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="USNewsLippman2">{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/religion/articles/2008/04/07/no-god-but-god|title=No God But God|author=Lippman, Thomas W.|date=7 April 2008|publisher=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=24 September 2013|quote=Islam is the youngest, the fastest growing, and in many ways the least complicated of the world's great monotheistic faiths. It is based on its own holy book, but it is also a direct descendant of [[Judaism]] and [[Christianity]], incorporating some of the teachings of those religions, while modifying some and rejecting others.|archive-date=5 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505105234/https://www.usnews.com/news/religion/articles/2008/04/07/no-god-but-god|url-status=live}}</ref> according to the same study, [[Religious conversion|religious switching]] has no impact on Muslim population, since the number of people who [[Convert to Islam|embrace Islam]] and those who [[Apostasy in Islam|leave Islam]] are roughly equal.<ref name="Pew29">{{cite web|url= https://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-related-factors/#conversion |title= The Future of the Global Muslim Population|date= 27 January 2011|quote= there is no substantial net gain or loss in the number of Muslims through conversion globally; the number of people who become Muslims through conversion seems to be roughly equal to the number of Muslims who leave the faith}}</ref> China has the third largest Muslim population outside Muslim-majority countries, while Russia has the fifth largest Muslim population. Nigeria has the largest Muslim population in Africa, while Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in Asia.
== Terminology ==
The term has been documented as early as 1912 to encompass the influence of perceived pan-Islamic [[propaganda]]. ''[[The Times]]'' described [[Pan-Islamism]] as a movement with power, importance, and cohesion born in Paris, where Turks, Arabs and Persians congregated. The correspondent's focus was on India: it would take too long to consider the progress made in various parts of the Muslim world. The article considered the position of the Amir, the effect of the [[Italo-Turkish War#Opening maneuver|Tripoli Campaign]], [[Anglo-Russian]] action in Persia, and "Afghan Ambitions".<ref name="India, 1912">''Pan-Islamism In India,'' FROM A CORRESPONDENT IN INDIA, Tuesday, 3 September 1912, The Times, Issue: 39994</ref>

In a modern [[geopolitics|geopolitical]] sense, the terms 'Muslim world' and 'Islamic world' refer to [[Islam by country|countries in which Islam is widespread]], although there are no agreed criteria for inclusion.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/06/02/what-muslim-world/|journal=Foreign Policy|title=What Muslim World?|first1=Scott |last1=Carpenter| first2=Soner |last2=Cagaptay|date=2 June 2009|access-date=10 March 2017|archive-date=26 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326231548/https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/06/02/what-muslim-world/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=BEWH/> Some scholars and commentators have criticised the term 'Muslim/Islamic world' and its derivative terms 'Muslim/Islamic country' as "simplistic" and "binary", since no state has a religiously homogeneous population (e.g. [[Egypt]]'s citizens are c. 10% Christians), and in absolute numbers, there are sometimes fewer Muslims living in countries in which they make up the majority than in countries in which they form a minority.<ref name="Radical">{{Cite book |last=Nawaz |first=Maajid |date=2012 |title=Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FIjms8hwoW8C |publisher=WH Allen |page=XXII–XIII |isbn=9781448131617 |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-date=25 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425132015/https://books.google.com/books?id=FIjms8hwoW8C |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Hitchens"/><ref name="Geling">{{Cite news |url=https://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/ook-na-1400-jaar-kan-de-islam-heus-verdwijnen~bc232725/ |title=Ook na 1400 jaar kan de islam heus verdwijnen |author=Gert Jan Geling |work=Trouw |date=12 January 2017 |access-date=3 October 2017 |language=nl |quote="Many people, including myself, are often guilty of using terms such as 'Muslim countries', or the 'Islamic world', as if Islam has always been there, and always will be. And that is completely unclear. (...) If the current trend [of apostasy] continues, at some point a large section of the population may no longer be religious. How 'Islamic' would that still make the 'Islamic world'?}}</ref> Moreover, the idea of a uniform Muslim world is imagined. Emerging in popular discourse in the nineteenth century, imperialists used the term to emphasize the civilizational differences between east and west. In opposition to colonization some Muslims started using the term in attempts at providing a unified front against western imperialism.<ref name="book">{{Cite book |last=Aydin |first=Cymil |date=2012 |title=The Idea of the Muslim World |url=https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674238176}}</ref> Hence, the term 'Muslim-majority countries' is often preferred in literature.<ref name="Jones"/>

==History==
{{further|Spread of Islam|History of Islam}}
{{for timeline|Timeline of the history of Islam}}
{{see also|History of the Middle East}}
{{more citations needed section|date=June 2020}}
[[File:TabulaRogeriana upside-down.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|The [[Tabula Rogeriana]], drawn by [[Al-Idrisi]] of [[Sicily]] in 1154, one of the most advanced [[ancient world maps]]. Al-Idrisi also wrote about the diverse Muslim communities found in various lands. Note: the map is here shown upside-down from the original to match current North/Up, South/Down map design]]

The [[history of Islam|history of the Islamic faith]] as a religion and social institution begins with its inception around 610 [[Common Era|CE]], when the [[Prophets of Islam|Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]], a native of [[Mecca]], is believed by Muslims to have received [[Muhammad's first revelation|the first revelation]] of the Quran, and began to preach his message.<ref name="Watt2003">{{cite book |last=Watt |first=William Montgomery |author-link=W. Montgomery Watt |title=Islam and the Integration of Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AQUZ6BGyohQC |year=2003 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-17587-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=AQUZ6BGyohQC&pg=PA5 5] |access-date=23 July 2020 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806062823/https://books.google.com/books?id=AQUZ6BGyohQC |url-status=live }}</ref> In 622 CE, facing opposition in Mecca, he and his followers migrated to Yathrib (now [[Medina]]), where he was invited to establish a [[Constitution of Medina|new constitution]] for the city under his leadership.<ref name="Watt2003"/> This migration, called the [[Hegira|Hijra]], marks the first year of the [[Islamic calendar]]. By the time of his death, Muhammad had become the political and spiritual leader of Medina, Mecca, the surrounding region, and numerous other [[tribes of Arabia]].<ref name="Watt2003"/>

After Muhammad died in 632, his successors (the [[Caliphs]]) continued to lead the Muslim community based on his teachings and guidelines of the Quran. The majority of Muslims consider the first four successors to be 'rightly guided' or [[Rashidun]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 4 Caliphs |url=https://manchestercentralmosque.org/the-4-caliphs/ |access-date=2025-11-06 |website=Manchester Central Mosque |language=en-GB}}</ref> The [[Early Muslim conquests|conquests]] of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] helped to [[Spread of Islam|spread Islam]] beyond the [[Arabian Peninsula]], stretching from northwest India, across Central Asia, the [[Near East]], North Africa, southern Italy, and the [[Iberian Peninsula]], to the [[Pyrenees]]. The Arab Muslims were unable to conquer the entire Christian [[Byzantine Empire]] in [[Asia Minor]] during the [[Arab–Byzantine wars]], however. The succeeding [[Umayyad Caliphate]] attempted two failed sieges of [[Constantinople]] in [[Siege of Constantinople (674–678)|674–678]] and [[Siege of Constantinople (717–718)|717–718]]. Meanwhile, the Muslim community tore itself apart into the rivalling [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] and [[Shia Islam|Shia sects]] since the [[Siege of Uthman|killing of caliph Uthman]] in 656, resulting in a [[Succession to Muhammad|succession crisis]] that has never been resolved.<ref>Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "islam. §7. Sektevorming". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.</ref> The following [[First Fitna|First]], [[Second Fitna|Second]] and [[Third Fitna]]s and finally the [[Abbasid Revolution]] (746–750) also definitively destroyed the political unity of the Muslims, who have been inhabiting multiple states ever since.<ref>Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "Omajjaden §1. De Spaanse tak". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.</ref> [[Ghaznavids]]' rule was succeeded by the [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurid Empire]] of [[Muhammad of Ghor]] and [[Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad]], whose reigns under the leadership of [[Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji]] extended until the [[Bengal]], where South Asian [[Islamic missionary activity|Islamic missionaries]] achieved their greatest success in terms of [[dawah]] and number of converts to [[Islam]].<ref>The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith By Sir Thomas Walker Arnold, pp. 227–228</ref><ref>Majumdar, R.C., ''History of Mediaeval Bengal'', First published 1973, Reprint 2006, Tulshi Prakashani, Kolkata, {{ISBN|81-89118-06-4}}</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2019}} [[Qutb ud-Din Aibak]] conquered Delhi in 1206 and began the reign of the [[Delhi Sultanate]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Srivastava|first=Ashirvadi Lal|title=The Sultanate Of Delhi 711–1526 AD|url=https://archive.org/stream/sultanateofdelhi001929mbp#page/n5/mode/2up|year=1929|publisher=Shiva Lal Agarwala & Company}}</ref> a successive series of dynasties that synthesized Indian civilization with the wider commercial and cultural networks of Africa and Eurasia, greatly increased demographic and economic growth in India and deterred Mongol incursion into the prosperous [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]] and enthroned one of the few female Muslim rulers, [[Razia Sultana]].{{cn|date=June 2022}}
Notable major empires dominated by Muslims, such as those of the [[Abbasids]], [[Fatimids]], [[Almoravids]], [[Gao Empire]], [[Seljukids]], [[list of largest empires|largest contiguous]] [[Songhai Empire]] (15th-16th centuries) of [[Sahel]], [[West Africa]], southern [[North Africa]] and western [[Central Africa]] which dominated the centers of Islamic knowledge of [[Timbuktu]], [[Djenne]], [[Oualata]] and [[Gao]], [[Ajuran Sultanate|Ajuran]], [[Adal Sultanate|Adal]] and Warsangali in [[Somalia]], [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]] in the Indian subcontinent (India, [[Bangladesh]], [[Pakistan]], etc.), [[Safavid]]s in [[Persia]] and [[Ottoman empire|Ottomans]] in [[Anatolia]], [[Massina Empire]], [[Sokoto Caliphate]] of northern [[Nigeria]], [[Toucouleur Empire]], were among the influential and distinguished powers in the world.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}} 19th-century colonialism and 20th-century decolonisation have resulted in several independent Muslim-majority states around the world, with vastly differing attitudes towards and political influences granted to, or restricted for, Islam from country to country.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}} These have revolved around the question of Islam's compatibility with other ideological concepts such as [[Islam and secularism|secularism]], [[nationalism]] (especially [[Arab nationalism]] and [[Pan-Arabism]], as opposed to [[Pan-Islamism]]), [[Islamic socialism|socialism]] (see also [[Arab socialism]] and [[socialism in Iran]]), democracy (see [[Islamic democracy]]), [[republicanism]] (see also [[Islamic republic]]), [[liberalism and progressivism within Islam|liberalism and progressivism]], [[Islamic feminism|feminism]], [[capitalism and Islam|capitalism]] and more.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}

===Gunpowder empires===
{{Main|Gunpowder empires}}

Scholars often use the term [[Age of the Islamic Gunpowders]] to describe period the [[Safavid Empire|Safavid]], [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] and [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] states. Each of these three empires had considerable military exploits using the newly developed [[firearms]], especially [[cannon]] and small arms, to create their empires.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his112/Notes/Gunpowder.html |title=The Gunpowder Empires |first=Charles T |last=Evans |publisher=Northern Virginia Community College |access-date=28 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526092248/http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his112/Notes/Gunpowder.html |archive-date=26 May 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> They existed primarily between the fourteenth and the late seventeenth centuries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wps.ablongman.com/long_brummett_cpp_11/35/9191/2353138.cw/index.html |title=The Islamic Gunpowder Empires, 1300–1650 |website=Civilization Past & Present |publisher=Pearson Education |access-date=28 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724011854/http://wps.ablongman.com/long_brummett_cpp_11/35/9191/2353138.cw/index.html |archive-date=24 July 2011 }}</ref> During the 17th–18th centuries, when the [[Indian subcontinent]] was ruled by [[Mughal Empire]]'s sixth ruler [[Aurangzeb|Muhammad Auranzgeb]] through [[sharia]] and [[Islamic economics]],<ref>''Islamic and European Expansion: The Forging of a Global Order'', [[Michael Adas]], Temple University Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1993.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Chapra|first1=Muhammad Umer|title=Morality and Justice in Islamic Economics and Finance|date=2014|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|isbn=9781783475728|pages=62–63|language=en}}</ref> India became the world's largest economy, valued 25% of world GDP.<ref>[[Angus Maddison|Maddison, Angus]] (2003): ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=rHJGz3HiJbcC&pg=PA259 Development Centre Studies The World Economy Historical Statistics: Historical Statistics]'', [[OECD Publishing]], {{ISBN|9264104143}}, pages 259–261</ref>

<gallery>
File:Canonnier Persan. Auguste Wahlen. Moeurs, usages et costumes de tous les peuples du monde. 1843.jpg|[[Safavid Empire]]'s [[Zamburak]].
File:Bullocks dragging siege-guns up hill during the attack on Ranthambhor Fort.jpg|Bullocks dragging siege-guns up hill during [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Akbar]]'s [[Siege of Ranthambore (1568)|Siege of Ranthambore]] Fort in 1568.<ref>{{cite web|last=Unknown|url=http://warfare2.likamva.in/Moghul/Akbar/1568-Bullocks_dragging_siege-guns_up_hill_during_the_attack_on_Ranthambhor_Fort.htm|title=Bullocks dragging siege-guns up hill during Akbar's attack on Ranthambhor Fort|date=1590–95|website=the Akbarnama|access-date=19 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519132308/http://warfare2.likamva.in/Moghul/Akbar/1568-Bullocks_dragging_siege-guns_up_hill_during_the_attack_on_Ranthambhor_Fort.htm|archive-date=19 May 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
File:The capture of Orchha by imperial forces (October 1635).jpg|The [[Mughal Army]] under the command of Islamist [[Aurangzeb]] recaptures [[Orchha]] in October 1635.
File:OttomanJanissariesAndDefendingKnightsOfStJohnSiegeOfRhodes1522.jpg|Gun-wielding Ottoman [[Janissary|Janissaries]] in combat against the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights of Saint John]] at the [[Siege of Rhodes (1522)|Siege of Rhodes]] in 1522.
File:The Dutch War in Sumatra, Guns captured at Acheen lying at Rotterdam.jpg|Cannons and guns belonging to the [[Aceh Sultanate]] (in modern [[Indonesia]]).
</gallery>

===Great Divergence===
{{Main|Great Divergence}}
{{quote box|width=25%|quote="Why do the Christian nations, which were so weak in the past compared with Muslim nations begin to dominate so many lands in modern times and even defeat the once victorious Ottoman armies?"..."Because they have laws and rules invented by reason."|source='''[[Ibrahim Muteferrika]]''', ''Rational basis for the Politics of Nations'' (1731)<ref name="6KillerApps">{{cite web|url=https://www.ted.com/talks/niall_ferguson_the_6_killer_apps_of_prosperity|first=Niall|last=Ferguson|authorlink=Niall Ferguson |publisher=TED.com|title=The 6 killer apps of prosperity|date=19 September 2011 |access-date=5 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213061645/http://www.ted.com/talks/niall_ferguson_the_6_killer_apps_of_prosperity.html|archive-date=13 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

The Great Divergence was the reason why European colonial powers militarily defeated preexisting Oriental powers like the [[Mughal Empire]], starting from the wealthy [[Bengal Subah]], [[Tipu Sultan]]'s [[Kingdom of Mysore]], the [[Ottoman Empire]] and many smaller states in the pre-modern [[Greater Middle East]], and initiated a period known as '[[colonialism]]'.<ref name="6KillerApps" />

<gallery>
File:Shah Alam II, Mughal emperor of india, reviewing the East India Companys troops.jpg|[[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Alam II]] negotiates with the [[East India Company]] after being defeated during the [[Battle of Buxar]].
File:Lord Clive meeting with Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey.jpg|[[East India Company]]'s [[Robert Clive]] meeting the [[Nawabs of Bengal]] before the [[Battle of Plassey]].
File:January Suchodolski - Ochakiv siege.jpg|[[Siege of Ochakov (1788)]], an armed conflict between the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] and the Russian [[Tsardom]].
File:Сражение под Елисаветполем.jpeg|Combat during the [[Russo-Persian War (1722–1723)|Russo-Persian Wars]].
File:Bataille du mont-thabor.jpg|[[French campaign in Egypt and Syria]] against the [[Mamluk]]s and Ottomans.
</gallery>

===Colonialism===
{{Main|Colonial empire|Colonialism}}
[[File:World 1914 empires colonies territory.PNG|thumb|upright=1.25|right|Map of colonial powers throughout the world in the year 1914 (note colonial powers in the pre-modern Muslim world).]]

Beginning with the 15th century, [[colonialism]] by European powers profoundly affected Muslim-majority societies in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Colonialism was often advanced by conflict with mercantile initiatives by colonial powers and caused tremendous social upheavals in Muslim-dominated societies.<ref name="auto">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islamic-world/Islamic-history-from-1683-to-the-present-reform-dependency-and-recovery|title=Islamic world|access-date=23 January 2019|archive-date=23 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123224527/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islamic-world/Islamic-history-from-1683-to-the-present-reform-dependency-and-recovery|url-status=live}}</ref>

A number of Muslim-majority societies reacted to Western powers with zealotry and thus initiating the rise of [[Pan-Islamism]]; or affirmed more traditionalist and inclusive cultural ideals; and in rare cases adopted modernity that was ushered by the colonial powers.<ref name="ColonialismLegacies">{{cite book|editor1-last=Levy|editor1-first=Jacob T.|title=Colonialism and Its Legacies|date=2011|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Group|location=Lanham|others=(Contributors: Alfred T, Chakabarty D, Dussel E, Eze E, Hsueh V, Kohn M, Bhanu Mehta P, Muthu S, Parekh B, Pitts J, Schutte O, Souza J, Young IM) |isbn=9780739142943}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

The only Muslim-majority regions not to be colonized by the Europeans were Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Payind |first1=Alam |last2=McClimans |first2=Melinda |date=2016 |title=The Impact of Imperialism on the Region |url=https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/key2mideast/chapter/the-impact-of-imperialism-on-the-region/ |language=en}}</ref> Turkey was one of the first colonial powers of the world with the Ottoman empire ruling several states for over 6 centuries.<!---This unsourced claim is questionable in many aspects. Could we describe the brief occupation of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, etc. by Britain and France as 'colonial'? They were League of Nations mandate territories that were gradually granted autonomy and independence within 40 years. Moreover, shouldn't we classify the pre-European centuries-long occupation of these regions by the Ottoman Empire as 'colonial', too? In fact, that would be more justified than in the Franco-British period. And what to think of Uyghuria and other Central Asian Muslim-majority areas that were conquered/occupied in the 19th and early 20th century by power such as Tsarist Russia and Qing China?--->

<gallery>
File:Défense de Mazagran.jpg|The [[French conquest of Algeria]], from 1830 to 1903
(Barcelona) La batalla de Tetuan - Marià Fortuny Marsal - MNAC.jpg|The [[Hispano-Moroccan War (1859–1860)|Hispano-Moroccan War]] between [[History of Spain (1810–1873)|Spain]] and [[Morocco]], from 1859 to 1860
File:Libia-1911-Tripoli-conquista-bandiera-verde-del-profeta.jpg|The [[Italo-Turkish War]] between [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]] from 1911 to 1912
File:Reprise Buda 1686.jpg|The Christian reconquest of [[Buda]], [[Ottoman Hungary]], 1686, painted by [[Frans Geffels]]
File:Vernet-Combat de Somah.jpg|[[French conquest of Algeria]] (1830–1857)
File:Battle of Omdurman.jpg|[[Anglo-Egyptian invasion of Sudan 1896–1899]]
File:1 5 Campaña Africa 1909.jpg|The [[Second Melillan campaign|Melilla War]] between Spain and [[Riffian people|Rif Berbers]] of Morocco in 1909
</gallery>

===Postcolonial era===
{{Further|Decolonization}}

In the 20th century, the end of the European colonial domination has led to creation of a number of nation states with significant Muslim populations. These states drew on Islamic traditions to varying degree and in various ways in organizing their legal, educational and economic systems.<ref name="auto"/> The Times first documented the term "Muslim world" in 1912 when describing [[Pan-Islamism]] as a movement with power importance and cohesion born in Paris where Turks, Arabs and Persians congregated. The article considered The position of the Amir; the effect of the [[Italo-Turkish War#Opening maneuver|Tripoli Campaign]]; [[Persian Constitutional Revolution|Anglo-Russian action in Persia]]; and "Afghan Ambitions".<ref name="India, 1912"/>

A significant change in the Muslim world was the [[Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire|defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire]] (1908–1922), to which the Ottoman officer and [[Turkish National Movement|Turkish revolutionary]] statesman [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]] had an instrumental role in ending and replacing it with the [[Republic of Turkey]], a [[Modernity|modern]], [[secular democracy]]<ref name="ÁgostonMasters2009">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Cuthell |first=David Cameron Jr. |year=2009 |editor1-last=Ágoston |editor1-first=Gábor |editor2-first=Bruce |editor2-last=Masters |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire |chapter=Atatürk, Kemal (Mustafa Kemal) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QjzYdCxumFcC&pg=PA56 |location=New York City |publisher=[[Facts On File]] |pages=56–60 |isbn=978-0-8160-6259-1 |lccn=2008020716 |access-date=24 June 2021 |archive-date=27 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227182639/https://books.google.com/books?id=QjzYdCxumFcC&pg=PA56 |url-status=live }}</ref> (see [[Abolition of the Ottoman sultanate]]).<ref name="ÁgostonMasters2009"/> The [[Secularism in Turkey|secular values]] of [[Kemalism|Kemalist]] Turkey, which [[Separation of church and state|separated religion from the state]] with the [[abolition of the Caliphate]] in 1924,<ref name="ÁgostonMasters2009"/> have sometimes been seen as the result of Western influence.{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence.|date=June 2021}}

In the 21st century, after the [[September 11 attacks]] (2001) coordinated by the [[Wahhabism|Wahhabi]] [[Islamism|Islamist]]<ref name="commins172">{{cite book |last=Commins |first=David |title=The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia |location=London and New York City |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |year=2009 |page=172}}</ref> [[Islamic terrorism|terrorist group]]<ref name="Dalacoura 2012">{{cite book |author-last=Dalacoura |author-first=Katerina |year=2012 |chapter=Transnational Islamist Terrorism: Al Qaeda |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PlTKrMFyawoC&pg=PA40 |title=Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=40–65 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511977367.003 |isbn=9780511977367 |lccn=2010047275 |s2cid=128049972 |access-date=12 July 2021 |archive-date=12 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712115559/https://books.google.com/books?id=PlTKrMFyawoC&pg=PA40 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Al-Qaeda]]<ref name="Dalacoura 2012"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Lawrence |author-link=Lawrence Wright |year=2006 |title=The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 |location=New York City |publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf|Knopf]] |page=79 |url=https://archive.org/details/loomingtoweralqa00wrig |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-375-41486-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Globalization of Martyrdom: Al Qaeda, Salafi Jihad, and the Diffusion of Suicide Attacks |last=Moghadam |first=Assaf |location=[[Baltimore]], Maryland |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8018-9055-0 |page=48}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/sala.html |title=Special Reports – The Salafist Movement: Al Qaeda's New Front |last=Livesey |first=Bruce |date=25 January 2005 |website=PBS Frontline |publisher=WGBH educational foundation |access-date=18 October 2011 |archive-date=28 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628202818/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/sala.html |url-status=live }}{{cite book |title=US Counter-Terrorism Strategy and al-Qaeda: Signalling and the Terrorist World-View |last1=Geltzer |first1=Joshua A. |year=2011 |location=London and New York City |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0415664523 |edition=Reprint |page=83}}</ref> against the United States, scholars considered the ramifications of seeking to understand Muslim experience through the framework of secular [[Western world#Enlightenment (17th-18th centuries)|Enlightenment]] principles. [[Muhammad Atta]], one of the [[Hijackers in the September 11 attacks|11 September hijackers]], reportedly quoted from the [[Quran]] to allay his fears: "Fight them, and God will chastise them at your hands/And degrade them, and He will help you/Against them, and bring healing to the breasts of a people who believe", referring to the ''ummah'', the community of Muslim believers, and invoking the imagery of the early warriors of Islam who lead the faithful from the darkness of ''[[jahiliyyah]]''.<ref name=jahlil>{{cite book |last1=Owen |first1=John M. |last2=Owen |first2=J. Judd |title=Religion, the Enlightenment, and the New Global Order |date=2010 |page=12 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231526623 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSlFAAAAQBAJ&q=western+world+enlightenment&pg=PT24 |access-date=10 March 2021 |archive-date=25 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125063925/https://books.google.com/books?id=eSlFAAAAQBAJ&q=western+world+enlightenment&pg=PT24 |url-status=live }}</ref>

By [[Sayyid Qutb]]'s definition of [[Islam]], the faith is "a complete divorce from jahiliyyah". He complained that American churches served as centers of community social life that were "very hard [to] distinguish from places of fun and amusement". For Qutb, Western society was the modern ''jahliliyyah''. His understanding of the "Muslim world" and its "social order" was that, presented to the Western world as the result of practicing Islamic teachings, would impress "by the beauty and charm of true Islamic ideology". He argued that the values of the Enlightenment and its related precursor, the [[Scientific Revolution]], "denies or suspends God's sovereignty on earth" and argued that strengthening "Islamic character"
was needed "to abolish the negative influences of ''jahili'' life."<ref name=jahlil/>

==Islam by country==
{{Original research section|date=June 2018}}
{{Main|Islam by country}}
{{Further|Political aspects of Islam|Islam and secularism}}

As the Muslim world came into contact with [[Secularism|secular]] ideals, societies responded in different ways. Some Muslim-majority countries are secular. Azerbaijan became the first secular republic in the Muslim world, between 1918 and 1920, before it was incorporated into the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite web| title =93 years pass since establishment of first democratic republic in the east – Azerbaijan Democratic Republic | publisher = Azerbaijan Press Agency| url = http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=148210| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111121170317/http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=148210| url-status = dead| archive-date = 21 November 2011| access-date =28 May 2011}}</ref><ref name="kazemzadeh">{{cite book
 | last = Kazemzadeh
 | first = Firuz |author-link=Firuz Kazemzadeh
 | title = The Struggle for Transcaucasia: 1917–1921
 | publisher = The New York Philosophical Library
 | year= 1951
 | isbn = 978-0-8305-0076-5
 | pages = 124, 222, 229, 269–70}}</ref><ref name="Swietochowski2">{{cite book
 |last         = Swietochowski
 |first        = Tadeusz
 |author-link   = Tadeusz Swietochowski
 |title        = Russian Azerbaijan, 1905–1920: The Shaping of a National Identity in a Muslim Community
 |url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=cozSOSsv7ZsC&pg=129
 |publisher    = Cambridge University Press
 |year         = 2004
 |isbn         = 978-0-521-52245-8
 |page         = 129
 |access-date  = 17 January 2018
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20180117131539/https://books.google.nl/books?id=cozSOSsv7ZsC&pg=129
 |archive-date = 17 January 2018
|url-status   = live
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=January 2018|reason=Page 129 does not claim Azerbaijan was "first secular republic in the Muslim world". It doesn't even claim Azerbaijan is part of the "Muslim world". OR.}} Turkey has been governed as a [[secular state]] since the reforms of [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MWEePOkKpkoC&q=false&pg=PA116|title=The Gülen Movement: A Sociological Analysis of a Civic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam|first=Helen Rose|last=Ebaugh|date=1 December 2009|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9781402098949|via=Google Books|access-date=23 February 2021|archive-date=25 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125063925/https://books.google.com/books?id=MWEePOkKpkoC&q=false&pg=PA116|url-status=live}}</ref> By contrast, the 1979 [[Iranian Revolution]] replaced a monarchial semi-secular regime with an [[Islamic republic]] led by the [[Ayatollah]], [[Ruhollah Khomeini]].{{Fact|date=February 2024}}<ref>[[Persian Constitution of 1906|1906 Constitution of Imperial Iran]]: Article 1 – "The official religion of Persia is Islám, according to the orthodox Já'farí doctrine of the Ithna 'Ashariyya (Church of the Twelve Imáms), which faith 1 the Sháh of Persia must profess and promote."</ref>

Some countries have declared Islam as the official state religion. In those countries, the legal code is largely secular. Only personal status matters pertaining to inheritance and marriage are governed by [[Sharia]] law.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Islam: Governing Under Sharia|url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/islam-governing-under-sharia|access-date=2021-09-10|website=Council on Foreign Relations|language=en|archive-date=10 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910173721/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/islam-governing-under-sharia|url-status=live}}</ref> In some places, Muslims implement Islamic law, called sharia in Arabic. The Islamic law exists in a number of variations, called [[Madh'hab|schools of jurisprudence]]. The [[Amman Message]], which was endorsed in 2005 by prominent Islamic scholars around the world, recognized four [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] schools ([[Hanafi]], [[Maliki]], [[Shafi'i]], [[Hanbali]]), two [[Shia Islam|Shia]] schools ([[Ja'fari jurisprudence|Ja'fari]], [[Zaidiyyah|Zaidi]]), the [[Ibadi]] school, and the [[Zahiri]] school.<ref>{{cite web|title=Amman Message|url=http://ammanmessage.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=29&limit=1&limitstart=1|access-date=21 April 2021|archive-date=9 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809142714/http://ammanmessage.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=29&limit=1&limitstart=1|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Government and religion (50)===

====Islamic states (8)====
Eight [[Islamic state]]s have adopted Islam as the ideological foundation of state and constitution.
{{Div col|colwidth=18em}}
* {{flag|Afghanistan}}<ref name="WorldAtlas">{{cite web|title=Islamic Countries Of The World|url=http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/islamic-countries-in-the-world.html|work=WorldAtlas|date=21 February 2018|language=en|access-date=29 July 2020|archive-date=27 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927155512/http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/islamic-countries-in-the-world.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Afghanistan_2004|title=Constitution of Afghanistan 2004|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223213703/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Afghanistan_2004|archive-date=23 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Brunei}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Brunei_2006.pdf?lang=en|title=Brunei Darussalam's Constitution of 1959 with Amendments through 2006|access-date=27 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625074422/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Brunei_2006.pdf?lang=en|archive-date=25 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=July 2020}}
* {{flag|Iran}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/government/constitution-1.html|title=Islamic Republic of Iran Constitution|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225010032/http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution-1.html|archive-date=25 February 2008|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Mauritania}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Mauritania_2012.pdf|title=Mauritania's Constitution of 1991 with Amendments through 2012|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504073610/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Mauritania_2012.pdf|archive-date=4 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Oman}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Oman_2011.pdf?lang=en|title=Oman's Constitution of 1996 with Amendments through 2011|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127204703/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Oman_2011.pdf?lang=en|archive-date=27 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=July 2020}}
* {{flag|Pakistan}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/|title=The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan|access-date=27 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709113418/http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/|archive-date=9 July 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Saudi Arabia}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/sa00000_.html|title=Basic Law of Saudi Arabia|access-date=6 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226203908/http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/sa00000_.html|archive-date=26 December 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>                                         
* {{flag|Yemen}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Yemen_2001.pdf?lang=en|title=Yemen's Constitution of 1991 with Amendments through 2001|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127144814/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Yemen_2001.pdf?lang=en|archive-date=27 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Div col end}}

====State religion (17)====
The following seventeen [[List of Muslim-majority countries|Muslim-majority]] [[State (polity)|states]] have endorsed Islam as their [[state religion]], and though they may guarantee freedom of religion for citizens, do not declare a separation of state and religion:
{{Div col|colwidth=18em}}
* {{flag|Algeria}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://confinder.richmond.edu/admin/docs/local_algeria.pdf|title=Of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504073600/http://confinder.richmond.edu/admin/docs/local_algeria.pdf|archive-date=4 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Bahrain}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Kingdom_of_Bahrain_(2002)#Article_2_.5BState_Religion.2C_Shari.27a.2C_Official_Language.5D|title=Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain (2002)|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223212553/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Kingdom_of_Bahrain_(2002)#Article_2_.5BState_Religion.2C_Shari.27a.2C_Official_Language.5D|archive-date=23 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Bangladesh}}<ref name="bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd">{{Cite web |url=http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-367/section-24549.html |title=The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh &#124; 2A. The state religion |website=bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd}}</ref>
* {{flag|Comoros}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Comoros_2009.pdf|title=Comoros's Constitution of 2001 with Amendments through 2009|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504073557/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Comoros_2009.pdf|archive-date=4 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Djibouti}}<ref>{{cite act|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Djibouti_2010|title=Djibouti's Constitution of 1992 with Amendments through 2010|access-date=2023-09-14|article-type=Article|article=1|year=1992|type=Constitution}}</ref>
* {{flag|Egypt}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Egypt_2014.pdf|title=Egypt's Constitution of 2014|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504073608/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Egypt_2014.pdf|archive-date=4 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Iraq}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iraqinationality.gov.iq/attach/iraqi_constitution.pdf|title=Constitution of Iraq|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128152712/http://www.iraqinationality.gov.iq/attach/iraqi_constitution.pdf|archive-date=28 November 2016}}</ref>
* {{flag|Jordan}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jordan/ "Jordan country report"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603094219/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jordan/ |date=3 June 2021 }}, ''The World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 24 August 2012</ref>
* {{flag|Kuwait}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref name=irfr2002>{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2002/14005.htm |title=International Religious Freedom Report |website=US State Department |year=2002 |access-date=24 June 2017 |archive-date=8 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108071813/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2002/14005.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
* {{flag|Libya}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Libya_2012.pdf?lang=en|title=Libya's Constitution of 2011 with Amendments through 2012|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127204715/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Libya_2012.pdf?lang=en|archive-date=27 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Malaysia}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://confinder.richmond.edu/admin/docs/malaysia.pdf|title=Constitution of Malaysia|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514094615/http://confinder.richmond.edu/admin/docs/malaysia.pdf|archive-date=14 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Maldives}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidencymaldives.gov.mv/Documents/ConstitutionOfMaldives.pdf |title=Constitution of the Republic of Maldives 2008 |access-date=23 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519142814/http://www.presidencymaldives.gov.mv/Documents/ConstitutionOfMaldives.pdf |archive-date=19 May 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* {{flag|Morocco}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Morocco_2011.pdf?lang=en|title=Morocco's Constitution of 2011|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127204730/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Morocco_2011.pdf?lang=en|archive-date=27 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Palestine}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL(2009)008-e |title=BASIC LAW - OF THE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL AUTHORITY |access-date=23 January 2022 |archive-date=30 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030081752/https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL(2009)008-e |url-status=live }}</ref>
* {{flag|Qatar}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Qatar_2003.pdf|title=Qatar's Constitution of 2003|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127143256/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Qatar_2003.pdf|archive-date=27 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> 
* {{flag|Somalia}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012?lang=en|title=Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127204711/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Somalia_2012?lang=en|archive-date=27 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|United Arab Emirates}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_Arab_Emirates_2009.pdf?lang=en|title=United Arab Emirates's Constitution of 1971 with Amendments through 2009|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029092800/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_Arab_Emirates_2009.pdf?lang=en|archive-date=29 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Div col end}}

====Secular states (24)====
Twenty-four [[Secular state]]s in the Muslim world have declared separation between civil/government affairs and religion.

{{Div col|colwidth=18em}}
* {{flag|Albania}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/al00000_.html#A007_|title=Albania – Constitution|publisher=ICL|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115436/http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/al00000_.html#A007_|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Azerbaijan}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref name="Article 7.1 of Constitution">{{cite web |url=http://azerbaijan.az/portal/General/Constitution/doc/constitution_e.pdf |title=Article 7.1 of Constitution |access-date=23 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026135534/http://azerbaijan.az/portal/General/Constitution/doc/constitution_e.pdf |archive-date=26 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* {{flag|Bosnia and Herzegovina}}<ref name="USDS B&H 2021">{{cite web | title=United States Department of State | website=United States Department of State | date=12 May 2021 | url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-report-on-international-religious-freedom/bosnia-and-herzegovina/ | access-date=10 Feb 2022}}</ref>
* {{flag|Burkina Faso}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chr.up.ac.za/hr_docs/constitutions/docs/Burkina%20FasoC%20%28englishsummary%29%28rev%29.doc|title=Article 31 of Constitution|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009112408/http://www.chr.up.ac.za/hr_docs/constitutions/docs/Burkina%20FasoC%20%28englishsummary%29%28rev%29.doc|archive-date=9 October 2006}}</ref>
* {{flag|Chad}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chr.up.ac.za/hr_docs/constitutions/docs/ChadC%20%28english%20summary%29%28rev%29.doc|title=Article 1 of Constitution|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009114533/http://www.chr.up.ac.za/hr_docs/constitutions/docs/ChadC%20%28english%20summary%29%28rev%29.doc|archive-date=9 October 2006}}</ref>
* {{flag|Gambia}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Gambia (The) 1996(rev.2004)|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Gambia_2004|website=constituteproject.org|access-date=14 August 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: The Gambia|url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/gambia|year=2022}}</ref>
* {{flag|Guinea}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>[http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/cafrad/unpan002994.pdf Article 1 of Constitution] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040913180737/http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/cafrad/unpan002994.pdf |date=13 September 2004}}</ref>
* {{flag|Guinea-Bissau}}<ref name="Article 1 of Constitution">{{cite web|url=http://www.cicr.org/ihl-nat.nsf/162d151af444ded44125673e00508141/8ff8cad34667b579c1257083002a6fa8/$FILE/Constitution%20Guinea%20Bissau.doc|title=Article 1 of Constitution|access-date=5 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105121916/http://www.cicr.org/ihl-nat.nsf/162d151af444ded44125673e00508141/8ff8cad34667b579c1257083002a6fa8/$FILE/Constitution%20Guinea%20Bissau.doc|archive-date=5 November 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Indonesia}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Indonesia Risks Factors in Terrorism|url=https://pssat.ugm.ac.id/indonesia-risks-factors-in-terrorism/ |website=pssat.ugm.ac.id|access-date=24 September 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/indonesia|title=2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Indonesia|year=2022|publisher=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>
* {{flag|Kazakhstan}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref name="akorda.kz">{{cite web |url=http://www.akorda.kz/en/category/konstituciya |title=The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan |website=Official site of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan |access-date=24 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924011326/http://www.akorda.kz/en/category/konstituciya |archive-date=24 September 2014 }}</ref>
* {{flag|Kosovo}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>[http://www.kushtetutakosoves.info/?cid=2,247 Republic of Kosovo constitution] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131121073327/http://www.kushtetutakosoves.info/?cid=2%2C247 |date=21 November 2013}}, Republic of Kosovo constitution,</ref>
* {{flag|Kyrgyzstan}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/T/E/Legal_Affairs/Legal_co-operation/Foreigners_and_citizens/Nationality/Documents/National_legislation/Kyrgyzstan%20Constitution%20of%20the%20Kyrghyz%20Republic.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204064819/http://www.coe.int/T/E/Legal_Affairs/Legal_co-operation/Foreigners_and_citizens/Nationality/Documents/National_legislation/Kyrgyzstan%20Constitution%20of%20the%20Kyrghyz%20Republic.asp|url-status=dead|title=Article 1 of Constitution|archive-date=4 February 2007}}</ref>
* {{flag|Mali}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://confinder.richmond.edu/admin/docs/Mali.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912141413/http://confinder.richmond.edu/admin/docs/Mali.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Preamble of Constitution|archive-date=12 September 2012}}</ref>
* {{flag|Niger}}<ref name="USDS Niger">{{cite web | title=Niger | website=United States Department of State | date=1 Dec 2020 | url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-report-on-international-religious-freedom/niger/ | access-date=10 Feb 2022}}</ref>
* {{flag|Nigeria}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/>
* {{flag|Senegal}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90117.htm|title=Senegal|website=U.S. Department of State|date=14 September 2007|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-date=19 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219072456/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90117.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Sierra Leone}}<ref name="TimothyJ">{{cite book|author=Timothy J. Demy Ph.D., Jeffrey M. Shaw Ph.D.|title=Religion and Contemporary Politics: A Global Encyclopedia [2 volumes] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vt-vDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA180|year=2019|publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-3933-7|pages=180}}</ref>
* {{flag|Sudan}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gulfnews.com/world/africa/sudan-ends-30-years-of-islamic-law-by-separating-religion-state-1.1599359147751|title=Sudan ends 30 years of Islamic law by separating religion, state|website=gulfnews.com|date=6 September 2020 |access-date=13 September 2020|archive-date=6 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906183606/https://gulfnews.com/world/africa/sudan-ends-30-years-of-islamic-law-by-separating-religion-state-1.1599359147751|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Syria}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/syria/|title=2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: Syria|date=2 June 2022}}</ref>
* {{flag|Tajikistan}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Tajikistan_2003.pdf?lang=en|title=Tajikistan's Constitution of 1994 with Amendments through 2003|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102213123/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Tajikistan_2003.pdf?lang=en|archive-date=2 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Tunisia}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=oumaima-latrech |date=2022-06-22 |title=Tunisia's New Constitution to Remove Islam as State Religion |url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/06/44489/tunisias-new-constitution-to-remove-islam-as-state-religion/ |access-date=2025-09-04 |website=Morocco World News |language=en-US}}</ref>
* {{flag|Turkey}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref name="Article 2 of Constitution">{{cite web|url=http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/anayasa.htm|title=Article 2 of Constitution|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201041755/http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/anayasa.htm|archive-date=1 December 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>   
* {{flag|Turkmenistan}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uta.edu/cpsees/TURKCON.htm|title=Constitution of Turkmenistan|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414030847/http://www.uta.edu/cpsees/TURKCON.htm|archive-date=14 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Uzbekistan}}<ref name="WorldAtlas"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Uzbekistan_2011.pdf?lang=en|title=Uzbekistan's Constitution of 1992 with Amendments through 2011|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127204735/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Uzbekistan_2011.pdf?lang=en|archive-date=27 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Div col end}}

====Others (1)====
{{Div col|colwidth=18em}}

* {{flag|Lebanon}}<ref>{{cite web|title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Lebanon|publisher=US Department of State|url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/lebanon/|year=2019|quote=The constitution also states there shall be a “just and equitable balance” in the apportionment of cabinet and high-level civil service positions among the major religious groups, a provision amended by the Taif Agreement, which ended the country’s civil war and mandated proportional representation between Christians and Muslims in parliament, the cabinet, and other senior government positions.}}</ref>
{{Div col end}}

====Muslim-minority states (8)====
According to the [[Pew Research Center]] in 2015 there were 50 [[List of Muslim-majority countries|Muslim-majority]] countries, which are shown in the Government and religion section above in the article.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/22/what-is-each-countrys-second-largest-religious-group/|date=22 June 2015|title=What is each country's second-largest religious group?|publisher=Pew Research Center|access-date=22 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622195834/http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/22/what-is-each-countrys-second-largest-religious-group/|archive-date=22 June 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="pewmuslim5">{{cite web |url=http://pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-muslim-majority.aspx |title=Muslim-Majority Countries |website=The Future of the Global Muslim Population |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=22 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120125729/http://pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-muslim-majority.aspx |archive-date=20 November 2011 |url-status=live  |date=27 January 2011}}</ref> Apart from these, large Muslim populations exist in some countries where Muslims are a minority, and their Muslim communities are larger than many Muslim-majority nations:<ref>{{cite web |title=MAPPING THE GLOBAL MUSLIM POPULATION |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2009/10/Muslimpopulation-1.pdf |website=[[Pew Research Center]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326041807/https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2009/10/Muslimpopulation-1.pdf |archive-date=2023-03-26 |url-status=live}}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|IND}}: 200 million Muslims (14.6%)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.indiaonlinepages.com/population/muslim-population-in-india.html | title=Muslim Population in India - Total Muslims in India }}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|ETH}}: 34.7 million Muslims (31.3%)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/ethiopia/ | title=Ethiopia | date=21 February 2023 }}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|CHN}}: 25–40 million Muslims (2–3%)<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/apr/11/china-hi-tech-war-on-muslim-minority-xinjiang-uighurs-surveillance-face-recognition | title=China's hi-tech war on its Muslim minority | newspaper=The Guardian | date=11 April 2019 | last1=Byler | first1=Darren }}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|TAN}}: 19.4 million Muslims (35.2%)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/tanzania/ | title=Tanzania | date=21 February 2023 }}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|RUS}}: 14–20 million Muslims (10–14%)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/03/05/russia-will-be-one-third-muslim-in-15-years-chief-mufti-predicts-a64706 | title=Russia Will be One-Third Muslim in 15 Years, Chief Mufti Predicts | date=5 March 2019 }}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|CIV}}: 12 million Muslims (42%)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/cote-divoire/ | title=Technical Difficulties }}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|DRC}}: 10 million Muslims (15%)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://theislamicinformation.com/news/the-muslims-of-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-victims-of-poverty-ignorance-and-christianization/ | title=The Muslims of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Victims of poverty, ignorance and Christianization | date=17 January 2022 }}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|PHL}}: 8–9 million Muslims (9–10%)

===Politics===
{{Further|Islamic revival|Liberalism and progressivism within Islam}}
[[File:Benazir bhutto 1988.jpg|thumb|[[Benazir Bhutto]], the former [[prime minister of Pakistan]] became the first woman elected to lead a Muslim-majority country.<ref>"Benazir Bhutto: Daughter of Tragedy" by Muhammad Najeeb, Hasan Zaidi, Saurabh Shulka and S. Prasannarajan, ''India Today'', 7 January 2008</ref>]]

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]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1212925100226&pagename=Zone-English-ArtCulture/ACELayout|title=A Wake-Up Call: Milestones of Islamic History – IslamOnline.net – Art & Culture|date=17 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217233807/http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1212925100226&pagename=Zone-English-ArtCulture/ACELayout|archive-date=17 February 2011}}</ref>

====Islamism====
{{excerpt|Islamism|only=paragraphs}}

==Demographics==
{{See also|Muslim population growth}}
More than 24.1% of the world's population is Muslim, with an estimated total of approximately 1.9 billion.<ref name="pewexsum">{{cite web|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/09/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/|title=Executive Summary|date=27 January 2011|website=The Future of the Global Muslim Population|publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]|access-date=3 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810121737/http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/09/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/|archive-date=10 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CIA Factbook">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/|title=The World Factbook|publisher=CIA Factbook|access-date=8 December 2010|archive-date=23 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223185143/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="pewmuslim1">{{cite web|url=http://features.pewforum.org/muslim-population/ |title=Muslim Population by Country |website=The Future of the Global Muslim Population |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=22 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209094904/http://www.pewforum.org/The-Future-of-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx |archive-date=9 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="pewmuslim7">{{citation|url=http://pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-preface.aspx|title=Preface|work=The Future of the Global Muslim Population|publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]|access-date=6 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725164259/http://www.pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-preface.aspx|archive-date=25 July 2013|url-status=live|date=27 January 2011}}</ref><ref name="pewmuslim4">{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/the-future-of-the-global-muslim-population|title=Executive Summary|publisher=Pew Research Center|website=The Future of the Global Muslim Population|access-date=22 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805044735/http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/the-future-of-the-global-muslim-population/|archive-date=5 August 2013|url-status=live|date=27 January 2011}}</ref> Muslims are the majority in 49 countries,<ref name="pewmaj">{{cite web | url = http://pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-muslim-majority.aspx | title = Muslim-Majority Countries | date = 27 January 2011 | website = The Future of the Global Muslim Population | publisher = [[Pew Research Center]] | access-date = 5 January 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111120125729/http://pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-muslim-majority.aspx | archive-date = 20 November 2011 | url-status = live | df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite web|author=Analysis  |url=https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2014/01/global-religion-full.pdf |title=Global religious landscape|publisher=Pewforum.org |date=19 December 2011 |access-date=17 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323215026/https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2014/01/global-religion-full.pdf |archive-date=23 March 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> they speak hundreds of languages and come from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The city of [[Karachi]] has the largest Muslim population in the world.<ref>{{cite book|title=Cityscapes of Violence in Karachi: Publics and Counterpublics|first=Nichola|last= Khan|year= 2016| isbn= 9780190869786|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote= ... With a population of over 23 million Karachi is also the world's largest Muslim city, the world's seventh largest conurbation ... }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Global Happiness: A Guide to the Most Contented (and Discontented) Places around the Globe: A Guide to the Most Contented (and Discontented) Places around the Globe|first=Roman|last= Adrian Cybriwsky|year= 2015| isbn= 9781440835575| page = 179|publisher=ABC-CLIO|quote= Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan, the second-largest city in the world when "city" is defined by official municipal limits, the largest city in the Muslim world, and the world's seventh-largest metropolitan area. }}</ref> 

===Geography===
{{Main|Islam by country}}
[[File:Santri Nusantara.jpg|thumb|[[Indonesia]] is currently the most populous Muslim-majority country.]]
Because the terms 'Muslim world' and 'Islamic world' are disputed, since no country is homogeneously Muslim, and there is no way to determine at what point a Muslim minority in a country is to be considered 'significant' enough, there is no consensus on how to define the Muslim world geographically.<ref name="Radical"/><ref name="Hitchens">{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZZ96SArpuc |title=Hitchens '07: Danish Muhammad Cartoons |first=Christopher |last=Hitchens |website=Christopher Hitchens and Tim Rutten in discussion |date=2007 |access-date=19 September 2017 |quote=21 ambassadors from Muslim – so-called "Muslim states". How do they dare to call themselves "Muslim"? In what sense is Egypt a "Muslim" country? You can't denominate a country as religious. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422013405/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZZ96SArpuc |archive-date=22 April 2016 |url-status=live }} {{rp|at=4:35}}</ref><ref name="Jones" /> The only rule of thumb for inclusion which has some support, is that countries need to have a Muslim population of more than 50%.<ref name="Radical" /><ref name="Jones" /> 

In 2010, 73% of the world's Muslim population lived in countries where Muslims are in the majority, while 27% of the world's Muslim population lived in countries where Muslims are in the minority. [[Islam in India|India's Muslim population]] is the world's largest Muslim-minority population in the world (11% of the world's Muslim population).<ref name="auto1"/> Jones (2005) defines a "large minority" as being between 30% and 50%, which described nine countries in 2000, namely [[Eritrea]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Guinea-Bissau]], [[Ivory Coast]], [[Nigeria]], [[North Macedonia]], and [[Tanzania]].<ref name="Jones" /> As of 2024, however, Nigeria has become a Muslim-majority country.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nigeria |website=CIA Word Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/ |date=22 May 2024}}</ref>

===Religion===
==== Islam ====
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]]. Sunnis believe that the true political successor of Muhammad according to the Sunnah should be selected based on ٍ[[Shura]] (consultation), as was done at [[Saqifah|the Saqifah]] which selected [[Abu Bakr]], Muhammad's father-in-law, to be Muhammad's political but not his religious successor. Shia, on the other hand, believe that Muhammad designated his son-in-law [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]] as his true political as well as religious successor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/comparison_charts/islamic_sects.htm |title=Comparison Chart of Sunni and Shia Islam |publisher=ReligionFacts |access-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429101140/http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/comparison_charts/islamic_sects.htm |archive-date=29 April 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2025}}

The overwhelming majority of Muslims in the world, between 87 and 90%, are Sunni.<ref>{{cite web |author=ANALYSIS |url=http://www.pewforum.org/Mapping-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx |title=Mapping the Global Muslim Population |publisher=Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life |date=7 October 2009 |access-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024200810/http://www.pewforum.org/Mapping-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx |archive-date=24 October 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> Shias and other groups make up the rest, about 10–13% of overall Muslim population. The countries with the highest concentration of Shia populations are: Iran – 89%,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iran/|title=The World Factbook|access-date=14 February 2015|archive-date=16 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016095425/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iran/|url-status=live}}</ref> Azerbaijan – 65%,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://files.preslib.az/projects/remz/pdf_en/atr_din.pdf |title=Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan – Presidential Library – Religion |access-date=19 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123084541/http://files.preslib.az/projects/remz/pdf_en/atr_din.pdf |archive-date=23 November 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Iraq – 60%,<ref>{{cite book|first=John |last=Esposito |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003|oclc=
52362778 |isbn=9780199891207}}</ref> Bahrain – 60%, Yemen – 35%,<ref name="islamicweb.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.islamicweb.com/beliefs/cults/shia_population.htm|title=The population of Shia: How many Shia are there in the world?|access-date=10 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729105602/http://www.islamicweb.com/beliefs/cults/shia_population.htm|archive-date=29 July 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Turkey – 10%,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/shia/shia.html|title=Shi'a|website=ucsm.ac.uk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110113402/http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/shia/shia.html|archive-date=10 January 2011}}</ref><ref>"Pew Forum on Religious & Public life". http://www.pewforum.org/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104072449/http://pewforum.org/ |date=4 January 2012}}</ref> Lebanon – 27%, Syria – 13%, Afghanistan – 10%, Pakistan – 10%,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Pakistan.pdf |title=Country Profile: Pakistan |date=February 2005 |website=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] on Pakistan |quote=Religion: The overwhelming majority of the population (96.3 percent) is Muslim, of whom approximately 97 percent are Sunni and 3 percent Shia. |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=1 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050717171649/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Pakistan.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2005 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-executive-summary/|title=The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity|date=9 August 2012|website=Pew Research Center|access-date=26 December 2016|quote=On the other hand, in Pakistan, where 6% of the survey respondents identify as Shia, Sunni attitudes are more mixed: 50% say Shias are Muslims, while 41% say they are not.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223063505/http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-executive-summary/|archive-date=23 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CIA">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html?countryName=Pakistan&countryCode=pk&regionCode=sas&#pk |title=Religions: Muslim 95% (Sunni 75%, Shia 20%), other (includes Christian and Hindu) 5% |access-date=24 August 2010 |website=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] |publisher=[[The World Factbook]] on Pakistan |year=2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528170605/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html?countryName=Pakistan&countryCode=pk&regionCode=sas&#pk |archive-date=28 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="PRC">{{Cite book |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population/ |title=Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population |editor-last=Miller |editor-first=Tracy |date=October 2009 |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |access-date=7 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151214172939/http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population/ |archive-date=14 December 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Oxford">{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1809?_hi=1&_pos=1 |title=Pakistan, Islam in |access-date=29 August 2010 |website=[[Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies]] |quote=Approximately 97 percent of Pakistanis are Muslim. The majority are Sunnis following the Hanafi school of Islamic law. Between 10 and 15 percent are Shias, mostly Twelvers. |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618023219/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1809?_hi=1&_pos=1 |archive-date=18 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="State">{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108505.htm |title=Pakistan – International Religious Freedom Report 2008 |quote=''The majority of Muslims in the country are Sunni, with a Shi'a minority ranging between 10 to 15 percent.'' |website=[[United States Department of State]] |access-date=28 August 2010 |date=19 September 2008 |archive-date=30 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530192532/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108505.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://newsweekpakistan.com/the-trouble-with-madrassahs/|title=The Trouble With Madrassahs|access-date=11 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801154632/http://newsweekpakistan.com/the-trouble-with-madrassahs/|archive-date=1 August 2017|url-status=live|date=16 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2014/05/early-warning-signs-of-shia-genocide-in-pakistan/|title=Early Warning Signs of Shia Genocide in Pakistan|access-date=11 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801165525/https://thediplomat.com/2014/05/early-warning-signs-of-shia-genocide-in-pakistan/|archive-date=1 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-attack-idUSBRE96P0NE20130726 |title=Suicide bombs kill 39 near Shi'ite mosques in Pakistan |first1=Javed |last1=Hussain |first2=Jibran |last2=Ahmad |work=[[Reuters]] |date=26 July 2013 |access-date=11 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924183356/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/26/us-pakistan-attack-idUSBRE96P0NE20130726 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> and India – 10%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://shianumbers.com/shia-muslims-population.html |title=Shiite Islam |publisher=Shianumbers.com |access-date=23 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305072539/http://shianumbers.com/shia-muslims-population.html |archive-date=5 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Non-denominational Muslims]] make up a majority of the Muslims in seven countries (and a plurality in three others): [[Albania]] (65%), [[Kyrgyzstan]] (64%), [[Kosovo]] (58%), [[Indonesia]] (56%), [[Mali]] (55%), [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (54%), [[Uzbekistan]] (54%), [[Azerbaijan]] (45%), [[Russia]] (45%), and [[Nigeria]] (42%).<ref name="Pew">{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-1-religious-affiliation/#identity|title=Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation|date=August 9, 2012|work=The World’s Muslims: Unity and Diversity|publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]'s Religion & Public Life Project|access-date=4 September 2013}}</ref> They are found primarily in [[Central Asia]].<ref name="Pew" /> [[Kazakhstan]] has the largest number of non-denominational Muslims, who constitute about 74% of the population.<ref name="Pew" /> [[Southeastern Europe]] also has a large number of non-denominational Muslims.<ref name="Pew" />

The [[Kharijites|Kharijite]] Muslims, who are less known, have their own stronghold in the country of Oman holding about 75% of the population.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-cBtatnS05EC&q=false&pg=PT112|title=An Introduction to Islam in the 21st Century|first1=Aminah Beverly|last1=McCloud|first2=Scott W.|last2=Hibbard|first3=Laith|last3=Saud|date=2 January 2013|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781118273913|via=Google Books|access-date=23 February 2021|archive-date=25 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125063926/https://books.google.com/books?id=-cBtatnS05EC&q=false&pg=PT112|url-status=live}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Muslims perform the Eid Al-Adha prayer at Eyup Sultan Mosque 2019-08-11 21.jpg|Turkish Muslims at the [[Eyüp Sultan Mosque]] on [[Eid al-Adha]]
File:عزاداری شیعیان در ماه محرم 02.jpg|Shi'a Muslims in [[Iran]] commemorate [[Ashura]]
File:Saying Juma Namaz (Friday prayer for Muslims), Dhaka, Bangladesh NK.JPG|Friday prayer for Sunni Muslims in [[Dhaka]], Bangladesh
</gallery>

===== Islamic schools and branches =====
{{Main|Islamic schools and branches}}
[[File:Madhhab Map3.png|thumb|[[madh'hab|Islamic schools of law]] across the Muslim world]]
The first centuries of Islam gave rise to three major [[Muslim sects|sects]]: [[Sunni]]s, [[Shi'a]]s and [[Kharijites]]. Each sect developed distinct [[Islamic jurisprudence|jurisprudence schools]] (''[[madhhab]]'') reflecting different methodologies of jurisprudence (''[[fiqh]]'').

The major Sunni madhhabs are [[Hanafi]], [[Maliki]], [[Shafi'i]], and [[Hanbali]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Intisar A. |last=Rabb |title=Fiqh |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World |editor-first=John L. |editor-last=Esposito |editor-link=John L. Esposito |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |year=2009 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001|isbn=9780195305135 }}</ref>

The major [[Shi'a]] branches are [[Twelver]] (Imami), [[Ismaili]] (Sevener) and [[Zaidiyyah|Zaidi]] (Fiver). [[Isma'ilism]] later split into [[Nizari Ismaili]] and [[Musta’li Ismaili]], and then [[Mustaali]] was divided into [[Hafizi]] and [[Taiyabi Ismaili]]s.<ref name="Öz1">Öz, Mustafa, ''Mezhepler Tarihi ve Terimleri Sözlüğü (The History of [[madh'hab]]s and its terminology dictionary),'' Ensar Publications, [[Istanbul]], 2011.</ref> It also gave rise to the [[Qarmatian]] movement and the [[Druze]] faith, although Druzes do not identify as Muslims.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Middle East Today: Political, Geographical and Cultural Perspectives| first=Dona|last= J. Stewart|year=2008| isbn=9781135980795| page = 33|publisher=Routledge|quote= Most Druze do not consider themselves Muslim. Historically they faced much persecution and keep their religious beliefs secrets.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=De McLaurin |first=Ronald |title=The Political Role of Minority Groups in the Middle East |publisher=Michigan University Press |year=1979 |isbn=9780030525964 |page=114 |quote=Theologically, one would have to conclude that the Druze are not Muslims. They do not accept the five pillars of Islam. In place of these principles the Druze have instituted the seven precepts noted above..}}</ref> Twelver Shiism developed [[Ja'fari jurisprudence]] whose branches are [[Akhbarism]] and [[Usulism]], and other movements such as [[Alawites]], [[Shayki]]sm<ref name="Meymun">"Muhammad ibn Āliyy’ūl Cillī [[aqidah]]" of "Maymūn ibn [[Al-Tabarani|Abu’l-Qāsim Sulaiman ibn Ahmad ibn at-Tabarānī]] [[fiqh]]" (Sūlaiman Affandy, ''Al-Bākūrat’ūs Sūlaiman’īyyah – [[Family tree]] of the [[Nusayri]] [[Tariqat]],'' pp. 14–15, [[Beirut]], 1873.)</ref> and [[Alevism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cemvakfi.org.tr/alevi-islam-din-hizmetleri-baskanligi/alevi-islam-din-hizmetleri-baskanligi/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110124358/http://www.cemvakfi.org.tr/alevi-islam-din-hizmetleri-baskanligi/alevi-islam-din-hizmetleri-baskanligi/|url-status=dead |archive-date=10 January 2012 |title=Alevi İslam Din Hizmetleri Başkanlığı|access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="Shi'ism">{{Cite book |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-1888-0 |last=Halm |first=Heinz |title=Shi'ism |date=21 July 2004 |page=[https://archive.org/details/shiism0000halm/page/154 154] |title-link=Shi'ism }}</ref>

Similarly, [[Kharijites]] were initially divided into five major branches: [[Sufri]]s, [[Azariqa]], [[Najdat]], Adjarites and [[Ibadis]].

Among these numerous branches, only [[Hanafi]], [[Maliki]], [[Shafi'i]], [[Hanbali]], [[Imamiyyah]]-[[Ja'fari jurisprudence|Ja'fari]]-[[Usuli]], [[Nizārī Ismā'īlī]], [[Alevi]],<ref>[http://www.aleviislamdinhizmetleri.com/basinda_biz.asp?id=5 Alevi-Islam Religious Services – The message of İzzettin Doğan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081230/http://www.aleviislamdinhizmetleri.com/basinda_biz.asp?id=5 |date=4 March 2016}}, Zafer Mah. [[Ahmet Yesevi]] Cad. No: 290, Yenibosna / [[Istanbul]], Turkey.</ref> [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi]], [[Ibadi]], [[Zahiri]], [[Alawite]],{{cn|date=February 2023}} [[Druze]] and [[Taiyabi]] communities have survived. In addition, new schools of thought and movements like [[Quranist Muslims]] and [[Ahmadi Muslims]] later emerged independently.

<gallery>
File:Drummer at Hamed el-Nil Mosque (8625532075).jpg|A [[Sufi]] [[dervish]] drums up the Friday afternoon crowd in [[Omdurman]], Sudan
File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Nebi Shueib Festival.jpg|[[Druze]] dignitaries celebrating the [[Nabi Shu'ayb]] festival at the tomb of the prophet in [[Hittin]]
File:Ghardaia01.jpg|[[Ibadi]]s living in the [[M'zab]] valley in Algerian Sahara
File:Sanaa street.jpg|[[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi]] [[Imams of Yemen|Imams]] ruled in Yemen until 1962
File:Hunza Valley Karimabad.jpg|Most of the inhabitants of the [[Hunza Valley]] in Pakistan are [[Ismaili]] Muslims
</gallery>

<gallery>
File:Khataman Al-Qur'an anak-anak.jpg|Children read Qur'an in Indonesia.
File:Grozny, Russia, Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque, Interiors, Praying.jpg|People pray together in the mosque in Russia.
File:Muslim food street market, Xi'an, China - panoramio (2).jpg|People move close to the Muslim food corner in China.
File:Rawdah by Uleke.jpg|People praying in the Prophet's Mosque (Medina, Saudi Arabia)
</gallery>

==== Other religions ====
There are sizeable non-Muslim minorities in many Muslim-majority countries, includes, [[Christianity|Christians]], [[Judaism|Jews]], [[Hinduism|Hindus]], [[Buddhism|Buddhists]], [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼís]], [[Druze faith|Druzes]], [[Yazidism|Yazidis]], [[Mandaeism|Mandaeans]], [[Yarsanism|Yarsanis]] and [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrians]].
[[File:Surp Krikor Lusavoriç Armenian Church.jpg|thumb|Church and Mosque in [[Istanbul]], Turkey.]]
The Muslim world is home to some of the world's most [[Christianity in the Middle East|ancient Christian communities]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East|first=Philip |last=Jenkins|year= 2020| isbn=9781538124185| page =XLVIII|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield}}</ref> and some of the most important cities of the [[Christian world]]—including three of its five great patriarchates ([[Patriarch of Alexandria|Alexandria]], [[Patriarch of Antioch|Antioch]], and [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Constantinople]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=The World's Christians: Who they are, Where they are, and How they got there| first1=Douglas |last1=Jacobsen|year= 2011| isbn=9781444397291|page =423|publisher=John Wiley & Sons}}</ref> Scholars and intellectuals agree [[Christian influences on the Islamic world|Christians have made significant contributions]] to Arab and Islamic civilization since the introduction of [[Islam]],<ref>Hill, Donald. ''Islamic Science and Engineering''. 1993. Edinburgh Univ. Press. {{ISBN|0-7486-0455-3}}, p. 4</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Legend of the Middle Ages|author=Brague, Rémi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8YjEkLPXNYC|isbn=978-0-226-07080-3|page=164|year=2009|publisher=University of Chicago Press }}</ref> and they have had a significant impact contributing the culture of the [[Middle East and North Africa]] and other areas.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pacini|first=Andrea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KMfYAAAAMAAJ|title=Christian Communities in the Arab Middle East: The Challenge of the Future|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1998|isbn=978-0-19-829388-0|pages=38, 55|access-date=21 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310101859/https://books.google.com/books?id=KMfYAAAAMAAJ|archive-date=10 March 2021|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Jews, Antisemitism, and the Middle East|first=Kail|last= C. Ellis|year= 2017| isbn=9781351510721| page =173|publisher=Routledge}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Secular Nationalism and Citizenship in Muslim Countries: Arab Christians in the Levant|first=Michael |last=Curtis|year= 2018| isbn=9781351510721| page =11|publisher=Springer|quote=Christian contributions to art, culture, and literature in the Arab-Islamic world; Christian contributions education and social advancement in the region.}}</ref> [[Pew Research Center]] estimates indicate that in 2010, more than 64 million [[Christians]] lived in countries with Muslim majorities (excluding Nigeria). The Pew Forum study finds that Indonesia (21.1 million) has the largest Christian population in the Muslim world, followed by Egypt, Chad and Kazakhstan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf|title=Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population|publisher=Pew Research Center|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801204254/https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf|archive-date=1 August 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> While according to Adly A. Youssef and Martyn Thomas, in 2004, there were around 30 million Christians who lived in countries with Muslim majorities, with the largest Christian population number lived in Indonesia, followed by Egypt.<ref>{{cite book|title=Copts in Egypt: A Christian Minority Under Siege: Papers Presented at the First International Coptic Symposium, Zurich, September 23-25, 2004| first1=Adly|last1= A. Youssef |first2=Martyn |last2=Thomas |year= 2006| isbn= 9783857100406| page =85|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|quote=There are some 30 million Christians who live in countries with Muslim majorities. The largest number live in Indonesia, some 15 million ...}}</ref> [[Nigeria]] is divided almost evenly between Muslims and Christians, with more than 80 million Christians and Muslims.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ojo|first=Matthews A.|date=July 1995|title=The Charismatic Movement in Nigeria Today|journal=International Bulletin of Missionary Research|volume=19|issue=3|pages=114–118|doi=10.1177/239693939501900306|s2cid=149246793|issn=0272-6122}}</ref>

In 2018, the [[Jewish Agency]] estimated that around 27,000 [[Jews]] live in Arab and Muslim countries.<ref>{{cite web|first =Toi|last =Staff|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/this-rosh-hashanah-there-are-14-7-million-jews-in-the-world/|title=Ahead of Rosh Hashanah, figures show 14.7 million Jews around the globe|date =8 September 2018|publisher=Times of Israel}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/global-jewish-population-reaches-147-million-566880|title=Global Jewish population reaches 14.7 million|date =9 September 2018|publisher=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref> [[Jewish history|Jewish communities]] have existed across the [[Middle East]] and [[North Africa]] since the rise of Islam. Today, Jews residing in Muslim countries have been [[Jewish exodus from the Muslim world|reduced to a small fraction]] of their [[Historical Jewish population comparisons|former sizes]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/VideoLibrary/Pages/Jewish-refugees-from-Arab-lands.aspx |title=VI- November 30: Commemorating the expulsion of Jews from Arab lands}}</ref> with the largest communities of [[History of the Jews under Muslim rule|Jews in Muslim countries]] exist in the non-Arab countries of Iran (9,500) and Turkey (14,500);<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishagency.org/jewish-population-5782/|title=Jewish Population Rises to 15.2 million Worldwide|date =15 September 2021|publisher=Jewish agency}}</ref> both, however, are much smaller than they historically have been.<ref>{{cite book|title=Kinship and Consent: Jewish Political Tradition and Its Contemporary Uses| first1=Daniel|last1= L. Elazar |year= 2020| isbn=  9781000677782| page =|publisher=Routledge|quote=Today Turkish Jewry remains the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world.}}</ref> Among Arab countries, the largest Jewish community now exists in Palestine with about 250,000 Jews, Morocco with about 2,000 Jews, and in Tunisia with about 1,000.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Jerry M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bdAdAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA44|title=The Rebirth of the Middle East|date=2009-09-28|publisher=Hamilton Books|isbn=978-0-7618-4846-2|language=en}}</ref> The number of [[Druze]] worldwide is between 800,000 and one million, with the vast majority residing in the [[Levant]] (primarily in Syria and Lebanon).<ref>{{cite book|title=Middle East Patterns: Places, People, and Politics| first=Colbert|last=  C. Held|year= 2008| isbn= 9780429962004| page =109|publisher=Routledge|quote= Worldwide, they number 1 million or so, with about 45 to 50 percent in Syria, 35 to 40 percent in Lebanon, and less than 10 percent in Israel. Recently there has been a growing Druze diaspora.}}</ref>

In 2010, the Pew Forum study finds that Bangladesh (13.5 million), Indonesia (4 million), Pakistan (3.3 million) and Malaysia (1.7 million) has a sizeable [[Hindu]] minorities. Malaysia (5 million) has the largest [[Buddhist]] population in the Muslim world.<ref name="auto1"/> [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrians]] are the oldest remaining religious community in [[Iran]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zoroastrianism i. History to the Arab Conquest – Encyclopaedia Iranica |website=Encyclopædia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/zoroastrianism-i-historical-review |access-date=13 July 2019}}</ref> 

<gallery>
File:The Cathedral Marina.jpg|Nigeria has the largest Christian population in the Muslim world<ref>{{cite book|title=Muslims in Global Politics: Identities, Interests, and Human Rights| first=Mahmood |last=Monshipouri |year= 2011| isbn=9780812202830| page =73|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press}}</ref>
File:Hurva Synagogue 07112018.jpg|Palestine has the largest Jewish population in the Muslim world<ref>{{cite book|title=Israeli Settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem: Demographic Specifics and Policies of Financial Support| first1=Youssef Courbage |last1=Ameed Saabana |year= 2015| isbn=  | page =|publisher=Siyasat Arabia|quote=}}</ref>
File:4 attached Shiva temples in Dhakeshwari National Temple (Front Facing view).jpg|Bangladesh has the largest Hindu population in the Muslim world
Penang Malaysia Wat-Chaiya-Mangkalaram-Temple-01.jpg|Malaysia has the largest Bhuddhist population in the Muslim world
</gallery>

===Literacy and education===
The literacy rate in the Muslim world varies. [[Azerbaijan]] is in second place in the Index of Literacy of World Countries. Some members such as Iran, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have over 97% literacy rates, whereas literacy rates are the lowest in [[Mali]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Chad]] and other parts of Africa. Several Muslim-majority countries, such as [[Turkey]], [[Iran]] and [[Egypt]] have a high rate of citable scientific publications.<ref>{{cite web|last1=SCI|title=Scimago Journal & Country Rank|url=http://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php|website=Scimago Journal|access-date=1 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031091400/http://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php|archive-date=31 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.science-metrix.com/30years-Paper.pdf |title=Science-Matrix: 30 Years in Science – Secular Movements in Knowledge Creation |publisher=Science-matrix.com |access-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913172105/http://www.science-metrix.com/30years-Paper.pdf |archive-date=13 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2015, the International Islamic News Agency reported that nearly 37% of the population of the Muslim world is unable to read or write, basing that figure on reports from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nearly 40% of Muslim world's population unable read or write: IINA Report|url=http://www.iinanews.com/page/public/report.aspx?id=10377#.Vm81VPkrLIU|access-date=14 December 2015|agency=International Islamic News Agency|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222120828/http://www.iinanews.com/page/public/report.aspx?id=10377#.Vm81VPkrLIU|archive-date=22 December 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In Egypt, the largest Muslim-majority Arab country, the youth female literacy rate exceeds that for males.<ref>{{cite web|title=Egypt Literacy rate|url=https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/Egypt/literacy-rate|access-date=6 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906124742/https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/Egypt/literacy-rate|archive-date=6 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Lower literacy rates are more prevalent in South Asian countries such as in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but are rapidly increasing.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pakistan Literacy rate|url=https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/pakistan/literacy-rate|access-date=6 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906124614/https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/pakistan/literacy-rate|archive-date=6 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In the Eastern Middle East, Iran has a high level of youth literacy at 98%,<ref>{{cite web|title=Iran Literacy rate|url=https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/iran/literacy-rate|access-date=6 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710133100/https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/iran/literacy-rate|archive-date=10 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> but Iraq's youth literacy rate has sharply declined from 85% to 57% during the American-led war and subsequent occupation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Iraq Literacy rate|url=https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/iraq/literacy-rate|access-date=6 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906161649/https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/iraq/literacy-rate|archive-date=6 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country in the world, has a 99% youth literacy rate.<ref>{{cite web|title=Indonesia Literacy rate|url=https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indonesia/literacy-rate|access-date=6 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906161654/https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indonesia/literacy-rate|archive-date=6 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

A 2011 [[Pew Research Center]] showed that at the time about 36% of all Muslims had no formal schooling, with only 8% having [[Academic degree|graduate]] and post-graduate degrees.<ref name="Pew2016">{{cite web |date=19 December 2011 |title=Religion and Education Around the World |url=http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2016/12/21094148/Religion-Education-ONLINE-FINAL.pdf |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=13 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222152619/http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2016/12/21094148/Religion-Education-ONLINE-FINAL.pdf |archive-date=22 December 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The highest of years of schooling among Muslim-majority countries found in [[Uzbekistan]] (11.5), [[Kuwait]] (11.0) and [[Kazakhstan]] (10.7).<ref name="Pew2016" /> In addition, the average of years of schooling in countries in which Muslims are the majority is 6.0 years of schooling, which lag behind the global average (7.7 years of schooling).<ref name="Pew2016" /> In the youngest age (25–34) group surveyed, Young Muslims have the lowest average levels of education of any major religious group, with an average of 6.7 years of schooling, which lag behind the global average (8.6 years of schooling).<ref name="Pew2016" /> The study found that [[Muslims]] have a significant amount of [[gender inequality]] in educational attainment, since Muslim women have an average of 4.9 years of schooling, compared to an average of 6.4 years of schooling among Muslim men.<ref name="Pew2016" />

<gallery>
File:Schoolgirls in Bamozai.JPG|Young school girls in [[Paktia Province]] of [[Afghanistan]].
File:Niger_primary_school_MCC3500.jpg|A primary classroom in [[Niger]].
File:Girls lining up for class - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg|Schoolgirls in [[Gaza City|Gaza]] lining up for class, 2009.
File:Medical students before exam in saloon of moulages 1.JPG|Medical students of [[anatomy]], before an exam in [[moulage]], Iran
</gallery>

===Refugees===
[[File:Rohingya Refugees Camp in 2019.29.jpg|thumb|Muslim [[Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh|Rohingya refugees]] in [[Cox's Bazar]], Bangladesh.]]

According to the [[UNHCR]], Muslim-majority countries hosted 18 million refugees by the end of 2010.{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}

Since then Muslim-majority countries have absorbed refugees from recent conflicts, including [[Syrian Revolution|the uprising in Syria]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=OIC to hold conference on refugees in Muslim world in Turkmenistan |url=http://www.todayszaman.com/news-278419-oic-to-hold-conference-on-refugees-in-muslim-world-in-turkmenistan.html |publisher=[[Zaman (newspaper)|Zaman]] |date=24 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503181729/http://www.todayszaman.com/news-278419-oic-to-hold-conference-on-refugees-in-muslim-world-in-turkmenistan.html |archive-date=3 May 2012}}</ref> In July 2013, the UN stated that the number of [[Refugees of the Syrian civil war|Syrian refugees]] had exceeded 1.8&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/07/un-calls-syrian-refugee-crisis-worst-since-rwandan-genocide/ |title=UN Calls Syrian Refugee Crisis Worst Since Rwandan Genocide |work=ABC News |date=17 July 2013 |access-date=10 August 2013 |archive-date=27 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727021603/http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/07/un-calls-syrian-refugee-crisis-worst-since-rwandan-genocide/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In Asia, an estimated 625,000 refugees from Rakhine, Myanmar, mostly Muslim, had crossed the border into [[Bangladesh]] since August 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-widows/rohingya-widows-find-safe-haven-in-bangladesh-camp-idUSKBN1E136I |title=Rohingya widows find safe haven in Bangladesh camp |date=7 December 2017 |website=Reuters |access-date=16 January 2018 |archive-date=4 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104195323/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-widows/rohingya-widows-find-safe-haven-in-bangladesh-camp-idUSKBN1E136I |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Culture==
Throughout history, Muslim cultures have been diverse ethnically, linguistically and regionally.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Melikian |first=Souren |author-link=Souren Melikian |date=4 November 2011 |title='Islamic' Culture: A Groundless Myth |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/arts/05iht-rartmelikian05.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=25 November 2013}}</ref> According to [[Michael Muhammad Knight|M. M. Knight]], this diversity includes diversity in beliefs, interpretations and practices and communities and interests. Knight says perception of Muslim world among non-Muslims is usually supported through introductory literature about Islam, mostly present a version as per scriptural view which would include some [[Islamic advice literature|prescriptive literature]] and abstracts of history as per authors own point of views, to which even many Muslims might agree, but that necessarily would not reflect Islam as lived on the ground, 'in the experience of real human bodies'.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Knight|first=Michael Muhammad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ih13CgAAQBAJ&q=Magic+In+Islam|title=Magic In Islam|date=24 May 2016|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1-101-98349-2|pages=Chapter 1|language=en|access-date=18 November 2020|archive-date=22 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222071549/https://books.google.com/books?id=ih13CgAAQBAJ&q=Magic+In+Islam|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Classical culture===
{{Main|History of Islam|Islamic Golden Age|Islamization|Spread of Islam}}

<gallery>
File:Mahmud in robe from the caliph.jpg|Sultan [[Mahmud of Ghazni]]&nbsp;receiving a richly decorated robe of honor from the caliph&nbsp;[[al-Qadir]]&nbsp;in 1000. Miniature from the Rashid al-Din's&nbsp;[[Jami' al-tawarikh]]
File:1541-Battle in the war between Shah Isma'il and the King of Shirvan-Shahnama-i-Isma'il.jpg|[[Safavid conquest of Shirvan|Battle]] between [[Ismail I|Ismail]] of the [[Safaviyya]] and the ruler of [[Shirvan]], [[Farrukh Yassar]]
File:Shah Abbas I and Vali Muhammad Khan.jpg|[[Shah]] of [[Safavid Empire]] [[Abbas I of Persia|Abbas I]] meet with [[Vali Muhammad Khan]]
File:Mir Sayyid Ali - Portrait of a Young Indian Scholar.jpg|Mir Sayyid Ali, a scholar writing a commentary on the [[Quran]], during the reign of the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Jahan]]
File:Ottoman Dynasty, Portrait of a Painter, Reign of Mehmet II (1444-1481).jpg|Portrait of a painter during the reign of [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Sultan]] [[Mehmet II]]
File:6 Dust Muhammad. Portrait of Shah Abu'l Ma‘ali. ca. 1556 Aga Khan Collection.jpg|A [[Persia]]n miniature of Shah Abu'l Ma‘ali, a scholar
File:DiezAlbumsStudyingTheKoran.jpg|[[Ilkhanate]] Empire ruler, [[Ghazan]], studying the [[Quran]]
File:Laila and Majnun in School, New-York.jpg|[[Layla and Majnun]] studying together, from a [[Persian miniature]] painting
</gallery>

The term "[[Islamic Golden Age]]" has been attributed to a period in history during which [[science in the medieval Islamic world|science]], economic development and cultural works in most of the Muslim-dominated world flourished.<ref name=Saliba>[[George Saliba]] (1994), ''A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam'', pp. 245, 250, 256–7. [[New York University Press]], {{ISBN|0-8147-8023-7}}.</ref><ref name=King>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1086/353360 | last1 = King | first1 = David A. |authorlink1=David A. King (historian) | year = 1983 | title = The Astronomy of the Mamluks | journal = Isis | volume = 74 | issue = 4 | pages = 531–555 | s2cid = 144315162 }}</ref> The age is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign of the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] caliph [[Harun al-Rashid]] (786–809) with the inauguration of the [[House of Wisdom]] in [[Baghdad]], where scholars from various parts of the world sought to translate and gather all the known world's knowledge into Arabic,<ref>Medieval India, NCERT, {{ISBN|81-7450-395-1}}</ref><ref>Vartan Gregorian, "Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith", Brookings Institution Press, 2003, pg 26–38 {{ISBN|0-8157-3283-X}}</ref> and to have ended with the collapse of the Abbasid caliphate due to [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol invasions]] and the [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|Siege of Baghdad]] in 1258.<ref name="Tahir Abbas">{{cite book|title=Islamic Radicalism and Multicultural Politics |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=JdC90uc8PfQC |page=9}} |access-date=26 August 2012|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-136-95960-8|page=9|date=1 March 2011}}</ref> The Abbasids were influenced by the Quranic injunctions and hadiths, such as "the ink of a scholar is more holy than the blood of a martyr," that stressed the value of knowledge. The major Islamic capital cities of Baghdad, [[Cairo]], and [[Córdoba, Andalusia#Islamic rule|Córdoba]] became the main intellectual centers for science, philosophy, medicine, and education.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mOquCzBX3xcC&q=golden+age+of+islam+university&pg=PR7 |title=A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam |first=George |last=Saliba |date=July 1995|publisher=NYU Press |access-date=24 October 2012|isbn=9780814780237}}</ref> During this period, the Muslim world was a collection of cultures; they drew together and advanced the knowledge gained from the ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greek]], [[Ancient Rome|Roman]], [[Persian Empire|Persian]], [[History of China|Chinese]], [[Vedic]], [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]], and [[Phoenicia]]n civilizations.<ref name="Vartan">Vartan Gregorian, "Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith", Brookings Institution Press, 2003, pp. 26–38 {{ISBN|0-8157-3283-X}}</ref>

====Ceramics====
{{Further|Alchemy in the medieval Islamic world}}
[[File:Chess Set MET DP170393.jpg|thumb|A [[Seljuq dynasty|Seljuq]], ''[[shatranj]]'' ([[chess]]) set, glazed [[fritware]], 12th century.]]

Between the 8th and 18th centuries, the use of [[ceramic glaze]] was prevalent in Islamic art, usually assuming the form of elaborate [[pottery]].<ref>Mason (1995) p. 1</ref> [[Tin-glazing|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 contribution was the development of [[fritware]], originating from 9th-century Iraq.<ref>Mason (1995) p. 5</ref> 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).<ref>Mason (1995) p. 7</ref>

====Literature====
{{Main|Islamic literature}}
{{Further|Islamic poetry}}

<gallery>
File:Brooklyn Museum - Manuscript of the Hadiqat al-Su`ada (Garden of the Blessed) of Fuzuli - Muhammad bin Sulayman known as Fuzuli2.jpg|''Hadiqatus-suada'' by [[Oghuz Turks|Oghuz Turkic]] poet [[Fuzûlî]]
File:Princess Parizade Bringing Home the Singing Tree.jpg|The story of ''Princess Parizade'' and the ''Magic Tree''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ATkQAAAAYAAJ&dq=princess+parizade&pg=PA543 The Thousand and One Nights; Or, The Arabian Night's Entertainments - David Claypoole Johnston - Google Books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517214353/https://books.google.com/books?id=ATkQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA543&dq=princess+parizade#v=onepage&q=princess%20parizade&f=false |date=17 May 2020 }}. Books.google.com.pk. Retrieved on 23 September 2013.</ref>
File:Cassim (cropped).jpg|''Cassim in the Cave'' by [[Maxfield Parrish]].
File:Vasnetsov samolet.jpg|The [[Magic carpet]].
</gallery>

The best known work of fiction from the Islamic world is ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]'', a compilation of [[Folklore|folk tales]] from [[Sanskrit]], Persian, and later Arabian [[fable]]s. The concept had been influenced by a pre-Islamic Persian prototype '''''Hezār Afsān''''' (Thousand Fables) that relied on particular [[Sanskrit literature|Indian elements]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last = Marzolph | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia of Islam | title = Arabian Nights | year = 2007 | publisher = Brill | volume = I | location = Leiden}}</ref> It reached its final form by the 14th century; the number and type of tales have varied from one manuscript to another.<ref name="arabianNights">Grant & Clute, p. 51</ref> This work has been very influential in the West since it was translated in the 18th century, first by [[Antoine Galland]].<ref>[[L. Sprague de Camp]], ''[[Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers]]: The Makers of Heroic Fantasy'', p. 10 {{ISBN|0-87054-076-9}}</ref> Imitations were written, especially in France.<ref name="arabianNights2">Grant & Clute, p 52</ref> Various characters from this epic have themselves become [[cultural icon]]s in [[Western culture]], such as [[Aladdin]], [[Sinbad the Sailor]] and [[Ali Baba]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}

An example of [[Arabic poetry]] and [[Persian literature|Persian poetry]] on [[romance (love)|romance]] is ''[[Layla and Majnun]]'', dating back to the Umayyad era in the 7th century. It is a [[Tragedy|tragic]] story of undying love. [[Ferdowsi]]'s ''[[Shahnameh]]'', the national epic of [[Greater Iran]], is a mythical and heroic retelling of [[History of Greater Iran|Persian history]]. ''[[Amir Arsalan]]'' was also a popular mythical Persian story.

[[Ibn Tufayl]] (Abubacer) and [[Ibn al-Nafis]] were pioneers of the [[Philosophical fiction|philosophical novel]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} 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 ''[[Ibn al-Nafis#Theologus Autodidactus|Theologus Autodidactus]]'' as a response to Ibn Tufail's ''Philosophus Autodidactus''.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} Both of these narratives had [[protagonist]]s (Hayy in ''Philosophus Autodidactus'' and Kamil in ''[[Theologus Autodidactus]]'') who were [[Autodidacticism|autodidactic]] [[feral child]]ren 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.<ref>Abu Shadi Al-Roubi (1982), "Ibn Al-Nafis as a philosopher", ''Symposium on Ibn al-Nafis'', Second International Conference on Islamic Medicine: Islamic Medical Organization, Kuwait ([[cf.]] [http://www.islamset.com/isc/nafis/drroubi.html Ibn al-Nafis As a Philosopher] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206072116/http://www.islamset.com/isc/nafis/drroubi.html |date=6 February 2008}}, ''Encyclopedia of Islamic World'').</ref><ref>Nahyan A. G. Fancy (2006), "[http://etd.nd.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-11292006-152615 Pulmonary Transit and Bodily Resurrection: The Interaction of Medicine, Philosophy and Religion in the Works of Ibn al-Nafīs (d. 1288)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404020329/http://etd.nd.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-11292006-152615/ |date=4 April 2015}}", pp. 95–101, ''Electronic Theses and Dissertations'', [[University of Notre Dame]].</ref>

''Theologus Autodidactus'',<ref>Muhammad b. Abd al-Malik Ibn Tufayl. [https://books.google.com/books?id=yFAR_G7HM3QC Philosophus autodidactus, sive Epistola Abi Jaafar ebn Tophail de Hai ebn Yokdhan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004180638/https://books.google.com/books?id=yFAR_G7HM3QC |date=4 October 2015 }}: in qua ostenditur, quomodo ex inferiorum contemplatione ad superiorum notitiam ratio humana ascendere possit. E Theatro Sheldoniano, excudebat Joannes Owens, 1700.</ref><ref>[[Ibn al-Nafis|Ala-al-din abu Al-Hassan Ali ibn Abi-Hazm al-Qarshi al-Dimashqi]]. The Theologus autodidactus of Ibn al-Nafīs. Clarendon P., 1968</ref> written by the [[Arab people|Arabian]] [[polymath]] Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sFCuoqykV9QC&q=ibn+al+nafis+first+science+fiction+novel&pg=PA236|title=The Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature|first=Gregory|last=Claeys|date=5 August 2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139828420|via=Google Books}}</ref> deals with various science fiction elements such as [[Abiogenesis|spontaneous generation]], [[futurology]], the [[Eschatology|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 [[Science in the medieval Islamic world|scientific knowledge]] of [[Medicine in the medieval Islamic world|biology]], [[Astronomy in medieval Islam|astronomy]], [[Cosmology in medieval Islam|cosmology]] and [[Geography and cartography in medieval Islam|geology]] known in his time. Ibn al-Nafis' fiction explained Islamic religious teachings via science and [[Islamic philosophy]].<ref name=Roubi>Abu Shadi Al-Roubi (1982), "Ibn Al-Nafis as a philosopher", ''Symposium on Ibn al Nafis'', Second International Conference on Islamic Medicine: Islamic Medical Organization, Kuwait ([[cf.]] [http://www.islamset.com/isc/nafis/drroubi.html Ibnul-Nafees As a Philosopher] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206072116/http://www.islamset.com/isc/nafis/drroubi.html |date=6 February 2008}}, ''Encyclopedia of Islamic World'').</ref> Translations of Ibn Tufail's ''Philosophus Autodidactus'' appeared in Latin (1671), English (1708), German, and Dutch. These European-language translations may have later inspired [[Daniel Defoe]]'s ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]''<ref>Cyril Glasse (2001), ''New [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]'', p. 202, Rowman Altamira, {{ISBN|0-7591-0190-6}}.</ref> and [[Robert Boyle]]'s ''The Aspiring Naturalist''.<ref name="Toomer-222" />

====Philosophy====
{{Main|Contemporary Islamic philosophy}}
{{Further|Logic in Islamic philosophy|Kalam}}
[[File:BAE09705.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Averroes|Ibn Rushd (Averroes)]], [[Muslim]] [[polymath]] from [[Al-Andalus]].]]

One of the common definitions for "Islamic philosophy" is "the style of philosophy produced within the framework of [[Islamic culture]]."<ref name="RoutledgeEoP">[http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/H057 "Islamic Philosophy"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220606082214/https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/islamic-philosophy;jsessionid=B31B033F077DD5E68E09CC9D35C02105 |date=6 June 2022}}, ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (1998)</ref> Islamic philosophy, in this definition is neither necessarily concerned with religious issues, nor is exclusively produced by Muslims.<ref name="RoutledgeEoP" /> The [[Iranian peoples|Persian]] scholar [[Avicenna|Ibn Sina]] (Avicenna) (980–1037) had more than 450 books attributed to him. His writings were concerned with various 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.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Ibn Sina [Avicenna]|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ibn-sina/|encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|date=2024 |quote=The Cure...had momentous consequences...his philosophical system dominated intellectual history in both Shi’ite and most of Sunni Islam}}</ref>

Another figure from the [[Islamic Golden Age]], Avicenna, also founded his own Avicennism school of philosophy, which was influential in both Islamic and Christian lands.<ref>{{cite book|last=Saliba |first=George |author-link=George Saliba |date=1994 |title=A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam |pages=245, 250, 256–257 |publisher=[[New York University Press]] |isbn=0-8147-8023-7}}</ref>

Yet another influential philosopher who had an influence on [[modern philosophy]] was [[Ibn Tufail]]. His philosophical novel, ''[[Hayy ibn Yaqdhan]]'', translated into Latin as ''Philosophus Autodidactus'' in 1671, developed the themes of empiricism, tabula rasa, [[nature versus nurture]],<ref>Russell (1994), pp. 224–62,</ref> [[condition of possibility]], [[materialism]],<ref>Dominique Urvoy, "The Rationality of Everyday Life: The Andalusian Tradition? (Aropos of Hayy's First Experiences)", in Lawrence I. Conrad (1996), ''The World of Ibn Tufayl: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Ḥayy Ibn Yaqẓān'', pp. 38–46, [[Brill Publishers]], {{ISBN|90-04-09300-1}}.</ref> and [[Molyneux's problem]].<ref>Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik Ibn Tufail and Léon Gauthier (1981), ''Risalat Hayy ibn Yaqzan'', p. 5, Editions de la Méditerranée.</ref> European scholars and writers influenced by this novel include [[John Locke]],<ref>Russell (1994), pp. 224–39</ref> [[Gottfried Leibniz]],<ref name="Wainwright">Martin Wainwright, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/mar/22/featuresreviews.guardianreview1 Desert island scripts] , ''[[The Guardian]]'', 22 March 2003.</ref> [[Melchisédech Thévenot]], [[John Wallis]], [[Christiaan Huygens]],<ref>Russell (1994) p. 227</ref> [[George Keith (missionary)|George Keith]], [[Robert Barclay]], the [[Quakers]],<ref>Russell (1994), p. 247</ref> and [[Samuel Hartlib]].<ref name=Toomer-222>[[G. J. Toomer]] (1996), ''Eastern Wisedome and Learning: The Study of Arabic in Seventeenth-Century England'', p. 222, [[Oxford University Press]], {{ISBN|0-19-820291-1}}.</ref>

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]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Philosophy|first=Muhammad|last=Kamal|year=2006|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-5271-7|pages=9, 39|oclc=224496901}}</ref>

Other influential Muslim philosophers include [[Alhazen|Ibn al-Haytham]] (Alhazen), a pioneer of [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenology]] and the [[philosophy of science]] and a critic of [[Aristotelian physics|Aristotelian natural philosophy]] and Aristotle's concept of [[Location (geography)|place]] (topos); [[Al-Biruni]], a critic of Aristotelian natural philosophy; Ibn al-Nafis, a pioneer of the philosophical novel; [[Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi]], founder of [[Illuminationism|Illuminationist philosophy]]; [[Fakhr al-Din al-Razi]], a critic of Aristotelian logic and a pioneer of [[Inductive reasoning|inductive logic]]; and [[Ibn Khaldun]], a pioneer in the [[philosophy of history]].<ref name=Akhtar>S.R.W. Akhtar (1997). "The Islamic Concept of Knowledge", ''Al-Tawhid: A Quarterly Journal of Islamic Thought & Culture'' '''12''' (3). https://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/vol-12-no3/islamic-concept-knowledge-sayyid-wahid-akhtar</ref>

====Sciences====
{{Main|Timeline of science and engineering in the Muslim world}}
{{See also|Physics in the medieval Islamic world|Psychology in the medieval Islamic world|Mathematics in the medieval Islamic world|Astronomy in the medieval Islamic world|Alchemy and chemistry in the medieval Islamic world}}
{| class="toccolours" style="float:right; clear:right; margin:0 0 1em 1em;"
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |
'''Sciences'''
|-
|
<gallery>
File:Tusi_manus.jpg|[[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]]'s ''[[Astrolabe]]''. (13th century)
File:Mansur1911.jpg|One of [[Mansur ibn Ilyas]] ([[Ak Koyunlu]] era) colored illustrations of human anatomy.
</gallery>
|-
|
<gallery>
File:Zahrawi1.png|[[Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi]]'s ''[[Al-Tasrif|Kitab al-Tasrif]]''<br />Surgical instruments illustrations. (11th century)
File:Banu musa mechanical.jpg|A self-trimming lamp from [[Banū Mūsā]]'s work ''On Mechanical Devices'' on [[Automation]].
</gallery>
|-
|
<gallery>
File:Lunar phases al-Biruni.jpg|An illustration from [[al-Biruni]]'s astronomical works, explains the different phases of the [[moon]].
File:Al-jazari elephant clock.png|The [[Elephant Clock]] was one of the most famous inventions of Al-Jazari.
</gallery>
|-
|
<gallery>
File:Khayyam-paper-1stpage.png|"Cubic equations and intersections of conic sections", of [[Omar Khayyam]].
File:Lagari.jpg|[[Lagâri Hasan Çelebi]]'s rocket flight depicted in a 17th-century engraving.
</gallery>
|-
|
|}

Ibn al-Haytham is also regarded as the father of optics, especially for his empirical proof of the [[Visual perception#Early studies|intromission theory]] of light. [[Jim Al-Khalili]] stated in 2009 that Ibn al-Haytham is 'often referred to as the "world's first true scientist".'<ref>{{cite news |last=Al-Khalili |first=Jim |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7810846.stm |title=BBC News |date=4 January 2009 |access-date=11 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426041228/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7810846.stm |archive-date=26 April 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[al-Khwarzimi]]'s invented the log base systems that are being used today, he also contributed theorems in trigonometry as well as limits.<ref>Plofker, Kim (2009), ''[[Mathematics in India (book)|Mathematics in India]]: 500 BCE–1800 CE'', Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-12067-6}}.</ref> Recent studies show that it is very likely that the Medieval Muslim artists were aware of advanced [[decagon]]al [[quasicrystal]] geometry (discovered half a millennium later in the 1970s and 1980s in the West) and used it in intricate decorative tilework in the architecture.<ref>Peter J. Lu, [http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/03.01/99-tiles.html Harvard's Office of News and Public Affairs] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314012002/http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/03.01/99-tiles.html |date=14 March 2007}}</ref>

Muslim physicians contributed to the field of medicine, including the subjects of [[anatomy]] and [[physiology]]: such as in the 15th-century Persian work by [[Mansur ibn Ilyas|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 system|nervous]] and [[circulatory system]]s; 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 ''[[Al-Tasrif|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]].<ref>Turner, H. (1997) pp. 136–38</ref>

Some most famous scientists from the medieval Islamic world include [[Jābir ibn Hayyān]], [[al-Farabi]], [[Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi]], [[Ibn al-Haytham]], [[Al-Biruni]], [[Avicenna]], [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]], and [[Ibn Khaldun]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}

====Technology====
[[File:Illustration of al-Hariri Maqamat spinning wheel.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The [[Spinning wheel]] is believed to have been invented in the medieval era (of what is now the [[Greater Middle East]]), it is considered to be an important device that contributed greatly to the advancement of the [[Industrial Revolution]]. (scene from [[Al-Hariri of Basra|Al-Maqamat]], painted by [[Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti|al-Wasiti]] 1237)]]

{{Main|List of inventions in the medieval Islamic world|Arab Agricultural Revolution}}

In technology, the Muslim world adopted [[papermaking]] from China.<ref name=Lucas /> The knowledge of [[gunpowder]] was also transmitted from China via predominantly Islamic countries.<ref>Arming the Periphery. Emrys Chew, 2012. p. 1823.</ref>

Advances were made in [[irrigation]] and farming, using new technology such as the [[windmill]]. Crops such as [[almond]]s 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. [[Ormus|Hormuz]] was an important center for this trade. There was also a dense network of [[trade route]]s in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], along which Muslim-majority countries traded with each other and with European powers such as [[Venice]], [[Genoa]] and [[Catalonia]] (see also: [[Indo-Mediterranean]]). The [[Silk Road]] crossing Central Asia passed through Islamic states between China and Europe. The emergence of major economic empires with technological resources after the conquests of [[Timur]] (Tamerlane) and the resurgence of the [[Timurid Renaissance]] include the [[Mali Empire]] and the [[Bengal Sultanate]] in particular, a major global trading nation in the world, described by the Europeans to be the "richest country to trade with".<ref>Nanda, J. N (2005). Bengal: the unique state. Concept Publishing Company. p. 10. 2005. {{ISBN|978-81-8069-149-2}}. Bengal [...] was rich in the production and export of grain, salt, fruit, liquors and wines, precious metals and ornaments besides the output of its handlooms in silk and cotton. Europe referred to Bengal as the richest country to trade with.</ref>

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]].<ref>[[Ahmad Y. al-Hassan]] (1976). ''Taqi al-Din and Arabic Mechanical Engineering'', pp. 34–35. Institute for the History of Arabic Science, [[University of Aleppo]].</ref> The industrial uses of [[watermill]]s in the Islamic world date back to the 7th century, while horizontal-[[Water wheel|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, [[gristmill]]s, [[paper mill]]s, [[Rice huller|hullers]], [[sawmill]]s, [[ship mill]]s, [[stamp mill]]s, [[steel mill]]s, [[Sugar refinery|sugar mills]], [[tide mill]]s 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.<ref name="Lucas">Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe", ''Technology and Culture'' '''46''' (1), pp. 1–30 [10].</ref> Muslim engineers also invented [[crankshaft]]s and [[water turbine]]s, employed [[gear]]s 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.<ref name="Hassan">[[Ahmad Y. al-Hassan]], [http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2071.htm Transfer Of Islamic Technology To The West, Part II: Transmission Of Islamic Engineering] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218171021/http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2071.htm |date=18 February 2008}}</ref> Such advances made it possible for industrial tasks that were previously driven by [[manual labour]] in [[Ancient history|ancient times]] to be [[Mechanization|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]], particularly from the [[proto-industrialization|proto-industrialised]] [[Mughal Bengal]] and [[Tipu Sultan]]'s Kingdom, through the conquests of the [[East India Company]].<ref>Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe", ''Technology and Culture'' '''46''' (1), pp. 1–30.</ref>

===Arts===
The term "[[Islamic art]] and [[Islamic architecture|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.<ref>Ettinghausen (2003), p. 3</ref><ref>"Islamic Art and Architecture", ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'' (2000)</ref>

====Architecture====
{{excerpt|Islamic architecture|only=paragraphs}}
{| class="toccolours" style="float:left; clear:left; margin:0 0 1em 1em;"
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |
'''Islamic architecture'''
|-
|<gallery>
File:Great Mosque of Kairouan Panorama - Grande Mosquée de Kairouan Panorama.jpg|[[Great Mosque of Kairouan]], [[Kairouan]], Tunisia 
File:Samrraa 05.jpg|[[Great Mosque of Samarra]], [[Samarra]], Iraq 
File:Madeena masjid nabavi 12122008230.jpg|[[Prophet's Mosque]], [[Medina]], Saudi Arabia
File:Umayyad Mosque-Dome of the Treasury211099.jpg|[[Umayyad Mosque]], [[Damascus]], Syria
</gallery>
|-
|
<gallery>
File:Dome of Rock, Temple Mount, Jerusalem.jpg|[[Dome of the Rock]] in [[Jerusalem]]
File:Taj Mahal 2, Agra, India.jpg|[[Taj Mahal]] in [[Agra]] city of India was constructed during the [[Mughal Empire]]
File:Masjid Istiqlal - Panoramio.jpg|[[Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta|Istiqlal Mosque]] in [[Jakarta]], Indonesia
File:2017-tehran.jpg|[[Shah Mosque (Tehran)|Shah Mosque]] in [[Tehran]], Iran
</gallery>
|-
|
<gallery>
File:Hagia Sophia Mars 2013.jpg|[[Hagia Sophia]] a journey from [[Church (building)|church]] to mosque, embodying centuries of history and faith in [[Istanbul]], Turkey
File:SultanSalahuddinMosque1.jpg|[[Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Mosque]] in [[Selangor]], Malaysia
File:Mezquita de al-Ándalus1.jpg|[[Al-Andalus Mosque]] with a [[Moorish architecture|Moorish-style]] mosque in [[Andalusia]], Spain
File:Lagos Central Mosque.jpg|[[Lagos Central Mosque]] in [[Lagos]], Nigeria
</gallery>
|-
|
<gallery>
File:HAZRATBAL SHRINE 03.JPG|The [[Hazratbal Shrine]] in [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], India
File:Songjiang Mosque 22 2015-03.jpg|Entrance of [[Songjiang Mosque]] with [[Chinese Islamic architecture]] in [[Shanghai]], China
File:National Faisal Mosque Islamabad.jpg|The design of [[Faisal Mosque]] in [[Islamabad]], Pakistan is inspired by [[Bedouin]]'s tent.
File:Астана, центральная мечеть с угла.jpg|[[Astana Grand Mosque]] is the largest mosque in [[Central Asia]] in [[Astana]], Kazakhstan
</gallery>
|}
{{clear}}

====Aniconism====
{{Main|Aniconism in Islam}}
No Islamic visual images or depictions of [[God in Islam|God]] are meant to exist because it is believed that such artistic depictions may lead to [[idolatry]]. Muslims describe God by the [[Names of God in Islam|names and attributes]] that, according to Islam, he revealed to his creation. All but one [[sura]] of the Quran begins with the phrase "[[Basmala|In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful]]". Images of Mohammed are likewise prohibited. Such [[aniconism]] and [[iconoclasm]]<ref name=MUSLIM-ICONOCLASM>{{cite web
 |title        = Muslim Iconoclasm
 |url          = http://lexicorient.com/e.o/mus_iconoclasm.htm
 |publisher    = Encyclopedia of the Orient
 |access-date   = 23 February 2007
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070314233303/http://lexicorient.com/e.o/mus_iconoclasm.htm
 |archive-date = 14 March 2007
|url-status   = live
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref> can also be found in Jewish and some Christian theology.

====Arabesque====
{{Main|Arabesque}}
Islamic art frequently adopts the use of geometrical floral or vegetal designs in a repetition known as [[Arabesque (Islamic art)|arabesque]]. Such designs are highly nonrepresentational, as Islam forbids representational depictions as found in [[Arabian mythology|pre-Islamic pagan religions]]. Despite this, there is a presence of depictional art in some Muslim societies, notably the [[Persian miniature|miniature]] style made famous in [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]] and under the [[Ottoman Empire]] which featured paintings of people and animals, and 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.<ref name="JAACMadden">Madden (1975), pp. 423–30</ref> [[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 (script)|naskh]]'' scripts, which can be found adorning the walls and domes of mosques, the sides of [[minbar]]s, and so on.<ref name="JAACMadden" />

Distinguishing [[Motif (visual arts)|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 features employed as motifs include columns, [[Pier (architecture)|piers]] and arches, organized and interwoven with alternating sequences of niches and colonnettes.<ref>Tonna, Jo (1990). "The Poetics of Arab-Islamic Architecture", Muqarnas BRILL, 7, pp. 182–97</ref> 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.<ref>Grabar, Oleg (2006), "Islamic art and beyond". Ashgate. Vol 2, p. 87</ref>

<gallery>
File:Interlaced-Triangles quasi-Arabesque Brunnian-link.svg|Example of an Arabesque
File:Brunnian-link-12crossings-nonBorromean-quasi-Arabesque.svg|Example of an Arabesque
File:Interlaced-Triangles Brunnian-link alternate.svg|Example of an Arabesque
</gallery>

====Girih====
{{excerpt|Girih|only=paragraphs}}

<gallery>
File:Girih tiles.svg|[[Girih]] tiles
File:Darbeimam subdivision rule.svg|The subdivision rule used to generate the [[Girih]] pattern on the spandrel.
File:Girih compass straightedge example.svg|[[Girih]] pattern that can be drawn with [[Compass and straightedge constructions|compass and straight edge]].
</gallery>

====Islamic calligraphy====
{{excerpt|Islamic calligraphy|only=paragraphs}}

<gallery>
File:Kufic Quran, sura 7, verses 86-87.jpg|Kufic script from [[Uthman Qur'an|an early Qur'an manuscript]], 7th century. (Surah 7: 86–87)
File:Bismillah.svg|[[Bismallah]] calligraphy.
File:Seven sleepers islam.jpg|Islamic calligraphy represented for [[amulet]] of sailors in the [[Ottoman Empire]].
File:Shiite Calligraphy symbolising Ali as Tiger of God.svg|Islamic calligraphy praising [[Ali]].
File:Planets by ibrahimabutouq.jpg|Modern Islamic calligraphy representing various [[planet]]s.
</gallery>

===Calendar===
Two calendars are used all over the Muslim world. One is the [[lunar calendar]] that is most widely used among Muslims and known in the West as the "[[Islamic calendar]]". The other one is a [[solar calendar]] officially used in [[Iran]]. Both measure time in the [[Hijri era]]: the lunar calendar counts [[lunar year]]s (of twelve [[lunar month]]s) and the solar calendar counts [[solar year]]s.

====Islamic lunar calendar====
{{excerpt|Islamic calendar|only=paragraphs}}

====Solar Hijri calendar====
{{excerpt|Solar Hijri calendar|only=paragraphs}}

== Women ==
{{See also|Women in Islam|Musawah}}
According to ''Riada Asimovic Akyol,'' while Muslim women's experiences differ considerably by location and personal situations such as family upbringing, class and education;<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Akyol|first=Riada Asimovic|title=On Erdogan and Muslim mothers|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/11/28/on-erdogan-and-muslim-mothers/|access-date=29 September 2020|website=www.aljazeera.com|language=en|archive-date=25 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125063930/https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/11/28/on-erdogan-and-muslim-mothers/|url-status=live}}</ref> the difference between culture and religions is often ignored by community and state leaders in many of the Muslim majority countries.<ref name=":1" /> The key issue in the Muslim world regarding gender issues is that religious texts constructed in highly patriarchal environments and based on biological [[essentialism]] are still valued highly in Islam, hence views emphasizing on men's superiority in unequal [[Gender roles in Islam|gender roles]] are widespread among many conservative Muslims (men and women).<ref name=":1" /> Orthodox Muslims often believe that rights and responsibilities of women in Islam are different from that of men and sacrosanct since assigned by the God.<ref name=":1" /> According to [[Asma Barlas]], patriarchal behaviour among Muslims is based in an ideology which jumbles sexual and biological differences with gender dualisms and inequality. [[Islamic Modernism|Modernist discourse]] of [[Liberalism and progressivism within Islam|liberal progressive movements]] like [[Islamic feminism]] have been revisiting [[hermeneutics of feminism in Islam]] in terms of respect for Muslim women's lives and rights.<ref name=":1" /> ''Riada Asimovic Akyol'' further says that equality for Muslim women needs to be achieved through self-criticism.<ref name=":1" />

<gallery>
File:Kazakh wedding 3.jpg|A [[Kazakhs|Kazakh]] wedding ceremony in a mosque
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Een marabout gaat voor in het gebed tijdens een naamgevingsfeest TMnr 20018270.jpg|A group of [[marabout]]s – West African religious leaders and teachers of the [[Quran]].
File:Muslim girls at Istiqlal Mosque jakarta.png|Muslim girls at [[Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta|Istiqlal Mosque]] in [[Jakarta]]
File:Chadian delegation.jpg|A tribal delegation in [[Chad]]
File:Trio of Muslim Girls in Street - Srimangal - Sylhet Division - Bangladesh (12950725824).jpg|Muslim girls walking for school in [[Bangladesh]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{portal|Islam|Society|World}}
* [[Arab world]]
* [[Glossary of Islam]]
* [[History of the Arabs]]
* [[History of Islam]]
* [[Index of Islam-related articles]]
* [[Outline of Islam]]
* [[Spread of Islam]]
* [[Islam by country]]
* [[Islamic studies]]
* [[Islam and other religions]]
* [[Pan-Islamism]]
* [[Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition]]
* [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]]
* [[Sīrah]]
* [[List of largest cities in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation member countries]]
* [[OPEC]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=note}}
{{Notelist}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
* {{Cite book|last= Ankerl |first= Guy |title= Global communication without universal civilization |orig-year= 2000 |series= INU societal research |volume= 1: Coexisting contemporary civilizations : Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western |publisher= INU Press |location= Geneva |isbn= 978-2-88155-004-1 |year= 2000|oclc= 223231547}}
* {{cite book |last1=Bloom |first1=Jonathan M. |last2=Blair |first2=Sheila |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=un4WcfEASZwC&pg=PA79 |access-date=2013-03-15 |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-530991-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ettinghausen |first1=Richard |last2=Grabar |first2=Oleg |last3=Jenkins-Madina |first3=Marilyn |title=Islamic Art and Architecture: 650–1250 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l1uWZAzN_VcC&pg=PA37 |access-date=2013-03-17 |year=2001 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-08869-4}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YgpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |title=A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2017 |isbn=9781119068662 |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Finbarr Barry |editor-last2=Necipoğlu |editor-first2=Gülru}}
* {{cite book|last=Graham |first=Mark |title=How Islam Created the Modern World| year=2006|publisher=Amana Publications|location=Beltsville, Md.|oclc=66393160 |isbn=9781590080436}}
* {{Cite book | last1= Grant | first1= John | author-link1= John Grant (author) | last2= Clute | first2=John | author-link2= John Clute | title= The Encyclopedia of Fantasy | chapter = Arabian fantasy | isbn= 978-0-312-19869-5| date= 15 March 1999| publisher= Macmillan |oclc=40347477}}
* {{Cite book | last= Kraemer | first= Joel L. | title= Humanism in the Renaissance of Islam | year = 1992 | publisher= Brill Publishers | isbn= 978-90-04-07259-6|oclc=14203815}}
*{{cite journal | last=Madden | first=Edward H. | date=1975 | title=Some Characteristics of Islamic Art | journal=Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism | volume=33 | issue=4| pages=423–430 | doi=10.2307/429655 |jstor=429655}}
*{{cite journal|last=Mason |first=Robert |year=1995 |title=New Looks at Old Pots: Results of Recent Multidisciplinary Studies of Glazed Ceramics from the Islamic World|journal=Muqarnas| volume=12|pages=1–10 |jstor=1523219|doi=10.2307/1523219}}
* {{cite book |last=Petersen |first=Andrew |title=Dictionary of Islamic Architecture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hcebK67IRhkC&pg=PA1 |date=1996 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-20387-3}}
* {{Cite book | last=Russell | first= G. A. | title= The 'Arabick' Interest of the Natural Philosophers in Seventeenth-Century England | publisher= [[Brill Publishers]] | year= 1994 | isbn= 978-90-04-09459-8}}
* {{Cite book | last=Tausch | first=Arno | title=What 1.3 Billion Muslims Really Think: An Answer to a Recent Gallup Study, Based on the "World Values Survey" | publisher=Nova Science Publishers|location= New York| year=2009 | edition=1st | isbn=978-1-60692-731-1| title-link=World Values Survey}}
* {{Cite book | last=Tausch | first=Arno  | title=The political algebra of global value change. General models and implications for the Muslim world. With Almas Heshmati and Hichem Karoui |publisher=Nova Science Publishers, New York|year=2015 | edition=1st | isbn=978-1-62948-899-8}} See [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290349218_The_political_algebra_of_global_value_change_General_models_and_implications_for_the_Muslim_world (PDF) The political algebra of global value change: General models and implications for the Muslim world]
*{{cite book | last=Turner | first=Howard R. | title=Science in Medieval Islam: An Illustrated Introduction | publisher=University of Texas Press | year=1997 | isbn= 0292781490 |location=Austin |oclc=36438874 |edition=1st}}
*{{cite book |last=Livny |first=Avital |title=Trust and the Islamic Advantage: Religious-Based Movements in Turkey and the Muslim World |location=United Kingdom| publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2020 |oclc=1192428976 |isbn=
9781108485524}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|m=no|mw=no|species=no|wikt=no|n=Portal:Islam|s=Portal:Islam|voy=Islam|d=y|commons=Category:Islam distribution maps|q=Islam|b=Subject:Islam|v=Islam}}
* [https://aeon.co/essays/the-idea-of-a-muslim-world-is-both-modern-and-misleading What is the Muslim world?], on ''[[Aeon (magazine)|Aeon]]''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040415033004/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/ The Islamic World to 1600] an online tutorial at the [[University of Calgary]], Canada (archived 15 April 2004).
* [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104927939&ft=1&f=1004 Is There a Muslim World?], on NPR
* [https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp4459.html Asabiyya: Re-Interpreting Value Change in Globalized Societies]
* [https://ideas.repec.org/b/erv/ebooks/b001.html Why Europe has to offer a better deal towards its Muslim communities. A quantitative analysis of open international data]
* [http://www.indianoceanhistory.org/ Indian Ocean in World History, A free online educational resource]

{{Islam topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cultural regions]]
[[Category:Islamic culture]]
[[Category:Pan-Islamism]]
[[Category:Regions of Africa]]
[[Category:Regions of Asia]]