ISLAM
Judaism
| Christianity
Where is the religion found today?
by John Kaltner
By
the end of the period of the Rightly Guided Caliphs in 661 Islam
had experienced remarkable growth and expansion. From its relatively
humble beginnings in Arabia it quickly spread westward across North
Africa, northward into the area of modern-day Israel, Lebanon and
Syria, and westward as far as India. The reasons for that rapid
development are many and varied, but one of the most important was
the strategy the Muslim empire adopted as it entered non-Muslim
territories.
Many
non-Muslims assume that Islam spread through violent and hostile
means, but this was not actually the case. Rather,
the Muslim forces gave local populations a choice upon entering
their lands. They first invited them to convert to Islam and become
part of the ummah, which some chose to do. Those who preferred
not to become Muslims and were followers of one of the other monotheistic
religions were allowed to continue to practice their faith as long
as they paid an extra tax, which gave them the status of protected
minorities.
Many
chose this option because the Muslim authorities, unlike the Byzantines
who preceded them, adopted a hands-off policy toward those living
in areas under their control. Non-Muslims were given a great deal
of independence and freedom under Islam, and so, ironically, Christians
fared better under Muslim rule than they did under their fellow
Christians the Byzantines, who tended to meddle more in the affairs
of their subjects. Only if neither of these options was taken—which
was a very rare occurrence—would the Muslim forces engage
in military battle with non-Muslims.
That
approach toward expansion was abandoned a long time ago, but throughout
the centuries Islam has continued to spread. Muslims
are now found in virtually every country in the world, and it is
the fastest growing religion on the planet. The
worldwide Muslim population exceeds one billion people, which means
that approximately one of every five people on the face of the earth
is a Muslim.
It
is therefore wrong to equate Islam with the Middle East, a mistake
made by many non-Muslims. In fact, Arabs comprise only about 15%
of the total Muslim population. We get a clear sense of this when
we take note of the fact that only one Arab country (Egypt) makes
the list of the top ten most heavily populated Muslim nations, and
it comes in at number nine. The first five on that list—Indonesia,
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and China—are all quite far removed
from the Middle East, the part of the world that is often associated
with Islam.
Shi`a
Islam is found throughout the world, but the country that has the
largest number and largest percentage of Shi`a Muslims is Iran,
where about 95% of its 75 million people follow that branch of the
faith. Iraq and Lebanon are two other countries in which Shi`a Islam
has played an important and influential role.
Islam
has had a more visible presence in the western world in recent decades
as a result of increased Muslim immigration to non-Muslim lands,
marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims, and conversions to the
faith. Because the US Census Bureau does not collect information
on religious affiliation the exact number of Muslims in the United
States is not known, but most estimates put the total at somewhere
between five and ten million.
While
a significant proportion of America’s Muslims live in large
cities, they can be found throughout the country. For example, many
people are quite surprised to learn that the oldest mosque in the
United States is located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Similarly, the headquarters
of the Islamic Society of North America, the largest organization
in the country that addresses the interests and concerns of North
American Muslims, is located in Plainfield, Indiana.
Copyright
©2007 John Kaltner
John
Kaltner is a member of the Department of Religious Studies
at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee where he teaches courses
in Bible, Islam, and Arabic. Among his books are Islam:
What Non-Muslims Should Know (2003); Inquiring
of Joseph: Getting to Know a Biblical Character through the Qu’ran
(2003); Ishmael
Instructs Isaac: An Introduction to the Qur’an for Bible Readers
(Collegeville: Liturgical Press/Michael Glazier, 1999)
This excerpt from What Do Our Neighbors Believe?: Questions
and Answers on Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Howard Greenstein,
Kendra Hotz, and John Kaltner is used with permission from Westminster
John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky. To
purchase a copy of WHAT
DO OUR NEIGHBORS BELIEVE? visit amazon.com. This link is provided
as a service to explorefaith visitors and registered
users.
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