Muslim
Muslims (from Arabic المسلمون(al-Muslimūn) 'submitters to [God]')[27] are people who adhere to 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 main Islamic prophet.[28] The majority of Muslims also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad (sunnah) as recorded in traditional accounts (hadith).[29]
With an estimated population of almost 1.9 billion followers as of 2020 year estimation, Muslims comprise around 25% of the world's total population.[1]
In descending order, the percentage of people who identify as Muslims on each continental landmass stands at:[30]
45% of Africa,
25% of Asia and Oceania (collectively),[31]
6% of Europe,[32] and
1% of the Americas.[33][34][35][36]
Additionally, in subdivided geographical regions, the figure stands at:
91% of the Middle East–North Africa,[37][38][39]
90% of Central Asia,[40][41][42]
65% of the Caucasus,[43][44][45][46][47][48]
42% of Southeast Asia,[49][50]
32% of South Asia,[51][52] and
42% of sub-Saharan Africa.[53][54]
While there are several Islamic schools and branches, the two largest denominations are Sunni Islam (75–90% of all Muslims)[55] and
Shia Islam (10–20% of all Muslims).[17][18][19]
By sheer numbers, South Asia accounts for the largest portion (31%) of the global Muslim population.[56][57]
By country, Indonesia is the largest in the Muslim world, holding around 12% of all Muslims worldwide;[58][59] outside of the Muslim-majority countries, India and China are home to the largest (11%) and second-largest (2%) Muslim populations, respectively.[60][61][62]
Due to high Muslim population growth, Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world.[63][64][65]
The Muslim philologist Ibn al-Anbari said:
a Muslim is a person who has dedicated his worship exclusively to God, for just as we say in Arabic that something is ‘salima’ to a person, meaning that it became solely his own, so in the same way ‘Islām’ means making one's religion and faith God's alone.[75]