Muslims

Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraham (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the last Islamic prophet. Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous revelations, such as the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injeel (Gospel). These earlier revelations are associated with Judaism and Christianity, which are regarded by Muslims as earlier versions of Islam. The majority of Muslims also follow the teachings and practices attributed to Muhammad (''sunnah'') as recorded in traditional accounts (hadith).

With an estimated population of almost 2 billion followers, Muslims comprise around 26% of the world's total population. In descending order, the percentage of people who identify as Muslims on each continental landmass stands at: 45% of Africa, 25% of Asia and Oceania collectively, 6% of Europe, and 1% of the Americas. Additionally, in subdivided geographical regions, the figure stands at: 91% of the Middle East–North Africa, 90% of Central Asia, 65% of the Caucasus, 42% of Southeast Asia, 32% of South Asia, and 42% of sub-Saharan Africa.

While there are several Islamic schools and branches, as well as non-denominational Muslims, the two largest denominations are Sunni Islam (87–90% of all Muslims)*

Sunni Islam: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide
"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."
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* and Shia Islam (10–13% of all Muslims). By sheer numbers, South Asia accounts for the largest portion (31%) of the global Muslim population. By country, Indonesia is the largest in the Muslim world, holding around 12% of all Muslims worldwide; with Pakistan having the second largest number of Muslims in the world after Indonesia. Outside of the Muslim-majority countries, India and China are home to the largest (11%) and second-largest (2%) Muslim populations, respectively. Due to high Muslim population growth, Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world. Muslims have experienced persecution of varying severity, especially in China, India, some parts of Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Etymology

The word ''muslim'' or ''moslem'' is the active participle of the same verb of which ''islām'' is a verbal noun, based on the triliteral '' S-L-M'' "to be whole, intact". A female adherent is a ''muslima'' (; also transliterated as ''muslimah''). The plural form in Arabic is ''muslimūn'' () or ''muslimīn'' (), and its feminine equivalent is ''muslimāt'' ().

The ordinary word in English is "Muslim". For most of the 20th century, the preferred spelling in English was "Moslem", but this has now fallen into disuse. That spelling and its pronunciation was opposed by many Muslims in English-speaking countries because it resembled the Arabic word ''aẓ-ẓālim'' (), meaning "the oppressor".Baker, Paul, Costas Gabrielatos, and Tony McEnery
"Muslim or Moslem? Differences between newspapers: Vanishing Moslems"
''Discourse Analysis and Media Attitudes: The Representation of Islam in the British Press'', Cambridge University Press, 2013, pages 76-78. In the United States, the Associated Press instructed news outlets to switch to the spelling "Muslim" in 1991, making it the most common spelling thereafter. The last major newspaper in the United Kingdom to use the spelling "Moslem" was the '' Daily Mail'', which switched to "Muslim" in 2004.

The word ''Mosalman'' or ''Mussulman'' or ''Musulman'' (, alternatively ''musalmān'') is a common equivalent for ''Muslim'' used in Central and South Asia. In English it was sometimes spelled Mussulman and has become archaic in usage; however, cognates of this word remain the standard term for "Muslim" in various other European languages. Until at least the mid-1960s, many English-language writers used the term '' Mohammedans'' or ''Mahometans''. Although such terms were not necessarily intended to be pejorative, Muslims argue that the terms are offensive because they allegedly imply that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. Other obsolete terms include ''Muslimite'' and ''Muslimist''. In medieval Europe, Muslims were commonly called Saracens.

The Muslim philologist Ibn al-Anbari said:

In several places in the Quran, the word ''muslim'' conveys a universal meaning, beyond the description of the followers of Muhammad, for example:

Quranic studies scholar Mohsen Goudarzi has argued that in the Quran the word '' dīn'' means "worship", the '' islām'' means "monotheism" and the ''muslim'' means "monotheist".

Until the 8th century, the term ''muslim'' was more inclusive, including anyone who was considered to be submitting to God (e.g. Christians and Jews), and the term ''mu'min'' was instead used to refer to believers in Islam as a distinct religion.

Qualifier

To become a Muslim and to convert to Islam, it is essential to utter the '' Shahada'' in front of Muslim witnesses, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, a declaration of faith and trust that professes that there is only one God ''(Allah)'' and that Muhammad is God's messenger. It is a set statement normally recited in Arabic: ''ašhadu ʾan-lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāhu wa ʾašhadu ʾanna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh'' () "I testify that there is no god orthy of worshipexcept Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."

In Sunni Islam, the shahada has two parts: ''la ilaha illa'llah'' (there is no god but Allah), and ''Muhammadun rasul Allah'' (Muhammad is the messenger of God),Lindsay, p. 140–141 which are sometimes referred to as the first ''shahada'' and the second ''shahada''.Cornell, p. 9 The first statement of the shahada is also known as the '' tahlīl''.

In Shia Islam, the shahada also has a third part, a phrase concerning Ali, the first Shia Imam and the fourth Rashid caliph of Sunni Islam: (), which translates to "Ali is the '' wali'' of God".

In Quranist Islam, the shahada is the testimony that there is no god but Allah (''la ilaha illa'llah'').

The religious practices of Muslims are enumerated in the Five Pillars of Islam: the declaration of faith ('' shahadah''), daily prayers (''salah''), almsgiving ('' zakat''), fasting during the month of Ramadan ('' sawm''), and the pilgrimage to Mecca (''hajj'') at least once in a lifetime.

In Islamic theology

The majority of theological traditions of Islam accept that works do not determine if someone is a Muslim or not. God alone would know about the belief of a person. Fellow Muslims can only accept the personal declaration of faith. Only the Khawārij developed an understanding of Muslim identity based mainly on the adherence to liturgical and legal norms.

When asked about one's beliefs, it is recommended to say the '' Istit̲h̲nāʾ'', for example, "''in-sha'allah'' I am Muslim a believer" (so God will, I am Muslim), since only God knows the future of a person. Among Asharites, it is also seen as a sign of humility and the individual's longing to improve, because the creature has no assurance of their own state (of belief) until the end of life.

The Qur'an describes many prophets and messengers within Judaism and Christianity, and their respective followers, as Muslim. Some of those that were mentioned are: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Jacob, Moses, and Jesus and his apostles are all considered to be Muslims in the Qur'an. The Qur'an states that these men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached His message and upheld His values, which included praying, charity, fasting and pilgrimage. Thus, in Surah 3:52 of the Qur'an, Jesus' disciples tell him, "We believe in God; and you be our witness that we are Muslims (''wa-shahad be anna muslimūn'')." In Islamic belief, before the Qur'an, God had given the Tawrat (Torah) to the prophets and messengers among the Children of Israel, the Zabur (Psalms) to David and the Injil (Gospel) to Jesus, who are all considered important Muslim prophets.

Demographics

According to Pew estimates, as of 2020, Muslims made up about 25.6% of the global population, or roughly 2 billion people. The growth is mainly due to Muslims having a younger average age and higher birth rates—two key drivers of natural population increase. The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to 12.7% of the world's Muslims, followed by Pakistan (11.0%), Bangladesh (9.2%), Nigeria (5.3%) and Egypt (4.9%). About 20% of the world's Muslims live in the Middle East and North Africa. Non-majority India contains 10.9% of the world's Muslims. Arab Muslims form the largest ethnic group among Muslims in the world, followed by Bengalis, and Punjabis.

Over 87–90% of Muslims are Sunni. The second largest sect, Shia, make up 10–13%, whereas other movements such as the Ahmadiyya, Quranism, Ibadism, collectively count for 1% per cent. While the majority of the population in the Middle East identify as either Sunni or Shia, a significant number of Muslims identify as non-denominational.

With about 1.8 billion followers (2015), almost a quarter of earth's population, Islam is the second-largest and the fastest-growing religion in the world, primarily due to the young age and high fertility rate of Muslims, with Muslims having a rate of 3.1 compared to the world average of 2.5. According to the same study, religious switching has no impact on Muslim population, since the number of people who embrace Islam and those who leave Islam are roughly equal. According to a 2020 Pew study, about 1% of adults raised Muslim leave the faith, while a similar share convert to Islam, resulting in low levels of religious switching both into and out of Islam.

As of 2010, 49 countries in the world had Muslim majorities, in which Muslims comprised more than 50% of the population. In 2010, 74.1% of the world's Muslim population lived in countries where Muslims are in the majority, while 25.9% of the world's Muslim population lived in countries where Muslims are in the minority. A Pew Center study in 2010 found that 3% of the world's Muslim population lives in non-Muslim-majority developed countries. India's Muslim population is the world's largest Muslim-minority population in the world (11% of the world's Muslim population). Followed by Ethiopia (28 million), China (22 million), Russia (16 million) and Tanzania (13 million). Sizable minorities are also found in the Americas (5.2 million or 0.6%), Australia (714,000 or 1.9%) and parts of Europe (44 million or 6%). According to a 2020 Pew study, 79% of the world’s Muslim population live in Muslim-majority countries, while 21% reside in countries where Muslims are a minority.

A Pew Center study in 2016 found that Muslims have the highest number of adherents under the age of 15 (34% of the total Muslim population) of any major religion, while only 7% are aged 60+ (the smallest percentage of any major religion). According to the same study, Muslims have the highest fertility rates (3.1) of any major religious group. The study also found that Muslims (tied with Hindus) have the lowest average levels of education with an average of 5.6 years of schooling, though both groups have made the largest gains in educational attainment in recent decades among major religions. About 36% of all Muslims have no formal schooling, and Muslims have the lowest average levels of higher education of any major religious group, with only 8% having graduate and post-graduate degrees.

Culture

Muslim culture or Islamic culture are terms used to describe the cultural practices common to Muslims and historically Islamic people. The early forms of Muslim culture, from the Rashidun Caliphate to early Umayyad period, were predominantly Arab, Byzantine, Persian and Levantine. With the rapid expansion of the Arab Islamic empires, Muslim culture has influenced and assimilated much from the Indonesian, Pakistani ( Punjabi, Pashtun, Baloch Kashmiri, Sindhi), Hindustani, Bengali, Nigerian, Egyptian, Persian, Turkic, Caucasian, Malay, Somali, Berber, and Moro cultures.

See also

* Cultural Muslims
* Islamic schools and branches
* Mohammedan
* Lists of Muslims
* List of converts to Islam
* Latino Muslims
* Islamic holidays
* Muslim world
* Mumin
* Persecution of Muslims
* Islam by country

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

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External links

Ritual Prayer: Its Meaning and Manner
– The Islamic Supreme Council of America.

– University of Chicago

''Islamophobia Today'' Newspaper
– An Islamophobia news clearing house

Sammy Aziz Rahmatti, ''Understanding and Countering Islamophobia''
* WikiSaurus:Muslim
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Quranic words and phrases
Religious identity