Conversion to Islam#Islamic missionary activities

Converts to Islam may be referred to as "converts," "reverts," or "new Muslims." Many people who have converted to Islam prefer to call themselves "reverts," in reference to a hadith that says that all people are Muslims at birth, but only come to "leave" the faith due to the environment they are raised in.{{Cite book |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781135859558 |title=Counseling Muslims: Handbook of Mental Health Issues and Interventions |date=2013-06-17 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-89381-4 |editor-last=Ahmed |editor-first=Sameera |edition=1st |pages=229 |language=en |doi=10.4324/9780203893814 |editor-last2=Amer |editor-first2=Mona M.}}{{Cite book |last=Zebiri |first=Kate |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YBy9DwAAQBAJ |title=British Muslim Converts: Choosing Alternative Lives |date=2014-10-01 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-78074-486-5 |pages=15 |language=en}} The belief in the innate condition of Islam in all people is referred to as "fitra."{{Cite journal |last=Sealy |first=Thomas |date=2021-09-02 |title=British converts to Islam: continuity, change, and religiosity in religious identity |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13537903.2021.1965746 |journal=Journal of Contemporary Religion |language=en |volume=36 |issue=3 |page=430 |doi=10.1080/13537903.2021.1965746 |issn=1353-7903|hdl=1983/62fa240b-d3b9-4247-8e8f-c11e9f9c2f26 |hdl-access=free }}

Converting to Islam requires one to declare the shahādah, the Muslim profession of faith ("there is none worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah", Classical Arabic: أَشْهَدُ أَن لا إِلٰهَ إلَّا الله و أَشْهَدُ أَنَ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُول الله){{cite book |editor-last=Bennett |editor-first=Clinton |year=2015 |orig-date=2013 |chapter=Glossary |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHweBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA330 |title=The Bloomsbury Companion to Islamic Studies |location=New York and London |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |edition=1st |pages=330 |isbn=9781441138125 |oclc=777652885 |quote=Aqidah – translates as "creed". Technically, the Shahadah (first pillar) is the only obligatory statement of faith in Islam; however, over time a list of six items evolved, the essentials of faith (Iman Mufassal), namely: belief in God, in God's angels, scriptures, messengers, day of judgment, and God's power. |access-date=2022-12-17 |archive-date=2023-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412033715/https://books.google.com/books?id=pHweBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA330 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2018-11-17 |title=Becoming a Muslim: A Step-by-Step Guide - How To Become Muslim |url=https://www.howtobecomemuslim.org/becoming-a-muslim-a-step-by-step-guide-2 |access-date=2024-11-26 |language=en-US}}

In Islam, circumcision (khitan) is considered a sunnah custom that is not mentioned in the Quran but is mentioned in hadith.{{cite book |author-last=Kueny |author-first=Kathryn |title=Bible and Qurʼān: Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality |date=2004 |publisher=Brill Publishers |isbn=90-04-12726-7 |editor-last=Reeves |editor-first=John C. |series=Symposium Series (Society of Biblical Literature) |volume=24 |location=Leiden and Boston |pages=161–173 |chapter=Abraham's Test: Islamic Male Circumcision as Anti/Ante-Covenantal Practice |issn=1569-3627 |access-date=2022-12-17 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WNId86Eu4TEC&pg=PA161 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412033530/https://books.google.com/books?id=WNId86Eu4TEC&pg=PA161 |archive-date=2023-04-12 |url-status=live}}{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Wensinck |author-first=A. J. |year=2012 |orig-date=1986 |title=K̲h̲itān |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJQ3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA20 |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C. E. |editor1-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. J. |editor2-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel |editor3-last=Lewis |editor3-first=B. |editor4-last=Heinrichs |editor4-first=W. P. |editor4-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs |editor5-last=Pellat |editor5-first=Ch. |editor5-link=Charles Pellat |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |location=Leiden and Boston |publisher=Brill Publishers |volume=5 |pages=20–22 |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_4296 |isbn=978-90-04-07819-2 |access-date=2022-12-17 |archive-date=2023-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412033538/https://books.google.com/books?id=cJQ3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA20 |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |author-last=Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh |author-first=Sami A. |author-link=Sami Aldeeb |date=1994 |title=To Mutilate in the Name of Jehovah or Allah: Legitimization of Male and Female Circumcision |journal=Medicine and Law |volume=13 |issue=7–8 |pages=575–622 |publisher=World Association for Medical Law |pmid=7731348}}; {{cite journal |author-last=Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh |author-first=Sami A. |date=1995 |url=https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1036&context=twls |title=Islamic Law and the Issue of Male and Female Circumcision |journal=Third World Legal Studies |volume=13 |pages=73–101 |publisher=Valparaiso University School of Law |access-date=13 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112162823/https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1036&context=twls |archive-date=12 November 2019 |url-status=live }} The majority of clerical opinions holds that circumcision is not required upon entering the Muslim faith.

Dawah ({{langx|ar|دعوة|lit=invitation}}, {{IPA|ar|ˈdæʕwæh|lang}}) is the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam. In Islamic theology, the purpose of da‘wah is to invite people, Muslims and non-Muslims, to understand the worship of God as expressed in the Qur'an and the sunnah of Muhammad and to inform them about Muhammad."Da‘wah produces converts to Islam, which in turn [increases] the size of the Muslim Ummah [community of Muslims]."

Dawah as the "Call towards God" is the means by which Muhammad began spreading the message of the Quran to mankind. After Muhammad, his followers and the Muslim community assumed responsibility for it.See entry for da‘wah in the Encyclopaedia of Islam. They convey the message of the Qur'an by providing information on why and how the Qur'an preaches monotheism.See, for example, Qur'an ayat (verses) 6:19 and 16:36.

Muhammad saw Islam as the true religion and mission of all earlier prophets. He believed that their call had been limited to their own people but that his was universal. His mission as the final prophet was to repeat to the whole world this call and invitation (Dawah) to Islam. Muhammad wrote to various non-Muslim rulers, inviting them to convert.[Sookhdeo Patrick, and Murray, Douglas. 2014. Dawa: The Islamic Strategy for Reshaping the Modern World. Isaac Publishing.]

Counting the number of converts to a religion is difficult, because some national censuses ask people about their religion, but they do not ask if they have converted to their present faith, and, in some countries, legal and social consequences make conversion difficult, such as the death sentence for leaving Islam in some Muslim countries.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/files/2015/03/PF_15.04.02_ProjectionsFullReport.pdf|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20150429153811/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2015/03/PF_15.04.02_ProjectionsFullReport.pdf|title=The Future of World Religions p.182|quote=This analysis of religious switching draws on surveys in 19 countries where Muslims constitute a majority of the population. Generally, however, there are few reports of people disaffiliating from Islam in these countries. One reason for this may be the social and legal repercussions associated with disaffiliation in many Muslim-majority countries, up to and including the death penalty for apostasy. It is possible that, in the future, these societies could allow greater freedom for religious disaffiliation. The demographic projections in this report do not seek to predict the likelihood of such changes in political and social dynamics, or to model what the consequences might be.|archive-date=29 April 2015}}{{cite web|url= https://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-related-factors/#conversion|title= The Future of the Global Muslim Population|date= 27 January 2011|quote= There are numerous reasons why reliable data on conversions are hard to come by. Some national censuses ask people about their religion, but they do not directly ask whether people have converted to their present faiths. A few cross-national surveys do contain questions about religious switching, but, even in those surveys, it is difficult to assess whether more people leave Islam than enter the faith. In some countries, legal and social consequences make conversion difficult, and survey respondents may be reluctant to speak honestly about the topic. Additionally, for many Muslims, Islam is not just a religion but an ethnic or cultural identity that does not depend on whether a person actively practices the faith. This means that even nonpracticing or secular Muslims may still consider themselves, and be viewed by their neighbors, as Muslims.|access-date= 17 December 2022|archive-date= 15 November 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201115000548/https://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-related-factors/#conversion|url-status= live}}[https://www.loc.gov/law/help/apostasy/apostasy.pdf Laws Criminalizing Apostasy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011180050/http://www.loc.gov/law/help/apostasy/apostasy.pdf |date=11 October 2017 }} Library of Congress (2014)[http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e174 Apostasy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904042337/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e174 |date=4 September 2014 }} Oxford Islamic Studies Online, Oxford University Press (2012){{Cite web|url=http://www.indy100.com/article/the-countries-where-apostasy-is-punishable-by-death--Z110j2Uwxb|title=The countries where apostasy is punishable by death|date=7 May 2017|website=indy100|language=en|access-date=23 April 2020|archive-date=22 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222093123/http://www.indy100.com/article/the-countries-where-apostasy-is-punishable-by-death--Z110j2Uwxb|url-status=live}} Statistical data on conversion to and from Islam are scarce. An expert on Islamic law, M. Cherif Bassiouni, states "The Quran contains a provision that says ‘he who has embraced Islam and then abandons it will receive punishment in hell after Judgment Day'."{{cite web

| url = https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/religious-conversion-and-sharia-law#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%2520Quran%2520contains%2520a%2520provision,Judgment%2520Day%252C%E2%80%9D%2520says%2520M.

| title = Religious Conversion and Sharia Law

| last = Beehner

| first = Lionel

| date = June 6, 2007

| website = Foreign Affairs

| publisher = Council on Foreign Affairs

| access-date = October 10, 2024

| quote = The Quran contains a provision that says ‘he who has embraced Islam and then abandons it will receive punishment in hell after Judgment Day,” says M. Cherif Bassiouni, an expert on Islamic law at DePaul University College of Law, and therefore there is no punishment on punishment on earth. But traditional scholars, in Bassiouni’s opinion, misinterpreted early practices of the Prophet Mohammed and consider apostasy a crime punishable by death. They give religious converts a grace period of up to ten days to reconsider their decision before the judgment is entered.}}{{cite book

| url = https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004331471/BP000008.xml?body=pdf-43180

| title = Handbook of Leaving Religion

| last = Schirrmacher

| first = Christine

| chapter = Leaving Islam

| date = October 17, 2019

| pages = 81–95

| publisher = Brill

| doi = 10.1163/9789004331471_008

| isbn = 978-90-04-33147-1

| access-date = October 10, 2024

| quote = Chapter 7 Leaving Islam: at the same time, while it is legally impossible to leave Islam in all Middle Eastern countries, it is considered to be a punishable crime under Sharia law, and the death penalty can be applied in a handful of countries like Saudi-Arabia or Iran. Interestingly enough, the Koran does not seem to have a clear verdict on apostasy. Muslim theologians hold different views as to whether Islam favors complete religious freedom or whether the culprit is unpunishable as long as he does not rock the boat of the community. Many Muslim theologians still hold to the death penalty.

}} The extent to which the death penalty could be applied is debated among scholars. Prominent Islamic scholar and debater Dr. Shabir Ally disagrees with classical scholars and questioning the authenticity of the hadith because it directly contradicts the Qur'an.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4GK2I6GMcc |title=Q&A: Isn't it Death Penalty for Apostasy in Islam? Answer: NO! - Dr. Shabir Ally |date=2014-09-20 |last=Let the Quran Speak |access-date=2025-03-11 |via=YouTube}} Prof. Quraish Shihab a Quranic Interpretation expert from Al-Azhar University argues in his book Tafsir Al-Misbah that the verse "there is no compulsion in religion" is an independent verse, which means it is a universal concept in the Qur'an.

According to a study published in 2011 by Pew Research, what little information is available suggests that religious conversion has no net impact on the global Muslim population as the number of people who convert to Islam is roughly similar to those who leave Islam.{{cite web|url= https://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-related-factors/#conversion|title= The Future of the Global Muslim Population|date= 27 January 2011|quote= there is no substantial net gain or loss in the number of Muslims through conversion, globally; the number of people who become Muslims through conversion seems to be roughly equal to the number of Muslims who leave the faith|access-date= 17 December 2022|archive-date= 15 November 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201115000548/https://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-related-factors/#conversion|url-status= live}} According to another study published on 2015 by Pew research center, Islam is expected to experience a modest gain of 3.22 million adherents through religious conversion between 2010 and 2050, although this modest impact will make Islam, compared with other religions, the second largest religion in terms of net gains through religious conversion after religiously unaffiliated, which is expected to have the largest net gains through religious conversion.{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/files/2015/03/PF_15.04.02_ProjectionsFullReport.pdf|title=Cumulative Change Due to Religious Switching, 2010–2050, p.43|access-date=4 May 2016|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20150429153811/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2015/03/PF_15.04.02_ProjectionsFullReport.pdf|archive-date=29 April 2015|url-status=dead}}

According to The New York Times, an estimated 25% of American Muslims are converts.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/30/nyregion/muslim-converts-face-discrimination.html |last=Elliott |first=Andrea |work=The New York Times |title=Muslim Converts Face Discrimination |date=30 April 2005 |access-date=11 February 2020 |archive-date=22 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522154338/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/30/nyregion/muslim-converts-face-discrimination.html |url-status=live }}

In Britain, around 6,000 people convert to Islam per year and, according to a June 2000 article in the British Muslims Monthly Survey, the majority of new Muslim converts in Britain were women.{{cite web |url=http://artsweb.bham.ac.uk/bmms/2000/06June00.asp#Women%20convert |title=British Muslims Monthly Survey for June 2000, Vol. VIII, No. 6 |at=Women convert |access-date=2020-09-28 |archive-date=2008-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214160750/http://artsweb.bham.ac.uk/bmms/2000/06June00.asp#Women%20convert |url-status=live }} According to The Huffington Post, "Though exact numbers are difficult to tally, observers estimate that as many as 20,000 Americans convert to Islam annually."{{cite web |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/24/post-911-islam-converts_n_935572.html |last=Sacirbey |first=Omar |title=Conversion To Islam One Result Of Post-9/11 Curiosity |date=24 August 2011 |work=Huffington Post |access-date=26 December 2017 |archive-date=29 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629013712/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/24/post-911-islam-converts_n_935572.html |url-status=live }}

According to Pew Research, the number of U.S. converts to Islam is roughly equal to the number of U.S. Muslims who leave the religion, unlike other religions, in which the number of those leaving is greater than the number of converts.{{cite web |author1=Besheer Mohamed |author2=Elizabeth Pobrebarac Sciupac |title=The share of Americans who leave Islam is offset by those who become Muslim |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/26/the-share-of-americans-who-leave-islam-is-offset-by-those-who-become-muslim/ |work=Pew Research Center |date=26 January 2018 |access-date=11 February 2020 |archive-date=16 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516204930/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/26/the-share-of-americans-who-leave-islam-is-offset-by-those-who-become-muslim/ |url-status=live }} 77% of new converts to Islam are from Christianity, whereas 19% were from non-religion.

According to Guinness, approximately 12.5 million more people converted to Islam than people converted to Christianity between 1990 and 2000.{{Cite book|date=2014-12-22|title=Guinness World Records 2003 - Google Books|isbn=9780553586367|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZSHm9rYq38C&q=converted|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222102236/http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2ZSHm9rYq38C&q=converted|archive-date=2014-12-22|last1=Folkard|first1=Claire|publisher=Bantam Books }} Despite this, Islam remains, on the global level, the second religion with the second largest number of net converts into the religion, with about 420,000 more people converting to Islam than leaving Islam between 2015 and 2020 in the United States.{{Cite web|date=2017-04-05|title=The Changing Global Religious Land scape|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/|access-date=2021-01-28|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US|archive-date=2022-02-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218030628/https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/|url-status=live}}

In 2010, the Pew Forum found "that statistical data for Muslim conversions is scarce and as per their little available information, there is no substantial net gain or loss of Muslims due to religious conversion. It also stated that "the number of people who embrace Islam and the number of those who leave Islam are roughly equal with a net gain of 420,000 converts in the United States{{Cite web |date=2017-04-05 |title=The Changing Global Religious Landscape |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}} alone. Thus, this report excludes religious conversion as a direct factor from the projection of Muslim population growth."[http://www.pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-related-factors-conversion.aspx "The Future of the Global Muslim Population, Related Factors: Conversion"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730043256/http://www.pewforum.org/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-related-factors-conversion.aspx |date=2013-07-30 }}, The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 27 January 2011 People switching their religions will likely have no effect on the growth of the Muslim population,{{cite web |title=Why Muslims are the world's fastest-growing religious group |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/23/why-muslims-are-the-worlds-fastest-growing-religious-group/ |publisher=Pew Research Center |date=23 April 2015 |access-date=5 May 2016 |archive-date=20 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320082807/http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/23/why-muslims-are-the-worlds-fastest-growing-religious-group/ |url-status=live }} as the number of people who convert to Islam is roughly similar to those who leave Islam.{{cite report|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/the-future-of-the-global-muslim-population/|title=The Future of the Global Muslim Population|date=27 January 2011|publisher=Pew Research Center|access-date=27 December 2017|archive-date=24 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224211126/http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/the-future-of-the-global-muslim-population/|url-status=live}} Another study found that the number of people who will leave Islam is 9,400,000 and the number of converts to Islam is 12,620,000 so the net gain to Islam through conversion should be 3 million between 2010 and 2050, mostly from Sub Saharan Africa (2.9 million).

According to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey, between 2010 and 2015 "an estimated 213 million babies were born to Muslim mothers and roughly 61 million Muslims died, meaning that the natural increase in the Muslim population – i.e., the number of births minus the number of deaths – was 152 million over this period", and it added small net gains through religious conversion into Islam (420,000). According to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey, by 2060 Muslims will remain the second world's largest religion; and if current trends continue, the number of Muslims will reach 2.9 billion (or 31.1%).{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/|title=The Changing Global Religious Landscape|work=Pew Research Center|date=5 April 2017|access-date=17 December 2022|archive-date=18 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218030628/https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/|url-status=live}}

It was reported in 2013 that around 5,000 British people convert to Islam every year, with most of them being women.{{cite news|last1=Mistiaen|first1=Veronique|date=11 October 2013|title=Converting to Islam: British women on prayer, peace and prejudice|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/11/islam-converts-british-women-prejudice|access-date=6 May 2016|archive-date=18 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718204858/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/11/islam-converts-british-women-prejudice|url-status=live}} According to an earlier 2001 census, surveys found that there was an increase of 60,000 conversions to Islam in the United Kingdom.{{Cite news|date=2011-01-04|title=Converting to Islam - the white Britons becoming Muslims|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-12075931|access-date=2020-12-09|archive-date=2021-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173442/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-12075931|url-status=live}} Many converts to Islam said that they suffered from hostility from their families. According to a report by CNN, "Islam has drawn converts from all walks of life, most notably African-Americans".{{cite news|title=Fast-growing Islam winning converts in Western world|publisher=CNN|url=http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9704/14/egypt.islam/|access-date=6 May 2016|archive-date=15 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015114027/http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9704/14/egypt.islam/|url-status=dead}} Studies estimated about 30,000 converting to Islam annually in the United States.{{cite web|title=Why do Western Women Convert?|url=http://standpointmag.co.uk/features-may-10-why-do-western-women-convert-julie-bindel-islam-female-conversion|access-date=8 May 2016|work=Standpoint|date=26 April 2010|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006102003/http://standpointmag.co.uk/features-may-10-why-do-western-women-convert-julie-bindel-islam-female-conversion|url-status=live}} According to The New York Times, an estimated 25% of American Muslims are converts,{{Cite news|last=Elliott|first=Andrea|date=2005-04-30|title=Muslim Converts Face Discrimination (Published 2005)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/30/nyregion/muslim-converts-face-discrimination.html|access-date=2020-11-26|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2020-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522154338/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/30/nyregion/muslim-converts-face-discrimination.html|url-status=live}} these converts are mostly African American.{{cite web|last1=Bagby|first1=Ihsan|last2=Perl|first2=Paul M.|last3=Froehle|first3=Bryan T.|date=April 26, 2001|title=The Mosque in America: A National Portrait|url=https://www.cair.com/images/pdf/The-American-mosque-2001.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006214638/http://www.cair.com/images/pdf/The-American-mosque-2001.pdf|archive-date=October 6, 2016|access-date=February 19, 2017|publisher=Council on American-Islamic Relations|page=21}} According to The Huffington Post, "observers estimate that as many as 20,000 Americans convert to Islam annually.", most of them are women and African-Americans.{{Cite web|date=2011-08-24|title=Conversion To Islam One Result Of Post-9/11 Curiosity|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/post-911-islam-converts_n_935572|access-date=2020-11-26|website=HuffPost|language=en|archive-date=2021-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111201117/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/post-911-islam-converts_n_935572|url-status=live}} Experts say that conversions to Islam have doubled in the past 25 years in France, among the six million Muslims in France, about 100,000 are converts.{{Cite news|last=Baume|first=Maïa de la|date=2013-02-04|title=More in France Are Turning to Islam, Challenging a Nation's Idea of Itself (Published 2013)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/world/europe/rise-of-islamic-converts-challenges-france.html|access-date=2020-12-09|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2019-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621182817/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/world/europe/rise-of-islamic-converts-challenges-france.html?_r=0|url-status=live}} On the other hand, according to Pew Research, the number of American converts to Islam is roughly equal to the number of American Muslims who leave Islam and this is unlike other religions in the United States where the number of those who leave these religions is greater than the number of those who convert to it,{{cite web|date=May 12, 2015|title=America's Changing Religious Landscape|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/|publisher=Pew Research Center: Religion & Public Life|access-date=December 17, 2022|archive-date=December 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226054944/http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/|url-status=live}} and most people who leave Islam become unaffiliated. According to the same study, ex-Muslims were more likely to be Christians compared to ex-Hindus or ex-Jews.

According to the religious forecast for 2050 by Pew Research Center, between 2010 and 2050 modest net gains through religious conversion are expected for Muslims (3 million){{cite web|title=Projected Cumulative Change Due to Religious Switching, 2010–2050, p.11|url=http://www.pewforum.org/files/2015/03/PF_15.04.02_ProjectionsFullReport.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20150429153811/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2015/03/PF_15.04.02_ProjectionsFullReport.pdf|archive-date=29 April 2015|access-date=4 May 2016}} and most of the net gains through religious conversion for Muslims found in the Sub Saharan Africa (2.9 million).

• Apostasy in Islam
• Islamic missionary activity
• Spread of Islam
• Al-Baqara 256
• List of converts to Islam
• Conversion to Islam in prisons
• Muslim population growth

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