Islam in Asia
{{Short description|none}}
{{Islam}}
{{Islam by country}}
Islam in Asia began in the 7th century during the lifetime of Muhammad. In 2020, the total number of Muslims in Asia was about 1.3 billion, it is the largest religion in Asia. Asia constitutes in absolute terms the world's largest Muslim population.{{cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/files/2014/01/global-religion-full.pdf|title=The Global Religious Landscape|publisher=Pewforum.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170125173538/https://www.pewforum.org/files/2014/01/global-religion-full.pdf|access-date=7 May 2020|archive-date=25 January 2017}} and about 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Malaysia having the largest Muslim populations in the world. Asia is home to the largest Muslim population, with West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia being particularly important regions. A number of adherents of Islam have lived in Asia especially in West Asia and South Asia since the beginning of Islamic history.
History
The spread of Islam outside of the Arabian peninsula and into other parts of the continent can be linked to the extensive trade routes connecting West Asia to China.
The Barmakid family was an early supporter of the Abbasid Revolution against the Umayyads and of As-Saffah. This gave Khalid ibn Barmak considerable influence, and his son Yaḥyā ibn Khālid (d. 806) was the vizier of the caliph al-Mahdi (ruled 775–785) and tutor of Hārūn ar-Rashīd (ruled 786–809). Yaḥyā's sons al-Faḍl and Ja'far (767–803) both occupied high offices under Harun. Many Barmakids were patrons of the sciences, which greatly helped the propagation of Indian science and scholarship from the neighboring Academy of Gundishapur into the Arabic world. They patronized scholars such as Gebir and Jabril ibn Bukhtishu. They are also credited with the establishment of the first paper mill in Baghdad. The power of the Barmakids in those times is reflected in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights; the vizier Ja'far appears in several stories, as well as a tale that gave rise to the expression “Barmecide feast”.
{{quote|text=We know of Yaḥyā ibn Khālid al-Barmakī (d. {{CE|805|link=y}}) as a patron of physicians and, specifically, of the translation of Hindu medical works into both Arabic and Persian. In all likelihood, however, his activity took place in the orbit of the caliphal court in Iraq, where at the behest of Hārūn ar-Rashīd (786–809), such books were translated into Arabic. Thus Khurāsān and Transoxiana were effectively bypassed in this transfer of learning from India to Islam, even though, undeniably the Barmakī's cultural outlook owed something to their land of origin, northern Afghanistan, and Yaḥyā al-Barmakī's interest in medicine may have derived from no longer identifiable family tradition.History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume 4, Part 2 By C. E. Bosworth, M.S. Asimov, page 300}}
Many of the early governors of the Caliphate were Barmakids. Khalid ibn Barmak built Mansura, Sindh and later Baghdad. His son was the governor of what is now Azerbaijan.
Demographics
=Central Asia=
{{Main|Islam in Central Asia}}
File:Memorial complex "Registan" in Samarkand (10).jpg and its three madrasahs, Samarkand, Uzbekistan]]
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ !Country !Total Population !Muslim Percentage !Muslim Population |
| {{Flag|Kazakhstan}}
|18,744,548 |13,158,672 |
| {{Flag|Kyrgyzstan}}
|6,019,480 |90.6%[http://pewforum.org/uploadedfiles/Topics/Demographics/Muslimpopulation.pdf MAPPING THE GLOBAL MUSLIM POPULATION] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519092435/http://pewforum.org/uploadedfiles/Topics/Demographics/Muslimpopulation.pdf |date=2011-05-19 }}. A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population. Pew Research Center. October 2009 |5,194,811 |
| {{Flag|Tajikistan}}
|8,734,951 |8,560,251 |
| {{Flag|Turkmenistan}}
|5,851,466 |96.1% |5,459,417 |
| {{Flag|Uzbekistan}}
|32,653,900 |31,511,013 |
| Central Asia
|72,004,345 |90.6% |66,884,164 |
=East Asia=
{{Main|Islam in East Asia}}
File:Huaisheng Mosque Dec 2007.jpg in Guangzhou, the oldest mosque in China]]
=South Asia=
{{Main|Islam in South Asia}}
File:The Badshahi in all its glory during the Eid Prayers.JPG in Lahore, Pakistan during Eid al-Fitr. It is a historical and the second largest mosque in South Asia]]
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ !Country !Total Population !Muslim Percentage !Muslim Population |
| {{Flag|Afghanistan}}
|49,552,566 |49,403,908 |
| {{Flag|Bangladesh}}
|165,000,000 |90.4% |149,100,000 |
| {{Flag|Bhutan}}
|727,145 |0.2%[http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/bhutan/religious_demography#/?affiliations_religion_id=0&affiliations_year=2010 Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project: Bhutan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113032242/http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/bhutan/religious_demography#/?affiliations_religion_id=0&affiliations_year=2010 |date=2018-11-13 }}. Pew Research Center. 2010. |7,000 |
| {{Flag|India}}
|1,338,270,000 |213,000,000 |
| {{Flag|Maldives}}
|378,114 |378,114 |
| {{Flag|Nepal}}
|29,218,867 |4.4% |1,285,630 |
| {{Flag|Pakistan}}
|231,085,590 |96.50% |200,400,000 |
| {{Flag|Sri Lanka}}
|21,444,000 |9.7% |2,080,068 |
| South Asia
|1,817,333,303 |32.43% |620,083,325 |
=Southeast Asia=
{{Main|Islam in Southeast Asia}}
File:Grand_Istiqlal_Mosque.jpg in Jakarta, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia]]
=West Asia=
{{Main|Religion in the Middle East}}
File:Supplicating Pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram. Mecca, Saudi Arabia.jpg Inside the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia with pilgrims performing the Hajj, Kaaba is the direction of prayer of Muslims to Allah ]]
File:MASJID NABAVI 12122008215.jpg ]]
References
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