Islam

Abstract

Islam has over 1 billion followers worldwide.¹ Indonesia has the highest number, 182.2 million, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India, all having over 100 million. In the Middle East, Iraq leads with 21.4 million and Islam’s birthplace, Saudi Arabia, holds 16 million. In fact, the Arab world represents only about 15 percent of the entire Muslim population. Asia, including the Middle East, alone represents 69 percent and Africa 29 percent of all Muslims. Egypt leads with 52.6 million, Nigeria 40.2 million, Algeria and Morocco each with 29.1 million. Islam is growing rapidly in Europe due to immigration, mainly in France between 5 and 6 million, and Germany, 3 million. Turkey, which is now part of Europe, has 68 million, of which 2.2 million live in Albania, and 1.5 million in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In Canada, the 2001 census mentions almost 600,000 Muslims. Its Muslim population doubled between 1991 and 2001, and the 2011 National Home Survey estimates it as over 1 million.² Montreal had over 100,000 Muslims in 2001.³ In the near future, Islam will probably be the fastest growing religion in Canada and it is estimated that among Canadian non-Christians they will account for 1 person out of 2.⁴ In the United States, there are approximately 2 million Muslims, most of them foreign born and among the native born, half are African Americans.⁵ Only 15 percent of all Muslims are Shi’ites, mainly found in Iran (95 percent), Iraq (60 percent), Bahrain (70 percent), Azerbaijan (67 percent), and Lebanon (38 percent).