![]() ![]() They are seen in Muslim women's dress and in their varied educational and professional opportunities, as well as in their participation in mosques and societies that differ widely from country to country. Islam's many faces across the world are seen in diverse cultures. Beyond the two major branches of Islam-Sunni (approximately 85 percent of the Muslim community) and Shiite (15 percent)-there are many theological and legal schools, as well as the diversity of thought and practice illustrated by Sufism (Islamic mysticism). While Muslims share certain core beliefs, there are many interpretations and cultural practices of Islam. Projected to become the second largest in the United States. Islam is also a significant presence in the West, as the second largest religion in Europe and The largest Muslim populations are found in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Nigeria. Only 20 percent of the world's Muslims are Arab, with the majority of Muslims living in Asian and African countries. The world's approximately 1.2 billion Muslims are found not only from Africa to Southeast Asia but also in Europe and North America. The diversity of Islam, the world's second largest religion, is reflected by the geographic expanse of the 56 countries that have Muslim majorities. They called upon all to return to what the Koran refers to as the straight path of Islam or the path of God, revealed one final time to Muhammad, the last, or "seal," of the prophets. They emphasized social justice (concern for the rights of women, widows, and orphans) and warned that many had strayed from the message of God and his prophets. The revelations Muhammad received were calls to religious and social reform. Muslims believe that Islam was, in fact, the original religion of Abraham. ![]() Therefore, Islam was not a totally new monotheistic religion and community that sprang up in isolation. In addition to belief in a single, all-powerful God, Islam shares with Judaism and Christianity belief in the importance of community-building, social justice, and individual moral decision-making, as well as in revelation, angels, Satan, a final judgment, and eternal reward and punishment. Muslims view Jews and Christians as People of the Book, who received revelations through prophets in the form of revealed books from God. Indeed, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is mentioned more times in the Koran than in the Gospels. The Koran contains many references to stories and figures in the Old and New Testaments, including Adam and Eve, Abraham and Moses, David and Solomon, and Mary and Jesus. For example, Christian doctrines such as the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus (his elevation from prophet to Son of God) are seen as changes to the divine revelation from outside or foreign influences. Thus, Muslims see the Torah and the Gospels as a combination of the original revelations and later human additions, or interpolations. The revelations Muhammad received led him to believe that, over time, Jews and Christians had distorted God's original messages to Moses and, later, to Jesus. Muslims believe that God sent revelations first to Moses, as found in the Hebrew scriptures (the Torah), then to Jesus (the Gospels), and finally to Muhammad (the Koran). The Koran's revelations were seen as a return in the midst of a polytheistic society to the forgotten past, to the faith of the first monotheist, Abraham. Muhammad did not think that he was founding a new religion with a new scripture but, rather, bringing belief in the one God, a belief already held by Christians and Jews, to the Arabs. ![]() The religion of Islam was revealed to Muhammad ibn Abdullah, who became known as the Prophet Muhammad, in central Arabia between 610 and 632 c.e. RELIGION AS A PERCENTAGE OF WORLD POPULATION: 20 percent OVERVIEW ![]()
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