Muslims () are people who are adherents of Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraham (or Allah) as it was revealed to Muhammad, the last Islamic prophet. Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in finality of prophet as well as previous revelations, such as the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injil (Gospel). These earlier revelations are associated with Judaism and Christianity, which are regarded by Muslims as earlier versions of Islam. The majority of Muslims also follow the teachings, traits and practices attributed to Muhammad (sunnah) as recorded in traditional accounts (hadith).
With an estimated population of 2 billion followers, Muslims comprise around 26% of total global population. In descending order, the percentage of people who identify as Muslims on each continental landmass stands at: 45% of Africa, 25% of Asia and Oceania collectively, 6% of Europe, and 1% of the Americas. Additionally, in subdivided geographical regions, the figure stands at: 91% of the Middle East–North Africa, 90% of Central Asia, 65% of the Caucasus, 42% of Southeast Asia, 32% of South Asia, and 42% of sub-Saharan Africa.
While there are several Islamic schools and branches, as well as non-denominational Muslims, the two largest denominations are Sunni Islam (87–90% of all Muslims)* Sunni Islam: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide "Sunni Islam is the dominant division of the global Muslim community, and throughout history it has made up a substantial majority (85 to 90 percent) of that community."
and Shia Islam (10–13% of all Muslims). By sheer numbers, South Asia accounts for the largest portion (31%) of the global Muslim population. By country, Indonesia is the largest in the Muslim world, holding around 12% of all Muslims worldwide; with Pakistan having the second-largest number of Muslims in the world after Indonesia. Outside the Muslim-majority countries, India and China are home to the largest (11%) and second-largest (2%) Muslim populations, respectively. Due to high Muslim population growth, Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world. Muslims have experienced persecution of varying severity, especially in China, India, some parts of Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Etymology
The word muslim or moslem is the active participle of the same verb of which islām is a verbal noun, based on the triliteral Š-L-M "to be whole, intact".Burns & Ralph, World Civilizations, 5th ed., p. 371.Entry for šlm, p. 2067, Appendix B: Semitic Roots, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, . A female adherent is a muslima (; also transliterated as muslimah).Muslimah . Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. 2016 The plural form in Arabic is muslimūn () or muslimīn (), and its feminine equivalent is muslimāt ().
In English The ordinary word in English is "Muslim". For most of the 20th century, the preferred spelling in English was "Moslem", but this has now fallen into disuse. That spelling and its pronunciation were opposed by many Muslims in English-speaking countries because the "s" was often pronounced with a z sound. This made the word more closely match the Arabic triliteral ẓ-l-m (), which has negative meanings and includes the Arabic word for "the oppressor".Baker, Paul, Costas Gabrielatos, and Tony McEnery. "Muslim or Moslem? Differences between newspapers: Vanishing Moslems", Discourse Analysis and Media Attitudes: The Representation of Islam in the British Press, Cambridge University Press, 2013, pages 76-78. In the United States, the Associated Press (AP) instructed news outlets to switch to the spelling "Muslim" in 1991, making it the most common spelling thereafter."Term 'Moslem' becomes 'Muslim', San Angelo Standard-Times, 1 January 1991, page 11A, via Newspapers.com. See also Newspapers.com search results for the word "Moslem", which show a sharp decline immediately after the AP's decision.Chen, Yii-Ann Christine. "Why Do People Say Muslim Now Instead of Moslem?", History News Network, 8 July 2002, Web. Retrieved 18 May 2024. The last major newspaper in the United Kingdom to use the spelling "Moslem" was the Daily Mail, which switched to "Muslim" in 2004.
The word Mosalman, Mussulman, or Musulman (, alternatively musalmān) is a common equivalent for Muslim used in Central and South Asia. In English it was sometimes spelled Mussulman and has become archaic in usage; however, cognates of this word remain the standard term for "Muslim" in various other European languages. Until at least the mid-1960s, many English-language writers used the term Mohammedans or Mahometans.See for instance the second edition of A Dictionary of Modern English Usage by H. W. Fowler, revised by Ernest Gowers (Oxford, 1965). Although such terms were not necessarily intended to be pejorative, Muslims argue that the terms are offensive because they allegedly imply that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. Other obsolete terms include Muslimite and Muslimist. In medieval Europe, Muslims were commonly called Saracens.
In Islam The Muslim philologist Ibn al-Anbari said:
In several places in the Quran, the word muslim conveys a universal meaning, beyond the description of the followers of Muhammad, for example:Seyyed Hossein Nasr (2015), The Study Quran, HarperCollins, footnote p. 146
Quranic studies scholar Mohsen Goudarzi has argued that in the Quran the word dīn means "worship", the islām means "monotheism" and the muslim means "monotheist".
Until the 8th century, the term muslim was more inclusive, including anyone who was considered to be submitting to God—e.g. Christians and Jews—and the term mu'min was instead used to refer to believers in Islam as a distinct religion.
Qualifiers
To become a Muslim and to convert to Islam, it is essential to say the Shahada in front of Muslim witnesses,Galonnier, Juliette. "Moving In or Moving Toward? Reconceptualizing Conversion to Islam as a Liminal Process1." Moving in and out of Islam. University of Texas Press, 2018. 44–66. one of the Five Pillars of Islam, a declaration of faith and trust that professes that there is only one God (Allah) and that Muhammad is God's messenger. It is a set statement normally recited in Arabic: ašhadu ʾan-lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāhu wa ʾašhadu ʾanna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh () "I testify that there is no god [worthy of worship] except Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."
In Sunni Islam In Sunni Islam, the shahada has two parts: la ilaha illa'llah (there is no god but Allah), and Muhammadun rasul Allah (Muhammad is the messenger of God),Lindsay, p. 140–141 which are sometimes referred to as the first shahada and the second shahada.Cornell, p. 9 The first statement of the shahada is also known as the tahlīl.
In Shia Islam In Shia Islam, the shahada also has a third part, a phrase concerning Ali, the first Shia Imam and the fourth Rashid caliph of Sunni Islam: (), which translates to "Ali is the wali of God".The Later Mughals by William Irvine p. 130
In Quranism In Quranist Islam, the shahada is the testimony that there is no god but Allah (la ilaha illa'llah). Quranists believe adding Muhammad or other messengers in the declaration of faith contradicts the Quran and leads to idolization alongside God.
Five Pillars of Islam
The religious practices of Muslims are enumerated in the Five Pillars of Islam: the declaration of faith (shahadah), daily prayers (salah), almsgiving (zakat), fasting during the month of Ramadan (sawm), and the pilgrimage to Makkah (hajj) at least once in a lifetime.
In Islamic theology
The majority of theological traditions of Islam accept that works do not determine if someone is a Muslim or not. God alone would know about the belief of a person. Fellow Muslims can only accept the personal declaration of faith. Only the Khawārij developed an understanding of Muslim identity based mainly on the adherence to liturgical and legal norms.Johansen, Baber. Contingency in a sacred law: legal and ethical norms in the Muslim fiqh. Vol. 7. Brill, 1999.
When asked about one's beliefs, it is recommended for one to say the Istit̲h̲nāʾ, for example, "in-sha'allah I am Muslim a believer" (so God will, I am Muslim), since only God knows the future of a person. Among Ash'arites, it is also seen as a sign of humility and the individual's longing to improve, because the creature has no assurance of their own state (of belief) until the end of life.Watt, W. Montgomery. "A Commentary on the Creed of Islam: al-Taftazani on the Creed of al-Nasafi. Translated, with introduction and notes, by Earl Edgar Elder, pp. xxxii+ 187. New York: Columbia University Press (London: Geoffrey Cumberlege). 1950. 30s." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 83.1-2 (1951): 129-129.
The Quran describes many prophets and messengers within Judaism and Christianity, and their respective followers, as Muslim. Some of those that were mentioned are: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Jacob, Moses, and Jesus and his apostles are all considered to be Muslims in the Quran. The Quran states that these men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached His message and upheld His values, which included praying, charity, fasting and pilgrimage. Thus, in Surah 3:52 of the Qur'an, Jesus' disciples tell him: "We believe in God; and you be our witness that we are Muslims (wa-shahad be anna muslimūn)." In Islamic belief, before the Quran, God had given the Tawrat (Torah) to the prophets and messengers among the Children of Israel, the Zabur (Psalms) to David and the Injil (Gospel) to Jesus, who are all considered important Muslim prophets.
Demographics
According to Pew estimates, as of 2020, Muslims made up about 25.6% of the global population, or roughly 2 billion people. The growth is mainly due to Muslims having a younger average age and higher birth rates—two key drivers of natural population increase. The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to 12.7% of the world's Muslims, followed by Pakistan (11.0%), Bangladesh (9.2%), Nigeria (5.3%) and Egypt (4.9%). About 20% of the world's Muslims live in the Middle East and North Africa. Non-majority India contains 10.9% of the world's Muslims. and Arab Muslims form the largest ethnic group among Muslims in the world,Margaret Kleffner Nydell Understanding Arabs: A Guide For Modern Times, Intercultural Press, 2005, , page xxiii, 14 followed by Bengalis, and Punjabis..
Over 87–90% of Muslims are Sunni. The second-largest sect, Shia, make up 10–13%, whereas other movements such as the Ahmadiyya, Quranism, Ibadism, collectively count for 1% per cent. While the majority of the population in the Middle East identify as either Sunni or Shia, a significant number of Muslims identify as non-denominational.
With about 2 billion followers (2025), over a quarter of earth's population, Islam is the second-largest and the fastest-growing religion in the world, primarily due to the young age and high fertility rate of Muslims, with Muslims having a rate of 3.1 compared to the world average of 2.5. According to the same study, religious switching has no impact on the Muslim population, since the number of people who embrace Islam and those who leave Islam are roughly equal. According to a 2020 Pew study, about 1% of adults raised Muslim leave the faith, while a similar share convert to Islam, resulting in low levels of religious switching both into and out of Islam.