1/4th of the world's population is now Muslim

Islam may be most closely associated with the Middle East, where it emerged in Arabia in the seventh century, but today the region is home to only one in five of the world's Muslims, according to a study of the religion's global distribution.

The world's Muslim population stands at 1.57 billion, meaning that nearly one in four people practise Islam, according to the US Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which published the survey. This compares to 2.25 billion Christians.

The top five Muslim countries in the world include only one in the Middle East ‑ Egypt ‑ behind Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, in that order. Russia, the survey shows, has more Muslims than the populations of Libya and Jordan combined. Germany has more Muslims than Lebanon. China has a bigger Muslim population than Syria.

The work, the largest of its kind, was the result of three years of research examining data from 232 countries and territories.

The reality, as described by Mapping the Global Muslim Population, is that two out of three Muslims are Asians, while the 38 million Muslims in Europe, if treated as a separate group, would be the ninth largest in the world, behind Turkey, with a population of 71 million, and ahead of Algeria, with 34 million.

Pew Forum, in consultation with nearly 50 demographers and social scientists at universities and research centres around the world, analysed about 1,500 sources, including census reports, demographic studies and general population surveys, to arrive at their figures.

The research is the first step in projecting growth trends in the world's Muslim population, and a similar survey is planned by the Pew Forum on the distribution of Christians.

"This whole idea that Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslims is really just obliterated by this report," said Amaney Jamal, an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University.

"There are these countries that we don't think of as Muslim at all, and yet they have very sizeable numbers of Muslims," said Alan Cooperman, associate director of research for the Pew Forum, naming India, Russia and China.

Islam had a huge geographic reach ‑ from the Atlantic coast to central Asia ‑ within a century of the prophet Muhammad's death, but until now its modern global profile was based on rough estimates.

The Pew Forum study depicts the world's second largest religion as complex and nuanced, challenging the notion that its trajectory is defined by a minority of Islamists.

Significantly, one in five of Muslims now lives in a country where they are represented as a religious minority, with three-quarters of that number concentrated in five countries: India (161 million), Ethiopia (28 million), China (22 million), Russia (16 million) and Tanzania (13 million).

The survey also attempted to quantify the relative sizes of the two main branches of Islam - Sunni and Shia - but came up against the difficulty that many national demographers did not distinguish between the two. It ended up suggesting that Shias, concentrated largely in four countries including Iran and Pakistan, probably made up between 10 and 13% of Muslims.

In summary:

• India, a majority-Hindu country, has more Muslims than any country except for Indonesia and Pakistan, and more than twice as many as Egypt.
• China has more Muslims than Syria.
• Germany has more Muslims than Lebanon.

• And Russia has more Muslims than Jordan and Libya put together.

• Nearly two out of three of the world's Muslims are in Asia, stretching from Turkey to Indonesia.

• The Middle East and north Africa, which together are home to about one in five of the world's Muslims, trail a very distant second.

• There are about 1.57 billion Muslims in the world
• One in five of the world's Muslims lives in a country where Muslims are a minority.
• Russia, Albania, Kosovo, those places -- Muslims are an indigenous population
• Roughly nine out of 10 Muslims worldwide are Sunni, and about one in 10 is Shiite

• One in three of the world's Shiite Muslims lives in Iran, which is one of only four countries with a Shiite majority, he said. The others are Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain.

You can see complete map of the Muslim World here.

Dont Be Sad: Find consolation by remembering the afflicted

Look around you, to the right and to the left. Do you not see the afflicted and the unfortunate? In every house there is mourning and upon every cheek run tears.

How many tribulations and how many people persevere with patience? You are not alone in your troubles, which are few compared to those of others. How many sick people remain bedridden for years while suffering from unspeakable pain?

How many have not seen the light of the sun for years due to their imprisonment, having knowledge of nothing but the four corners of their cell?

How many men and women have lost their dear children in the prime of youth?

How many people are troubled or tormented?

Find consolation with those that are worse off than you; know that this life is like a prison for the believer, an abode of grief and sadness. In the morning castles are bustling with inhabitants; then in an instant, disaster occurs, and they are empty and desolate. Life can be peaceful, the body in good health, wealth abundant, and children healthy; and yet in only a matter of days, poverty, death, separation, and sickness can all take their place.

{And you dwelt in the dwellings of men who wronged themselves, and it was clear to you how We had dealt with them. And We put forth [many] parables for you.} (Qur’an 14. 45)

You must adapt like the experienced camel, which manages, when necessary, to kneel upon a rock. You must also compare your difficulties with the difficulties of those around you, and with those that have come before you: you should realize that you are in good shape relative to them, and that you have merely been pricked by tiny difficulties. So praise Allah for His kindness, be thankful for what He has left for you, seek recompense from Him for what He has taken, and seek consolation with those that are afflicted.

You have a perfect example in the Prophet (bpuh). The entrails of a camel were placed upon his head; his feet bled; his face was fractured; he was besieged in a mountain pass until he was forced to eat tree leaves; he was driven out of Makkah; his front tooth was broken in battle; his innocent wife was accused of wrongdoing; seventy of his Companions were killed; he was bereaved of his son and of most of his daughters; he would tie a stone around his stomach to lessen the pangs of hunger; and he was accused of being a poet, a magician, a soothsayer, a madman, and a liar — all at the same time. Yet Allah protected him throughout these severe trials and tribulations. Prophet Zakariyah (Zacharia) was killed, Prophet Yahya (John) was slaughtered, Prophet Moosa (Moses) was afflicted with great trials, Prophet Ibraheem (Abraham) was thrown in the fire, (may peace be upon them all), and the Imams of righteousness followed them upon this path. ‘Umar was assassinated, as was ‘Uthmaan and ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with them all). Many scholars of the past have been flogged, imprisoned, or tortured.

{Or think you that you will enter Paradise without such [finals] as came to those who passed away before you? They were afflicted with severe poverty ailments and were shaken.} (Qur’an 2: 214)

Source: Don't Be Sad - By Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni

Dont Be Sad: The prayer ... the prayer

{O’ you who believe! Seek help in patience and the Prayer.}

(Qur’an 2:153)

If you are beset with fear and anxieties, stand up right now and pray: your soul will find comfort and solace. The prayer — as long as you perform it sincerely with a wakeful heart — is guaranteed to have this effect for you.

Whenever the Prophet (bpuh) was afflicted with hardship, he would say:

“O’ Bilal! Give us comfort and call for the prayer.”

Theprayer was his joy and pleasure; it was the delight of his eye. I have read biographies of many righteous people, who would always turn to prayer when they were surrounded by difficulties and hardship, people who would pray until their strength, will, and resolution returned to them.

The Prayer of Fear (which is performed during battle) was prescribed in situations wherein limbs are severed, skulls fly, and souls depart from their bodies — a time when strength and resolution can only be derived from heartfelt prayer.

This generation, which is consumed by psychological sicknesses, must return to the Mosque, going there to perform prostration and to seek Allah’s pleasure. If we do not do this, tears will bum our eyes and grief will destroy our nerves.

By earnestly performing the five daily prayers, we achieve the greatest of blessings: atonement for our sins and an increase in rank with our Lord. Prayer is also a potent remedy for our sicknesses, for it instills faith in our souls. As for those that keep away from the Mosque and away from prayer, for them are unhappiness, wretchedness, and an embittered life.

{For them is destruction, and Allah will make their deeds vain.}

(Qur’an 47: 8)

Source: Don't Be Sad - By Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni

Image Source: Baltimore Sun.

A Palestinian Muslim girl looks on while praying with her mother during the first Friday prayers of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, Aug. 28, 2009. Muslims throughout the world are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, where observants fast from dawn till dusk.

Dont Be Sad: Or do they envy men for what Allah has given them of His Bounty

Or do they envy men for what Allah has given them of His Bounty?} (Qur’an 4: 54)

Jealousy is a disease that wreaks havoc not only on the mind, but also on the body. It is said that there is no repose for the jealous one and that he is an enemy wearing the garb of a friend. In doing justice to the disease of jealousy, one can say that it is a fair one, for it begins with its bearer, killing him first.

I forbid both you and myself from jealousy, because before we can show mercy to others we must first show it to ourselves. By being jealous of others, we are feeding misery with our flesh and blood and we are giving our sound sleep to others.

The jealous person lights a fire and then jumps into it. Jealousy begets grief, pain, and suffering, thus destroying what was once a calm and virtuous life.

The curse of the jealous one is that he contests fate and contends that his Creator is unjust.

How like a disease is jealousy, yet unlike other diseases — the one afflicted by it receives no reward in the Hereafter. The jealous person shall remain in fury until the day he dies, or until the good fortune of others departs from them. Everyone can be reconciled except the jealous one, because reconciliation with him requires that the blessings of Allah are removed from you or that you give up your talents and good qualities. If you were to do this, then perhaps he would become happy despite himself. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of the jealous one, a person who becomes like a black poisonous snake, finding no repose until it releases its venom into an innocent body.

So stay far away from jealousy and seek refuge in Allah from the jealous person, because he is constantly watching you.

Source: Don't Be Sad - By Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni

How Greece Welcomes Its Female Muslims

Islam Online has an interview with Anna Stamou, A Greek Revert sister who is also a board member of Muslim Association of Greece.

For those who are interested, can read the interview here.

The Muslim Association of Greece website in English here.

From the website:

There are an estimated 830 000 – 1 000 000 Muslims in Greece.

The Muslim community in Greece is made up of people from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and national origins.

In Thrace, North East of Greece, a Muslim community of about 120 000 Muslims is based. More specifically, 50 percent of Thrace’s Muslims are of Turkish origin, 35 percent are Pomaks, and 15 percent are Roma people. Each has its own language and traditions. They have their own imams, mosques, cemeteries, schools, etc. but they are all united as this population was exempted from applying the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne VI, 1923; a treaty which aimed at applying an obligatory exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey following World War I.

The majority of Muslims in Greece comprises of immigrants who had settled in Greece during the last 40 years coming mainly from Arab countries and partly from other Muslim lands, like Pakistan. These Muslims, who are approximately 700 000 living all over Greece, have a variety of occupations, not only as low-profession workers who are estimated at 90 percent of the total immigrant percentage. Some of these immigrants have better opportunities and work in high-professions, so there are doctors, scientists, professors, entrepreneurs, businessmen, and importers.

And then there are Greeks who embraced Islam after studying it, or after getting married to Muslims whereby they had the chance to meet Muslims and interact with them. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions around the world.

Dont Be Sad: Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest

{Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.}

(Qur’an 13. 28)

Truthfulness is beloved by Allah and is purifying soap for the heart. And there is no deed that gives such pleasure to the heart, or has greater reward, than the remembrance of Allah.

{Therefore remember Me, and I will remember you...}

(Qur’an 2: 152)

Remembrance of Allah is His paradise on earth, and whoever does not enter it will not enter the Paradise of the Hereafter. Remembrance is not only a safe haven from the problems and worries of this world, but it is also the short and easy path to achieving ultimate success. Read the various revealed texts that refer to the remembrance of Allah, and you will appreciate its benefits.

When you remember Allah, clouds of worry and fear are driven away, and the mountains that make up your problems are blown away.

We should not be surprised when we hear that people who remember Allah are at peace. What is truly surprising is how the negligent and unmindful survive without remembering Him.

{[They are] dead, lifeless, and they know not when they will be raised up.} (Qur’an 16: 21)

O’ whosoever complains of sleepless nights and is in shock over his misfortune, call out His Holy Name.

{Do you know of any that is similar to Him! [There is nothing like unto Him and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer].}

(Qur’an 19: 65)

To the degree that you remember Allah, your heart will be calm and cheerful. His remembrance carries with it the meaning of total dependence upon Him, of turning to Him for aid, of having good thoughts about Him, and of waiting for victory from Him. Truly, He is near when supplicated: He hears when He is called and He answers when He is invoked, so humble yourself before Him and ask of Him sincerely. Repeat His beautiful blessed name, and mention Him as being alone worthy of worship. Mention His praises, supplicate to Him, and ask forgiveness from Him: you will then find — by the will of Allah — happiness, peace, and illumination.

{So Allah gave them the reward of this world, and the excellent reward of the Hereafter.} (Qur’an 3: 148)

Source: Don't Be Sad - By Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni

Dua and Donation for Indonesia Earthquake Victims

In rural areas of Indonesia, weddings are communal, open-air affairs. Some 400 people attended the nuptials of a couple in Pulau Aiya, a village outside Padang, last Wednesday. Then the ground shook and swallowed everyone up.

"They were sucked 30m deep into the earth," Rustam Pakaya, head of the Indonesian Health Ministry's crisis centre, said yesterday. "Even the mosque's minaret, more than 20m tall, disappeared."

Three days after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake devastated Padang and surrounding areas on the west coast of Sumatra, the full impact of the tragedy is starting to become clear. Whole villages were found obliterated yesterday by rescuers pushing deeper into the disaster zone, where roads remain cut off and survivors – still desperately awaiting aid – are subsisting on coconut milk.

The official death toll from Wednesday's quake stood at 809 last night, but the Indonesian Red Cross believes up to 4,000 people are lying beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings. The chances of finding more survivors are receding by the hour. Rescuers, boosted by teams from Britain, Australia and Japan, among other countries, are pulling out body after body. The morgues are overflowing.

Still, extraordinary stories of survival are continuing to emerge. "Please help, I'm trapped, my position is in the house by the stairs." That brief text message, sent to his father in Jakarta nearly 600 miles away, saved Johnson Chandra's life after a four-storey building in Padang toppled, trapping him and his wife.

Mr Chandra tried without success to call relatives and friends on his mobile phone. "I was desperate," he said. "But I suddenly thought about texting, so I texted my dad to let him know where I was. Later I heard people coming, so I tried to make a sound. I found a small nail and started banging it. They finally found me. Slowly they broke concrete around me, and I was rescued 10 hours after the quake."

Another text was sent from the bowels of the Ambacang Hotel in Padang, but with a less happy outcome. Rescuers tunnelled through the ruins of the Dutch colonial-era hotel yesterday after the message alerted them to eight people alive inside. But sniffer dogs found no signs of life.

Rescue workers reported yesterday that entire villages had been sucked under the earth after the the devastating earthquake that hammered western Sumatra, estimating that at last 600 people had lost their lives in the countryside surrounding Pandang.

The dead included those attending a large wedding party numbering several hundreds. If the figure is confirmed, it would bring the total death toll to above 1,300. More than 3,000 people were listed as missing before the news about the villages emerged.

In Pandang itself, a colonial-era hotel became the national focus for hopes that survivors might still be found .

In dramatic scenes, rescuers dug for eight guests and staff rumoured to be alive in the wreckage of the city's Ambacang hotel.

At the hotel, a prominent landmark in the university town of 900,000, the rescue efforts were inspired by a text message sent by a victim to his family on Friday. The message, delivered as rescue workers attempted to burrow their way through rubble and masonry, said simply: "Be careful that the excavator doesn't cause the building to collapse on us."

The once grand, 140-room hotel complex was destroyed by the earthquake, but relatives and locals gathered outside as rescuers searched among the rubble for the survivors they believed could be trapped between the fifth and sixth floors. Jul, who worked as a waiter in the hotel's restaurant downstairs, said he did not believe anyone could still be alive in the wreckage. "I think seven people I know are inside. Inside somewhere. Alive? I don't think so," he said.

The cavity of the KFC restaurant on the ground floor remained largely untouched. Tables still stood and food, abandoned in panic, still sat on them. "We estimate there are still eight people trapped alive under Ambacang Hotel," Colonel Boy Rafli Amar told reporters. "We are still trying hard to evacuate them," Private Harmen told the Observer. He believed the operation had moved from rescue to recovery. "The last text message was at 5pm yesterday. I do not think they are alive any more."

In the countryside, as rescuers finally reached remoter areas, they discovered that at least three villages had disappeared.

Dont Be Sad: Extract the honey but do not break the hive

Everything that has gentleness in it is beautified, and whatever lacks it is spoiled. When you meet someone, giving him a bright smile and a kind word, you are displaying a characteristic of the truly successful man, a characteristic that even a bee exhibits. When a bee lands on a flower (doing so for a practical purpose) it does not destroy it, because Allah rewards gentleness with that which He does not give for harshness. There are certain people whose personalities are like magnets, attracting everyone who is nearby, simply because they are loved for their gentle talk, their good manners, and their noble deeds.

Winning the friendship of others is an art that is mastered by those that are noble and pious; a circle of people constantly surrounds them. Their mere presence in a gathering is a blessing, and when they are absent they are missed and asked about.

These blessed people have a code of conduct entitled:

{Repel [the evil] with one which is better [i.e. Allah ordered the faithful believers to be patient at the time of anger, and to excuse those who treat them badly], then verily! He, between whom and you there was enmity [will become] as though he was a close friend.} (Qur’an 41. 34)

They suck out malice from others with their sincerity, forgiveness, and gentleness. They forget evil that was enacted upon them and preserve the memory of kindnesses received. Biting, harsh words may be aimed at them, but such words pass by their ears without entering and continue on their path without ever returning. They are in a state of calmness. People in general, and Muslims in particular, are safe from suffering any harm at their hands. The Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) said:

“The Muslim is the person whose tongue and hand do not harm other Muslims. And the Believer is he whom others trust, with their blood and wealth.”

He (bpuh) also said:

“Verily, Allah ordered me to keep relations with those that cut me off, to forgive the one who does an injustice with me, and to give to those who withhold from me.”

{Those who repress anger, and who pardon men; verily Allah loves the good-doers.} (Qur’an 3: 134)

Give to such people glad tidings of an imminent reward in this world, in terms of peace and tranquility.

Also give glad tidings to them of a great reward in the Hereafter, of Paradise, wherein they will be in close proximity to their forgiving Lord.

Ya Taybah Children Nasheed

In case someone wants to know what the song is about, the details as follows:

Tayba is the Nick name of Al Madina (Al Munawwara), the city of the prophet Mohammad PBUH.


ya tayba ya tayba ya dawa al-ayyana
eshta`nalik wil hawa nadana

O Tayba, O Tayba
O cure of the patient
we missed you, and passion has called us to you


lamma sar ilmarkab nasani
saro we`dam`i ma jafani
akhado albi ma` jinani
ya tayba ya teem alwalhana

As the ship departed, it forgot me
they sailed away and my tears never dried up
they took my heart and my soul with them
O Tayba, you're the distracted's love



qiblati baytu`llahi sabir
allani laki yawman za`ir
ya tura hal tarani nathir lil K`abah
w`toghmurni `bamana

My direction of prayer (my Qiblah), the house of Allah, I'm patient
perhaps a day will come to visit you
I wonder, Will I be looking upon alkaaba
and being overwhelmed with it's safety..


nabina aghla umniyati
azorak lo marra `b hayati
wib jiwarak salli salati
wathkur rabbi watlu `l Qurana

Our prophet, my best wishes, to visit u,
At least once in my life
and near you, to perform my prayers
to praise my Lord, and to recite Qur'an


bushrakil`Madina bushraki
biqudom ilHadi ya bushraki
fa hal li ma`wa fi himaki
atamalla fa`nnooru sabana
noorukom sabana

O Madina, How lucky you are
for the coming of the loadstar
May I have a shelter beside you
Indeed, your light has enchanted us

Ya Allah Arabic Nasheed