Islam in Asia

History of Islam in Asia

Islam has started in Asia which explains why more than two-thirds ofthe world Muslim population resides in this continent. Islam started inMecca in 609AD, and then was established in Medina in 622AD whichmarks the first Hijri year. Both cities are located in Hijaz, west of SaudiArabia. By the death of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in 632AD, Islamwas ruling all of the Arabian Peninsula. By the death of his secondCaliph Omar bnul Khattab in 644AD, most of the Near East, parts of theIndian Subcontinent and Central Asia were under Muslim control. Islamcontinued spreading in Asia but at a much slower rate.

Significant portion of Central Asia and part of China was conqueredduring the reign of the sixth Umayyad Caliph al-Walid I bnu AbdelMalik bnu Marwan who ruled from 705 to 715, or 50H to 96H. Islamspread to the rest of Central Asia and Russia when the Mongols adoptedIslam as their religion in the first half of the fourteenth century. Most ofthe Indian Subcontinent was under Muslim control by the end of thetwelfth century. Islam spread in the rest of Asia with trade andpreaching. It spread through much of the Malay Archipelago starting thetwelfth century and by the sixteenth century it became the dominantreligion. Islam only reached the Korean Peninsula and Japan during thetwentieth century.

Thus, the Muslim population has likely increased from 7.6 million or4.3% of the total Asian population in 700/100H, to 12.7 million or 7.0% in800/200H, to 17 million or 9.2% in 900/300H, to 21 million or 11.3% in 1000/400H, to 25 million or 12.0% in 1100/500H, to 29 million or 12.8% in1200/600H, to 35 million or 14.2% in 1300/700H, to 40 million or 15.1% in1400/800H, to 47 million or 16.7% in 1500/900H, to 60 million or 15.9% in1600/1000H, to 70 million or 17.3% in 1700/1100H, to 92 million or 13.9%in 1800/1200H, to 162 million or 17.9% in 1900/1300H, to 0.56 billion or21.4% in 1980/1400H, to 0.94 billion or 25.2% in 2000/1420H, to 1.3 billionor 28.8% in 2020, and is projected to reach 1.8 billion or 35% by2050/1470H and 2.1 billion or 44% by 2100/1520H.

A plot of centennial estimates of the Muslim population and itspercentage with respect to the total population in Asia from 600 to 2100is provided in Figure 2.0a. A zoom in of this plot, providing a plot ofdecennial estimates of the Muslim population and its percentage withrespect to the total population in Asia from 1900 to 2100 is provided inFigure 2.0b. This shows that the Muslim population in Asia will continueits sharp increase throughout this century, at rate of two percentagepoint per decade with respect to the total Asian population. It will peakslowly at 2.1 billion towards the end of this century. The Muslimpopulation would have increased between 1920 and 2050 by ten folds,and double between 2000 and 2050. The percentage of Muslims in thiscontinent will continue its substantial increase throughout this century,doubling between 1980 and 2090.

We divided Asia into six regions; the data for each is included in aseparate section and are sorted in terms of the percentage of Muslims indescending order. These regions are the Near East (Section 2.1), ArabianAsia (Section 2.2), Central Asia (Section 2.3), Southeast Asia (Section 2.4),the Indian Subcontinent (Section 2.5), and the Far East (Section 2.6). Thecountry of Russia was not included in Asia as most of its populationlives in the European side of the country, although most of its territory isin Asia. Also, the European side of Turkiye is included here. In Section2.7, the total population in each of the six Asian regions and thecorresponding percentage and number of Muslims is presentedcentennially in Tables 2.7a and 2.7b from 600 to 2100, and decennially inTables 2.7c to 2.7f from 1790 to 2100