Islam (Arabic: الإسلام al-’islām) is a strictly monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur’an, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Arabic: الله, Allāh), and by the Prophet of Islam Muhammad's teachings and normative example (which is called the Sunnah in Arabic, and demonstrated in collections of Hadith). Islam literally means "submission (to God)." Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the same verb of which Islām is the infinitive.
Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable and that the purpose of life is to worship God. They regard their religion as the completed and universal version of a primordial, monotheistic faith revealed at many times and places before, including, notably, to the prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Islamic tradition holds that previous messages and revelations have been changed and distorted over time. Religious practices include the Five Pillars of Islam, which are five obligatory acts of worship. Islamic law (Arabic: شريعة Šarīʿah) touches on virtually every aspect of life and society, encompassing everything from banking and warfare to welfare and the environment.
The majority of Muslims belong to one of two denominations, the Sunni and the Shi'a. About 13% of Muslims live in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country, 31% in the Indian Subcontinent, 20% in the Middle East and 15% in Sub-saharan Africa. Sizable communities are also found in China and Russia, and parts of the Caribbean. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world. With about 1.57 billion Muslims comprising about 23% of the world's population. Islam is the second-largest religion in the world and arguably the fastest growing religion in the world.
Etymology and Meaning:
The word Islam is a
verbal noun originating from the
triliteral root s-l-m, and is derived from the
Arabic verb Aslama, which means "to accept, surrender or submit." Thus, Islam means acceptance of and submission to God, and believers must demonstrate this by worshiping him, following his commands, and avoiding
polytheism. The word is given a number of meanings in the Qur'an. In some verses (
ayat), the quality of Islam as an internal conviction is stressed: "Whomsoever God desires to guide, He expands his breast to Islam." Other verses connect islām and
dīn (usually translated as "religion"): "Today, I have perfected your religion (dīn) for you; I have completed My blessing upon you; I have approved Islam for your religion." Still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. Another technical meaning in Islamic thought is as one part of a triad of islam,
imān (faith), and
ihsān (excellence) where it represents acts of worship (`
ibādah) and Islamic law (
sharia).
Islam's fundamental theological concept is
tawhīd—the belief that there is only one god. The Arabic term for God is Allāh; most scholars believe it was derived from a contraction of the words
al- (the) and
ʾilāh (deity, masculine form), meaning "the god" (al-ilāh), but others trace its origin to the Aramaic Alāhā. Other non-Arabic nations might use different names, for instance in Turkey the Turkish word for God, "Tanrı" is used as much as Allah. The first of the Five Pillars of Islam, tawhīd is expressed in the
shahadah (testification), which declares that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is God's messenger. In traditional Islamic theology, God is beyond all comprehension; Muslims are not expected to visualize God but to worship and adore Him as the Protector. The Qur'an has described God by certain attributes or names, the most common being al-rahman, meaning "the compassionate" and al-rahim, meaning "the merciful" (See
Names of God in Islam). Muslims believe the
purpose of life is to
worship God. Although Muslims believe that
Jesus was a prophet, they reject the Christian doctrine of the
Trinity and divinity of Jesus, comparing it to polytheism. In Islamic theology,
Jesus was just a man and not the son of God; God is described in Surah al ikhlaas ch.112 of the Qur'an as "...God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."
Belief in angels is fundamental to the faith of Islam. The Arabic word for angel (malak) means "messenger", like its counterparts in Hebrew (malakh) and Greek (angelos). According to the Qur'an, angels do not possess
free will, and worship God in total obedience. Angels' duties include communicating revelations from God, glorifying God, recording every person's actions, and taking a person's soul at the time of death. They are also thought to intercede on man's behalf. The Qur'an describes angels as "messengers with wings—two, or three, or four (pairs): He [God] adds to Creation as He pleases..."
The Islamic holy books are the records which most Muslims believe were dictated by God to various prophets, with the Qur'an as the last book. Muslims believe that parts of the previously revealed scriptures, the
Tawrat (
Torah) and the
Injil (
Gospels), had become
distorted—either in interpretation, in text, or both. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the literal Word of God; it is the central
religious text of Islam revealed in
Arabic. Muslims believe that the verses of the Qur'an were revealed to Muhammad by God through the
archangel Gabriel (Jibrīl). on many occasions between 610 and his death on June 8, 632. The Qur'an was reportedly written down by Muhammad's companions (
sahabah) while he was alive, although the prime method of transmission was orally. It was compiled in the time of
Abu Bakr, the first
caliph, and was standardized under the administration of
Uthman, the third caliph.
The Qur'an is divided into 114
suras, or chapters, which combined, contain 6,236
āyāt, or verses. The chronologically earlier suras, revealed at Mecca, are primarily concerned with ethical and spiritual topics. The later Medinan suras mostly discuss social and moral issues relevant to the Muslim community. The Qur'an is more concerned with moral guidance than legal instruction, and is considered the "sourcebook of Islamic principles and values". Muslim jurists consult the
hadith, or the written record of Prophet Muhammad's life, to both supplement the Qur'an and assist with its interpretation. The science of Qur'anic commentary and exegesis is known as
tafsir.
The word Qur'an means "recitation". When Muslims speak in the abstract about "the Qur'an", they usually mean the scripture as recited in Arabic rather than the printed work or any translation of it. To Muslims, the Qur'an is perfect only as revealed in the original Arabic; translations are necessarily deficient because of language differences, the fallibility of translators, and the impossibility of preserving the original's inspired style. Translations are therefore regarded only as commentaries on the Qur'an, or "interpretations of its meaning", not as the Qur'an itself.
Muslims identify the prophets of Islam (Arabic: نبي) as those humans chosen by God to be His messengers. According to the Qur'an the descendants of Abraham and Imran were chosen by God to bring the "Will of God" to the peoples of the nations. Muslims believe that prophets are human and not divine, though some are able to perform miracles to prove their claim. Islamic theology says that all of God's messengers preached the message of Islam—submission to the Will of God. The Qur'an mentions the names of numerous figures considered prophets in Islam, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, among others. Muslims believe that God finally sent Muhammad (Seal of the Prophets) to convey the divine message to the whole world (to sum up and to finalize the word of God), whereas he had previously sent the other messengers (rusul) to convey their messages to all men of faith, the family of Abraham.
In Islam, the "
normative" example of Muhammad's life is called the
Sunnah (literally "trodden path"). This example is preserved in traditions known as
hadith ("reports"), which recount his words, his actions, and his personal characteristics. The classical Muslim jurist
ash-Shafi'i (d. 820) emphasized the importance of the Sunnah in
Islamic law, and Muslims are encouraged to emulate Muhammad's actions in their daily lives. The Sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of the Qur'an. Two major hadith collections are
Sahih Bukhari and
Sahih Muslim.
Resurrection and judgment
Belief in the "Day of Resurrection",
yawm al-Qiyāmah (also known as yawm ad-dīn, "Day of Judgment" and as-sā`a, "the Last Hour") is also crucial for Muslims. They believe that the time of Qiyāmah is preordained by God but unknown to man. The trials and
tribulations preceding and during the Qiyāmah are described in the Qur'an and the
hadith, and also in the commentaries of
Islamic scholars. The Qur'an emphasizes
bodily resurrection, a break from the
pre-Islamic Arabian understanding of death. Resurrection will be followed by the judgment by God of those given the knowledge of the Quran.
The Qur'an lists several sins that can condemn a person to hell, such as disbelief,
usury and dishonesty. Muslims view paradise (
jannah) as a place of joy and bliss, with Qur'anic references describing its features and the physical pleasures to come. There are also references to a greater joy—acceptance by God (ridwān). Mystical traditions in Islam place these heavenly delights in the context of an ecstatic awareness of God.
In accordance with the Islamic belief in
predestination, or divine preordainment (al-qadā wa'l-qadar), God has full knowledge and control over all that occurs. This is explained in Qur'anic verses such as "Say: 'Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us: He is our protector'..." For Muslims, everything in the world that occurs, good or evil, has been preordained and nothing can happen unless permitted by God. According to Muslim theologians, although events are pre-ordained, man possesses free will in that he has the faculty to choose between right and wrong, and is thus responsible for his actions. According to Islamic tradition, all that has been decreed by God is written in al-Lawh al-Mahfūz, the "Preserved Tablet".
The Shi'a understanding of free will is called "divine justice" (Adalah). This doctrine, originally developed by the
Mu'tazila, stresses the importance of man's responsibility for his own actions. In contrast, the Sunni deemphasize the role of individual free will in the context of ancestry.[
citation needed]
The doctrine of Predestination is implied and not mentioned together with the first five articles which are stated in the same verses one after the other, in fact Quran does so more than once, God goes on to emphasis it in another way, He forbids the denial of the same five articles of belief, once again without the notion of Predestination;
.........."To believe in Allah, and in the hereafter, and in Malaika(angels or Allah’s forces), and in the Book, and the Prophets." ......... Quran (2:177)
..........."Anyone who denies Allah, His Malaika(angels or Allah’s forces), His books, His messengers, and the day of judgment has gone far far astray." Quran (4: 136)
The Five Pillars of Islam (Arabic: أركان الإسلام) are five practices essential to Sunni Islam. Shi'a Muslims subscribe to different sets of pillars which substantially overlap with the Five Pillars.
The Five Pillars of Islam are:
The
shahadah, which is the basic
creed of Islam that must be recited under
oath with the specific statement: "'ašhadu 'al-lā ilāha illā-llāhu wa 'ašhadu 'anna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh", or "I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God." This testament is a foundation for all other beliefs and practices in Islam. Muslims must repeat the shahadah in prayer, and non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are required to recite the creed.
Salah, or ritual prayer, which must be performed five times a day. Salah is intended to focus the mind on God, and is seen as a personal communication with him that expresses gratitude and worship. Salah is compulsory but flexibility in the specifics is allowed depending on circumstances. The prayers are recited in the Arabic language, and consist of verses from the Qur'an.
Sawm, or fasting during the month of Ramadan. Muslims must not eat or drink (among other things) from dawn to dusk during this month, and must be mindful of other sins. The fast is to encourage a feeling of nearness to God, and during it Muslims should express their gratitude for and dependence on him, atone for their past sins, and think of the needy. Sawm is not obligatory for several groups for whom it would constitute an undue burden. For others, flexibility is allowed depending on circumstances, but missed fasts usually must be made up quickly.
Zakat, or alms-giving, which is giving a fixed portion of accumulated wealth by those who can afford it to help the poor or needy, and also to assist the spread of Islam. It is considered a religious obligation (as opposed to voluntary charity) that the well-off owe to the needy because their wealth is seen as a "trust from God's bounty". The Qur'an and the hadith also suggest a Muslim give even more as an act of voluntary alms-giving (sadaqah).
The Sharia (literally "the path leading to the watering place") is Islamic law formed by traditional Islamic scholarship, which most Muslim groups adhere to. In Islam, Sharia is the expression of the divine will, and "constitutes a system of duties that are incumbent upon a Muslim by virtue of his religious belief".
Over the years there have been changing views on
Islamic law but many such as
Zahiri and
Jariri have since died out. Islamic law covers all aspects of life, from matters of state, like governance and
foreign relations, to issues of daily living. The Qur'an defines
hudud as the punishments for five specific crimes: unlawful intercourse, false accusation of unlawful intercourse, consumption of alcohol, theft, and highway robbery. The Qur'an and Sunnah also contain laws of
inheritance,
marriage, and
restitution for injuries and murder, as well as rules for
fasting,
charity, and
prayer. However, these
prescriptions and
prohibitions may be broad, so their application in practice varies.
Islamic scholars (known as ulema) have elaborated systems of law on the basis of these rules and their interpretations.
Fiqh, or "jurisprudence", is defined as the knowledge of the practical rules of the religion. The method Islamic jurists use to derive rulings is known as usul al-fiqh ("legal theory", or "principles of jurisprudence"). According to Islamic legal theory, law has four fundamental roots, which are given precedence in this order: the Qur'an, the Sunnah (actions and sayings of Muhammad), the consensus of the Muslim jurists (ijma), and analogical reasoning (qiyas). For early Islamic jurists, theory was less important than pragmatic application of the law. In the 9th century, the jurist ash-Shafi'i provided a theoretical basis for Islamic law by codifying the principles of jurisprudence (including the four fundamental roots) in his book ar-Risālah.
Religion and state
Mainstream Islamic law does not distinguish between "matters of church" and "matters of state"; the
ulema function as both jurists and theologians. In practice, Islamic rulers frequently bypassed the Sharia courts with a parallel system of so-called "Grievance courts" over which they had sole control. As the Muslim world came into contact with Western secular ideals, Muslim societies responded in different ways.
Turkey has been governed as a
secular state ever since the reforms of
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In contrast, the
1979 Iranian Revolution replaced a mostly secular regime with an
Islamic republic led by the
Ayatollah Khomeini.
Many practices fall in the category of adab, or Islamic etiquette. This includes greeting others with "
as-salamu `alaykum" ("peace be unto you"), saying
bismillah ("in
the name of God") before meals, and using only the right hand for eating and drinking.
Islamic hygienic practices mainly fall into the category of personal cleanliness and health.
Circumcision of male offspring is also practiced in Islam.
Islamic burial rituals include saying the
Salat al-Janazah ("funeral prayer") over the bathed and enshrouded dead body, and burying it in a grave. Muslims are restricted in their diet. Prohibited foods include pork products, blood,
carrion, and
alcohol. All meat must come from a
herbivorous animal slaughtered in the name of God by a Muslim, Jew, or Christian, with the exception of game that one has hunted or fished for oneself. Food permissible for Muslims is known as
halal food.
Jihad means "to strive or struggle" (in the way of God) and is considered the "
Sixth Pillar of Islam" by a minority of Sunni Muslim authorities. Jihad, in its broadest sense, is classically defined as "exerting one's utmost power, efforts, endeavors, or ability in contending with an object of disapprobation." Depending on the object being a visible enemy, the devil, and aspects of one's own self, different categories of Jihad are defined. Jihad, when used without any qualifier, is understood in its military aspect. Jihad also refers to one's striving to attain religious and moral perfection. Some Muslim authorities, especially among the Shi'a and
Sufis, distinguish between the "greater jihad", which pertains to spiritual self-perfection, and the "lesser jihad", defined as warfare.
Within
Islamic jurisprudence, jihad is usually taken to mean military exertion against non-Muslim combatants in the
defense or
expansion of the
Ummah. The ultimate purpose of military jihad is debated, both within the Islamic community and without, with some claiming that it only serves to protect the Ummah, with no aspiration of offensive conflict, whereas others have argued that the goal of Jihad is global conquest. Jihad is the only form of warfare permissible in Islamic law and may be declared against apostates, rebels, highway robbers, violent groups, and leaders or states who oppress Muslims or hamper proselytizing efforts. Most Muslims today interpret Jihad as only a defensive form of warfare: the external Jihad includes a struggle to make the Islamic societies conform to the Islamic norms of justice.
Under most circumstances and for most Muslims, jihad is a collective duty (
fard kifaya): its performance by some individuals exempts the others. Only for those vested with authority, especially the sovereign (
imam), does jihad become an individual duty. For the rest of the populace, this happens only in the case of a
general mobilization. For most
Shias,
offensive jihad can only be declared by a
divinely appointed leader of the Muslim community, and as such is suspended since
Muhammad al-Mahdi's occultation in 868 AD.
Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (the Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina, Saudi Arabia, is the site of Muhammad's tomb. Muhammad (c. 570 – June 8, 632) was a trader later becoming a religious, political, and military leader. Muslims view him not as the creator of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original, uncorrupted monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and others. In Muslim tradition, Muhammad is viewed as the last and the greatest in a series of prophets—as the man closest to perfection, the possessor of all virtues. For the last 22 years of his life, in 610, beginning at age 40, Muhammad started receiving revelations from God. The content of these revelations, known as the Qur'an, was memorized and recorded by his companions.
During this time, Muhammad preached to the people of Mecca, imploring them to abandon polytheism. Although some converted to Islam, Muhammad and his followers were persecuted by the leading Meccan authorities. After 12 years of preaching, Muhammad and the Muslims performed the
Hijra ("emigration") to the city of
Medina (formerly known as Yathrib) in 622. There, with the Medinan converts (
Ansar) and the Meccan migrants (
Muhajirun), Muhammad established his political and
religious authority. Within years, two battles had been fought against Meccan forces: the
Battle of Badr in 624, which was a Muslim victory, and the
Battle of Uhud in 625, which ended inconclusively. Conflict with Medinan Jewish clans who opposed the Muslims led to their exile, enslavement or death, and the Jewish enclave of
Khaybar was subdued. At the same time, Meccan trade routes were cut off as Muhammad brought surrounding desert tribes under his control. By 629 Muhammad was victorious in the nearly bloodless
Conquest of Mecca, and by the time of his death in 632 (at the age of 62) he ruled over the
Arabian peninsula.
Rise of the caliphate and civil war (632–750)
Muhammad began preaching Islam at Mecca before
migrating to
Medina, from where he united the
tribes of Arabia into a singular Arab Muslim religious polity. With Muhammad's death in 632, disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community.
Umar ibn al-Khattab, a prominent
companion of Muhammad, nominated
Abu Bakr, who was Muhammad's intimate friend and collaborator. Others added their support and Abu Bakr was made the first
caliph. Abu Bakr's immediate task was to avenge a recent defeat by
Byzantine (or
Eastern Roman Empire) forces, although he first had to put down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an episode known as the
Ridda wars, or "Wars of Apostasy".
His death in 634 resulted in the succession of Umar as the caliph, followed by
Uthman ibn al-Affan and Ali ibn Abi Talib. These four are known as al-khulafā' ar-rāshidūn ("
Rightly Guided Caliphs"). Under them, the territory under Muslim rule expanded deeply into
Persian and
Byzantine territories.
When Umar was assassinated in 644,
the election of Uthman as successor was met with increasing opposition. In 656, Uthman was also killed, and Ali assumed the position of caliph. After fighting off opposition in the
first civil war (the "First Fitna"), Ali was assassinated by
Kharijites in 661. Following this,
Mu'awiyah, who was governor of
Levant, seized power and began the
Umayyad dynasty.
These disputes over religious and political leadership would give rise to schism in the Muslim community. The majority accepted the legitimacy of the three rulers prior to Ali, and became known as
Sunnis. A minority disagreed, and believed that Ali was the only rightful successor; they became known as the
Shi'a. After Mu'awiyah's death in 680, conflict over succession broke out again in a civil war known as the "
Second Fitna". Afterward, the Umayyad dynasty prevailed for seventy years, and was able to conquer the
Maghrib and
Al-Andalus (the
Iberian Peninsula, former
Visigothic Hispania) and the
Narbonnese Gaul) in the west as well as expand Muslim territory into
Sindh and the fringes of
Central Asia. One of the best preserved architectural examples of Islamic conquest, is the
Great Mosque of Kairouan (in
Tunisia) founded in 670 by the Arab conqueror and Umayyad general Uqba ibn Nafi and considered as the ancestor and model for all the mosques in the western Islamic world. The
muladies (Muslims of ethnic
Iberian origin) are believed to have comprised the majority of the population of Al-Andalus by the end of the 10th century. While the Muslim-Arab elite engaged in conquest, some devout Muslims began to question the piety of indulgence in a worldly life, emphasizing rather poverty, humility and avoidance of sin based on renunciation of bodily desires. Devout Muslim ascetic exemplars such as
Hasan al-Basri would inspire a movement that would evolve into
Sufism.
For the Umayyad aristocracy, Islam was viewed as a religion for Arabs only; the economy of the Umayyad empire was based on the assumption that a majority of non-Muslims (
Dhimmis) would pay taxes to the minority of Muslim Arabs. A non-Arab who wanted to convert to Islam was supposed to first become a client of an Arab tribe. Even after conversion, these new Muslims (
mawali) did not achieve social and economic equality with the Arabs. The descendants of Muhammad's uncle
Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib rallied discontented mawali, poor Arabs, and some Shi'a against the Umayyads and overthrew them with the help of their propagandist and general
Abu Muslim, inaugurating the
Abbasid dynasty in 750.
Under the Abbasids, Islamic civilization flourished in the "
Islamic Golden Age", with its capital at the cosmopolitan city of
Baghdad. The
major hadith collections were compiled and the four modern Sunni
Madh'habs were established. Islamic law was advanced greatly by the efforts of the early 9th century jurist
al-Shafi'i; he codified a method to establish the reliability of hadith, a topic which had been a locus of dispute among Islamic scholars. Philosophers
Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and
Al-Farabi sought to incorporate Greek principles into Islamic theology, while others like the 11th century theologian
Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali argued against them and ultimately prevailed.
Sufism became a full-fledged movement that had moved towards mysticism and away from its ascetic roots, while Shi'ism split due to disagreements over the succession of Imams. The spread of the Islamic dominion induced hostility among
medieval ecclesiastical Christian authors who saw Islam as an adversary in the light of the large numbers of new Muslim converts. This opposition resulted in polemical treatises which depicted Islam as the religion of the
antichrist and of Muslims as libidinous and subhuman.
By the late 9th century, the Abbasid caliphate began to fracture as various regions gained increasing levels of autonomy. Across North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia,
emirates formed as provinces broke away. The monolithic Arab empire gave way to a more religiously homogenized
Muslim world where the Shia
Fatimids contested even the religious authority of the caliphate. In the 10th century the powerful
Ghaznavids conquered the Afghan-Persian region and a large part of the
Indian subcontinent in the name of Islam. They were replaced by the
Ghurids in the 12th century. In
836, Caliph
Al-Mu'tasim moved the
capital of the Caliphate from
Baghdad to the new city of
Samarra, which would remain the capital until
892 when it was returned to Baghdad by
al-Mu'tamid. By 1055 the
Seljuq Turks had eliminated the Abbasids as a military power, nevertheless they continued to respect the caliph's titular authority. During this time, expansion of the Muslim world continued, by both conquest and peaceful
proselytism even as both Islam and Muslim trade networks were extending into sub-Saharan
West Africa,
Central Asia,
Volga Bulgaria and the
Malay archipelago.
In the east the
Mongol Empire put an end to the Abbassid dynasty at the
Battle of Baghdad in 1258, as they overran the Muslim lands in a series of invasions. Meanwhile in Egypt, the slave-soldier
Mamluks took control in an uprising in 1250 and in alliance with the
Golden Horde halted the Mongol armies at the
Battle of Ain Jalut. Over the next century the Mongol
Khanates converted to Islam and this religious and cultural absorption ushered in a new age of Mongol-Islamic synthesis that shaped the further spread of Islam in central Asia, eastern Europe and the
Indian subcontinent. The
Crimean Khanate was one of the strongest powers in
Eastern Europe until the end of the 17th century. The
Black Death ravaged much of the Islamic world in the mid-14th century, probably brought by merchants making use of free passage offered by the
Pax Mongolica.
New dynasties and colonialism (1030–1918)
In the 13th and 14th centuries the
Ottoman Empire (named after
Osman I) emerged from among these "Ghazi emirates" and established itself after a string of conquests that included the
Balkans, parts of
Greece, and western Anatolia. In 1453 under
Mehmed II the Ottomans laid siege to
Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium,
which succumbed shortly thereafter, having been overwhelmed by a far greater number of Ottoman troops and to a lesser extent,
cannonry. The Ottomans launched a
European campaign which reached as far as
the gates of Vienna in 1529. Under Ottoman rule, many people in the
Balkans became Muslim. Around the 18th century, despite attempts at modernization, the Ottoman empire had begun to feel threatened by European economic and military advantages.
From the 14th to the 16th century much of the eastern Islamic world was experiencing another golden age under the
Timurid dynasty. In the early 16th century, the
Safavid dynasty assumed control in Persia and established Shi'a Islam as an official religion there, and despite periodic setbacks, the Safavids remained in power for two centuries until being usurped by the
Hotaki dynasty in the early 18th century.
Beginning in the 13th century, Sufism underwent a transformation, largely as a result of the efforts of
al-Ghazzali to legitimize and reorganize the movement. He developed the model of the Sufi order—a community of spiritual teachers and students. Also of importance to Sufism was the creation of the
Masnavi, a collection of mystical poetry by the 13th century
Persian poet
Rumi. The Masnavi had a profound influence on the development of Sufi religious thought; to many Sufis it is second in importance only to the Qur'an.
After the invasion of Persia and sack of Baghdad by the Mongols in the mid 13th century,
Delhi became the most important cultural centre of the Muslim east. Many Islamic dynasties ruled parts of the Indian subcontinent starting with the
Ghaznavids in the 10th century. The prominent ones included the
Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) and the
Mughal Empire (1526–1857). These empires helped in the spread of Islam in
South Asia, but by the early 18th century the
Hindu Maratha Empire was becoming the pre-eminent power in northern India until they were weakened by the
Durrani Empire in the mid-18th century.
It was during the 18th century that the
Wahhabi movement took hold in Saudi Arabia. Founded by the preacher
Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Wahhabism is a fundamentalist ideology that condemns practices like Sufism and the veneration of saints as un-Islamic. In the 19th century, the
Salafi,
Deobandi and
Barelwi movements were initiated.
By the 19th century the
British Empire had formally ended the last Mughal dynasty, and overthrew the Muslim-ruled
Kingdom of Mysore. In the 19th century, the
rise of nationalism resulted in Greece declaring and winning independence in 1829, with several Balkan states following suit after the Ottomans suffered defeat in the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. During this time, many Muslims migrated, as indentured servants, from mostly India and
Indonesia to the
Caribbean, forming the largest Muslim populations by percentage in the
Americas. Additionally, the resulting urbanization and increase in trade in
Africa brought Muslims to settle in new areas and spread their faith. As a result, Islam in sub-Saharan Africa likely doubled between 1869 and 1914. The Ottoman era came to a close at the end of
World War I and the
Caliphate was abolished in 1924.
By the early years of the 20th century, most of the Muslim world outside the Ottoman empire had been absorbed into the empires of non-Islamic European powers. After
World War I losses, nearly all of the Ottoman empire was also parceled out as European
protectorates or
spheres of influence. In the course of the 20th century, most of these European-ruled territories became independent, and new issues such as oil wealth and relations with the State of
Israel have assumed prominence.
In countries like
Iran, revolutionary movement replaced
secular regime with an
Islamic state, while transnational groups like
Osama bin Laden's
al-Qaeda engage in
terrorism to further their goals. In contrast,
Liberal Islam is a movement that attempts to reconcile religious tradition with modern norms of secular governance and
human rights. Its supporters say that there are multiple ways to read Islam's sacred texts, and stress the need to leave room for "independent thought on religious matters".
Muslim population by percentage worldwide
A comprehensive 2009 demographic study of 232 countries and territories reported that 23% of the global population or 1.57 billion people are Muslims. Of those, an estimated 87–90% are
Sunni and 10–13% are
Shi'a, with a small minority belonging to other sects. Approximately 50 countries are
Muslim-majority, and
Arabs account for around 20% of all Muslims worldwide.
Most estimates indicate that the
People's Republic of China has approximately 20 to 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the population). However, data provided by the
San Diego State University's International Population Center to
U.S. News & World Report suggests that China has 65.3 million Muslims. Islam is the second largest religion after
Christianity in many
European countries, and is slowly catching up to that status in the
Americas, with between 2,454,000, according to Pew Forum, and approximately 7 million Muslims, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in the United States.
A mosque is a
place of worship for Muslims, who often refer to it by its Arabic name, masjid. The word mosque in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated to Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately owned mosque and the larger, "collective" mosque (masjid jāmi`). Although the primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as a place of prayer, it is also important to the
Muslim community as a place to meet and study. Modern mosques have evolved greatly from the early designs of the 7th century, and contain a variety of architectural elements such as
minarets.
Many Muslim women do not show their hair in public. The basic unit of Islamic society is the
family, and Islam defines the obligations and legal rights of family members. The father is seen as financially responsible for his family, and is obliged to cater for their well-being. The division of
inheritance is specified in the Qur'an, which states that most of it is to pass to the immediate family, while a portion is set aside for the payment of debts and the making of bequests. The woman's share of inheritance is generally half of that of a man with the same rights of succession.
Marriage in Islam is a civil contract which consists of an offer and acceptance between two qualified parties in the presence of two witnesses. The groom is required to pay a bridal gift (mahr) to the bride, as stipulated in the contract.
A man may have up to four wives if he believes he can treat them equally, while a woman may have only one husband. In most Muslim countries, the process of divorce in Islam is known as
talaq, which the husband initiates by pronouncing the word "divorce". Scholars disagree whether Islamic holy texts justify traditional Islamic practices such as
veiling and seclusion (
purdah).
Starting in the 20th century, Muslim social reformers argued against these and other practices such as
polygamy in Islam, with varying success. At the same time, many Muslim women have attempted to reconcile tradition with modernity by combining an active life with outward modesty. Certain
Islamist groups like the
Taliban have sought to continue traditional law as applied to women.
The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle. The formal beginning of the Muslim era was chosen to be the
Hijra in 622 CE, which was an important turning point in Muhammad's fortunes. The assignment of this year as the year 1 AH (Anno Hegirae) in the Islamic calendar was reportedly made by
Caliph Umar. It is a
lunar calendar, with nineteen ordinary years of 354 days and eleven leap years of 355 days in a thirty-year cycle. Islamic dates cannot be converted to CE/AD dates simply by adding 622 years: allowance must also be made for the fact that each Hijri century corresponds to only 97 years in the Christian calendar.
The year 1428 AH coincides almost completely with 2007 CE.
Islamic
holy days fall on fixed dates of the lunar calendar, which means that they occur in
different seasons in different years in the
Gregorian calendar. The most important Islamic festivals are
Eid al-Fitr (Arabic: عيد الفطر) on the 1st of
Shawwal, marking the end of the fasting month
Ramadan, and
Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى) on the 10th of
Dhu al-Hijjah, coinciding with the pilgrimage to Mecca. Similar to the Jewish calendar, days in the Islamic calendar last from sunset to sunset.
