QUESTION 2 - Inside Islam.

I have heard that the number of Muslims is rapidly increasing each year throughout the world. Is this true?

Answer is “yes”, Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. The mail reason for this trend is population growth, through adult converts make up a significant portion of Islam’s expansion as well. The number of Muslims in the world is increasing faster than the world population as a whole. In addition, those who proselytize for Islam are aggressive, well-prepared, and successful. Islam is sweeping through Africa and gaining ground in former Catholic bastions such as the Philippines. In the West, a few high profile converts – such as Muhammad Ali, Cat Stevens, Mike Tyson, Ahmad Rashad, and NBA stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Johnson, Mahmood Abdul Rauf, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim have given Islam an aura of cool. In the United States there are now about as many Muslims as there are Jews and more Muslims than Presbyterians. Over the past forty years, Islam has also made significant inroads among African Americans, as witnessed by the rise of the Nation of Islam and other Black Muslim groups (although traditional Sunni and Shiite Muslims consider the Nation of Islam and similar sects to be heretical).
Far from suffering a drop-off after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Muslim groups have claimed a large influx of converts in the United States and Europe. Meanwhile, huge numbers of immigrants have given Islam the foothold in Europe that warriors of jihad could never gain for it. In the Netherlands, France and Germany, Muslims are becoming a political and religious force that cannot be ignored.
Even if population trends change, immigration stops, and Muslim missionary efforts cease, Islam looks to be significantly stronger worldwide in the new century than it has been in ages. While millions of Catholics have bought into the one-or-two child mentality of secular Europe and North America, Islamic societies are rapidly increasing in numbers. If current trends continue – and there is no reason to think that they will not – Europe will make up just 7.5 percent of world’s people by 2050, compared to 22 percent in 1950.
At the same time, the countries with the most youthful populations will all be Muslim: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Iraq. Worldwide trends indicate that by 2050, Muslims will comprise 30 percent of the world’s population, with Christians (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant) making up 25 percent. In 1900 by comparison only 12.4 percent of the world’s population was Muslim, with Christians comprising nearly 27 percent.
In summary, Islam is growing more quickly in the Western world today than at any other time in history for three main reasons:
1. Muslim are simply having more children than both Christian and non-Christian Westerners
2. Liberal immigration laws have allowed for rapidly growing Muslims populations throughout the West (particularly in the Netherlands, France and Germany, countries where the Muslim community is already a significant voice in public affairs)
3. Muslim proselytism results in many conversions

As much of the simplicity of Islam is attractive to people one of the main reasons for conversions among Westerners from Christianity to Islam are dissatisfactions with Christian religious figures and what seems to be an endless wave of scandals. Moreover, the decay of Western culture is seen from the Muslims perspective as a failure of Christianity to provide adequate grounding for society.

“Request to my blog readers to please refrain from making any derogatory comments about the Islamic faith. This is just a general knowledge sharing blog about the faith” thank you.


Reference:

Inside Islam “A guide for Catholics” – 100 Questions and Answers – Authored by Daniel Ali and Robert Spencer. Ascension Press, West Chester, Pennsylvania.