Taking The Mystery Out Of Muslims Part 4 of 7
Cults, Occult And World Religions
Since September 11, 2001 all of us have become very aware of the world religion called Islam. Words like jihad, ayatollah, martyr, and Allah are commonly heard on TV, radio and talked about in American households. The question is, “Who are the Muslims?”
The term “Islam” means “submission” to the will of God. The person who submits is called a “Muslim,” or a submitted one. Today, Islam is the second largest and fastest-growing religion in the world. It claims to have 1.2 billion followers, (one out of every five people) or about 20% of the world’s population. In comparison, all of Christianity, with all its denominations, has about 1.8 billion followers. A United Nations demographic report forecasts Muslims will represent at least half of the global birthrate after the year 2055.
Although Islam was born in Arabia, today most Muslims are not of Arab descent. Indonesia has 172 million Muslims, 83% of its population; Pakistan has 137 million Muslims, 97% of its population; Bangladesh has 107 million Muslims, 87% of its population; India has 138 million Muslims, 14% of its population. Islam is the second largest religion in Europe (over 12 million) and if it had not been for Charles Martel, who defeated the Muslim armies at the Battle of Tours (France) in 732, possibly all of Europe would have fallen to Islam. According to Muslim leaders, there are more than 6 million Muslims in the United States, a little less than half the size of our nation’s largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, which has 15 million followers. An October 8, 1990 article in the U.S. News And World Report stated that Islam is growing at a rate of 400% per year in the U.S.A. Muslims are found in all 50 states with the greatest concentrations in California, the Northeast and Midwest. The oldest mosque in the U.S. was built in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1934 and is still in use. Today there are over 3,000 mosques in the U.S. with new ones being built every week. In all, over 65 nations in the world today are Islamic.
Islam is the world’s youngest major world religion that came into existence 1400 years ago. It claims, however, to be the restoration of original monotheism and truth and thus claims to supersede both Judaism and Christianity. Tonight we will examine: The Prophet of Islam The Pillars of Islam The Scriptures of Islam What Do Muslims Believe?