Islamic world
In 610 CE, a merchant named Muhammad received his first revelation in the city of Mecca. This event marked the beginning of Islam as both a religion and a social institution. By 622 CE, facing opposition from local tribes, he migrated to Yathrib, which later became known as Medina. That migration, called the Hijra, established the first year of the Islamic calendar. Within twelve years, Muhammad united Arabia under a single political and spiritual leadership. After his death in 632, his successors expanded the community across three continents. The Rashidun Caliphate stretched from northwest India to the Iberian Peninsula. Arab armies reached the Pyrenees but failed to conquer Constantinople during two sieges between 674 and 718. These conquests created economic preconditions for future cultural flourishing. Disagreements over succession led to the split between Sunni and Shia sects following the killing of caliph Uthman in 656. Political unity fractured further after the Abbasid Revolution concluded in 750.
The House of Wisdom opened its doors in Baghdad during the reign of Harun al-Rashid between 786 and 809. Scholars gathered there to translate Greek, Persian, Indian, and Roman knowledge into Arabic. Ibn Sina wrote more than 450 books covering philosophy and medicine before dying in 1037. His medical textbook The Canon of Medicine remained standard reading in European universities for centuries. Al-Biruni developed trigonometry and limits while critiquing Aristotelian natural philosophy. Ibn al-Haytham proved the intromission theory of light and is often called the world's first true scientist by Jim Al-Khalili in 2009. Jābir ibn Hayyān invented log base systems still used today. Papermaking arrived from China and spread through Islamic lands. Windmills powered grain mills across provinces by the 11th century. Horizontal-wheeled and vertical-wheeled water mills operated widely since at least the 9th century. Tin-opacified glazes appeared in Basra around the 8th century. Fritware pottery originated in Iraq during the 9th century. Damascus produced innovative ceramics from 1100 until about 1600.
The Ottoman Empire ruled several states for over six centuries starting in the 14th century. Safavid Persia and Mughal India emerged as major powers using newly developed firearms. Muhammad Auranzgeb, the sixth ruler of the Mughal Empire, governed India through sharia and Islamic economics between the 17th and 18th centuries. During that period, India became the world's largest economy valued at 25% of global GDP according to Angus Maddison. The Bengal Subah was described by Europeans as the richest country to trade with. Tipu Sultan's Kingdom of Mysore resisted European colonial expansion before falling to British forces. The Great Divergence allowed European powers to militarily defeat preexisting Oriental powers like the Ottomans and Mughals. Colonialism began affecting Muslim societies in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia from the 15th century onward. Only Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan remained uncolonized by European powers. The Ottoman officer Mustafa Kemal Atatürk dissolved the empire between 1908 and 1922. He replaced it with the Republic of Turkey, a modern secular democracy established after abolishing the Caliphate in 1924.
European colonial domination profoundly affected Muslim-majority societies across four continents starting in the 15th century. Conflict arose between mercantile initiatives and traditional social structures causing tremendous upheaval. Some regions reacted with zealotry while others affirmed traditionalist cultural ideals. Pan-Islamism emerged as a movement born in Paris where Turks, Arabs, and Persians congregated. The Times first documented this term in September 1912 describing its power and cohesion. India became home to the largest Muslim-minority population globally at 11% of all Muslims worldwide. Nigeria has become a Muslim-majority country as of 2024 despite earlier minority status. Indonesia hosts the largest Christian population within any Muslim-majority nation at 21.1 million people. Egypt follows with significant Christian communities alongside large Muslim populations. Bangladesh absorbed an estimated 625,000 refugees from Rakhine, Myanmar since August 2017. UNHCR reported that Muslim-majority countries hosted 18 million refugees by the end of 2010. Syria's uprising generated over 1.8 million displaced persons recorded by July 2013. These conflicts reshaped demographic patterns across Asia and Africa.
Azerbaijan became the first secular republic in the Muslim world between 1918 and 1920 before joining the Soviet Union. Turkey governed as a secular state following Atatürk's reforms after abolishing the Caliphate in 1924. Iran replaced its monarchial semi-secular regime with an Islamic Republic led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the 1979 Revolution. Eight Islamic states adopted Islam as their ideological foundation for state constitutions. Seventeen other nations endorsed Islam as their official religion without declaring separation between church and state. Twenty-four secular states declared civil government independent of religious authority. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation includes 57 member states plus five observer entities. Their combined GDP reached US$24 trillion in purchasing power parity terms during 2020. This figure represented about 18% of global economic output or 22% including observers. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, and Egypt host the second, fourth, sixth, and seventh largest Muslim populations respectively. India contains the largest Muslim population outside any Muslim-majority country at over 200 million people. China ranks third globally while Russia holds fifth place among non-Muslim-majority nations.
More than 1.9 billion people identified themselves as Muslims representing 24.1% of the world population in recent estimates. Ninety-one percent of Middle East-North Africa residents consider themselves Muslim according to regional surveys. Central Asia shows 89% adherence while Southeast Asia reaches 40%. South Asia accounts for 31% and Sub-Saharan Africa 30% of local populations identifying with Islam. Only 6% of Europeans and 1% of Americans identify as Muslim today. Indonesia remains the most populous Muslim-majority nation globally. Karachi hosts the largest single-city Muslim population anywhere on Earth. Eighty-seven to ninety percent of all Muslims belong to Sunni denominations worldwide. Shia communities make up 10, 13% of total adherents with highest concentrations found in Iran at 89%, Azerbaijan at 65%, Iraq at 60%, and Bahrain also at 60%. Yemen maintains 35% Shia membership while Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India each hold roughly 10%. Non-denominational Muslims constitute majorities in seven countries including Albania at 65% and Kyrgyzstan at 64%. Kazakhstan contains the largest number of non-denominational believers totaling about 74% of its population.
One Thousand and One Nights reached final form by the 14th century compiling folk tales from Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabian sources. Antoine Galland translated this work into French during the 18th century influencing Western literature profoundly. Layla and Majnun dates back to the Umayyad era in the 7th century telling a tragic love story. Ferdowsi's Shahnameh serves as the national epic of Greater Iran retelling mythical history. Ibn Tufail wrote Philosophus Autodidactus in response to Al-Ghazali's The Incoherence of the Philosophers around the 12th century. Ibn al-Nafis followed with Theologus Autodidactus developing early science fiction elements involving pulmonary circulation theory. Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali represent four Sunni schools recognized under the Amman Message endorsed in 2005. Ja'fari and Zaidi comprise two Shia branches acknowledged alongside them. Druze communities number between 800,000 and one million people mostly residing in Syria and Lebanon. Jewish populations exist across Middle Eastern countries though reduced significantly from historical sizes. Palestine hosts about 250,000 Jews while Morocco contains roughly 2,000 and Tunisia approximately 1,000. Christians make up significant minorities in Indonesia at 21.1 million and Egypt with millions more. Hindus form sizable groups in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, and India collectively exceeding tens of millions.
Common questions
When did Muhammad receive his first revelation in Mecca?
Muhammad received his first revelation in the city of Mecca in 610 CE. This event marked the beginning of Islam as both a religion and a social institution.
What year did the Islamic calendar begin with the Hijra migration to Medina?
The Islamic calendar began in 622 CE when Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Yathrib, which later became known as Medina. That migration called the Hijra established the first year of the Islamic calendar.
Which scholar wrote The Canon of Medicine that remained standard reading in European universities for centuries?
Ibn Sina wrote more than 450 books covering philosophy and medicine before dying in 1037. His medical textbook The Canon of Medicine remained standard reading in European universities for centuries.
Who dissolved the Ottoman Empire between 1908 and 1922 to establish the Republic of Turkey?
Ottoman officer Mustafa Kemal Atatürk dissolved the empire between 1908 and 1922. He replaced it with the Republic of Turkey, a modern secular democracy established after abolishing the Caliphate in 1924.
When did Indonesia become the most populous Muslim-majority nation globally?
Indonesia remains the most populous Muslim-majority nation globally. It hosts the largest Christian population within any Muslim-majority nation at 21.1 million people alongside its large Muslim population.