As of 2010, Christianity was the religion with the most followers worldwide, followed by Islam (Muslims) and Hinduism. In the forty years between 2010 and 2050, it is projected that the landscape of world religions will undergo some noticeable changes, with the number of Muslims almost catching up to Christians. The changes in population sizes of each religious group is largely dependent on demographic development, for example, the rise in the world's Christian population will largely be driven by population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, while Muslim populations will rise across various regions of Africa and South Asia. As India's population is set to grow while China's goes into decline, this will be reflected in the fact that Hindus will outnumber the unaffiliated by 2050. In fact, India may be home to both the largest Hindu and Muslim populations in the world by the middle of this century.

In 2020, around 28.8 percent of the global population were identified as Christian. Around 25.6 percent of the global population identify as Muslims, followed by 14.9 percent of global populations as Hindu. The number of Muslims increased by 347 million, when compared to 2010 data, more than all other religions combined.

Catholicism was the main religion in Spain as of 2022, with a total of **** million adherents. Islam followed second, with *** followers. Catalonia was the autonomous community with the largest number of Muslims in Spain.

Religion and Bangladesh

Religion in Bangladesh is a sensitive issue, mostly because Bangladesh is officially a secular state but recognizes Islam as an official, state religion. Historically and doctrinally, Islamic scholars don’t accept nations that are secular because they think that religion, society and private life are all part of the great community they like to call ‘umma’.

The main religion in Bangladesh is Islam because it is practiced by almost 90 percent of the country’s population. The rest of 10 percent adhere to Hinduism. The type of Islam that is practiced in Bangladesh is Sunni Islam with a lot of Sufi influences. Sunni is the most numerous branch of Islam in the world. Countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia have Sunni majority populations. The Sufi practices that influence the Islamic religion in Bangladesh are commonly known as mysticism. Sufi followers are poor men that don’t eat, don’t drink and spend their days in deep prayer in order to achieve spiritual connection with God.

Bangladesh has the fourth largest Muslim population in the world, with over 130 million followers, right after Indonesia, Pakistan and India. In its constitution, Bangladesh is recognized as a secular state. For a short period of time, when Bangladesh was under Pakistani rule, Islam was made the state’s official religion. But the Supreme Court or High Court of Bangladesh ruled that Bangladesh must return to the principles of the 1972 constitution, meaning that it mustn’t have an official religion.

The problem with Islam gaining too much power in Bangladesh is that it unbalances the genders issues. Islamic edicts or fatwas have been issued mostly against women by religious courts as punishments for their nonreligious behavior. Global NGO’s are fighting such edicts in order to maintain a fair judgment when it comes to men and women. Bangladesh is a country where gender issues, as well as religious issues are very sensitive subjects.

In 2020, around **** percent of the Iranian population identified as Muslim. Around ** percent identified as Shia Muslims in the same year, while a much smaller share followed the Sunni Muslim religion. In Iran, most Sunni Muslims belong to ethnic minority groups. Iran’s demographics The total population in Iran has grown steadily and is expected to surpass ** million in 2028. The vast majority of the population in the country was between 15 and 64 years of age. At the same time, the share of people aged above 64 increased in recent years and constituted over ***** percent of the total population. Muslim population worldwide In Europe, it was estimated that the Muslim population could triple by the middle of the century. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia had the largest share of Muslims as a proportion of its population. On the African continent, the highest number of Muslims was estimated in Nigeria, with close to a hundred million Islam followers. In the United States, less than one percent of the population identified as Muslims.

Christianity is the major religion in numerous African countries. As of 2024, around 96 percent of the population of Zambia was Christian, representing the highest percentage on the continent. Seychelles and Rwanda followed with roughly 95 percent and 94 percent of the population being Christian, respectively. While these countries present the highest percentages, Christianity was also prevalent in many other African nations. For instance, in South Africa, Christianity was the religion of nearly 85 percent of the people, while the share corresponded to 71 percent in Ghana. Religious variations across Africa Christianity and Islam are the most practiced religions in Africa. Christian adherents are prevalent below the Sahara, while North Africa is predominantly Muslim. In 2020, Christians accounted for around 60 percent of the Sub-Saharan African population, followed by Muslims with a share of roughly 30 percent. In absolute terms, there were approximately 650 million Christians in the region, a number forecast to increase to over one billion by 2050. In contrast, Islam is most prevalent in North Africa, being the religion of over 90 percent of the population in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya. Christianity in the world As opposed to other religions, Christianity is widely spread across continents worldwide. In fact, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe each account for around 25 percent of the global Christian population. By comparison, Asia-Pacific and North America make up 13 percent and 12 percent of Christians worldwide, respectively. In several regions, Christians also suffer persecution on religious grounds. Somalia and Libya presented the most critical situation in Africa in 2021, reporting the strongest suppression of Christians worldwide just after North Korea and Afghanistan.

In 2020, Indonesia recorded the largest population of Muslims worldwide, with around 239 million. This was followed with around 226.88 million Muslims in Pakistan and 213 million Muslims in India.

This data set is part of the following publication:

Jetten, M. (2018). Knowledge of interaction styles and dimensions of interpretation in interreligious adult education. An empirical study of the effects of a hermeneutic-communicative curriculum. Radboud University. Münster: LIT Verlag.

This book reports on an evaluation study of a curriculum on interreligious dialogue among Christian and Muslims adults in the Netherlands. It was organized as a PhD-project between 2007 and 2013 at the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies of Radboud University, financed by Stichting Nieuwegen.

The primary aim of this research is to explain the contribution of a curriculum to knowledge of interaction styles and hermeneutic distinctions that are used to express and interpret the views on religious phenomena of adherents from different religious traditions. We consider knowledge of communication and interpretation conditional for mutual understanding between adherents of different religious traditions. We refer to this as hermeneutic-communicative learning. The focus of this dissertation is not solely religious phenomena, but the way that participants express and interpret these phenomena. Hence, the research goal of this study is: explaining the contribution of a hermeneutic-communicative curriculum using the method of mediated learning to the acquisition of knowledge of interaction styles and dimensions for interpreting religious phenomena.

This study uses a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test, based on two non-equivalent groups (“untreated non-equivalent control group design with pre-test and post-test”, Cook & Campbell 1979, 103-129). To study the effects of participation in our curriculum, we distinguish two research groups, an experimental group that participates in the intervention, and a control group that does not participate. In both groups a pre-test and a post-test is held, respectively before and after the intervention.

Our research population are Christian and Muslim adults in the Netherlands who are interested in interreligious meetings. To be able to reliably estimate the characteristics of the research population, we required a sample of at least 400 respondents in total, with 200 participants in the experimental group and 200 in the control group. Regarding the experimental group, we aimed at 20 curriculum locations, each with about twelve participants, making sure that respondent still feel secure to exchange religious beliefs and practices in a personal and informal way. We sought a group distribution of at least a third Christians or a third Muslims at each location. Regarding religion, the relative number of Christians in the control group appeared to be higher than in the experimental group. Therefore, in the analyses, we randomly reduced the number of Christians in the control group by 40%, by deleting the third and fifth of each five Christian respondents in the control group. This resulted in a total number of 260 respondents in the experimental group and 132 respondents in the control group.

Part of this research project of Radboud University is the material for an interreligious course. It has been developed for Christian and Muslim adults with interest in interreligious communication. Participants get acquainted with a practical method that eases interreligious dialogue, focused at both enriching one’s own religious identity as well as getting familiar with the religion of the other. Focus is learning to communicate from the personal perspective, applied to substantive themes from Christianity and Islam. You are welcome to re-use and adjust all available curriculum materials and guidance sheets. Feel free to use part of the material, split up the material in separate units, or adjust to materials to your own needs, as long as you respect the copyright. Please refer to this dataset and the aforementioned publication.

The data set contains various types of files, which are further explained in the read me first file. - Read me first file - Data files (SPSS files) - Documentation on the data set (methodology and measuring instruments) - Documentation on the interreligious curriculum (including the full program and guidance sheets for educators)

From 2022 to 2060, the worldwide population of Muslims is expected to increase by 45.7 percent. For the same period, the global population of Buddhists is expected to decrease by 12.2 percent.

The RCS-Dem dataset reports estimates of religious demographics, both country by country and region by region. RCS was created to fulfill the unmet need for a dataset on the religious dimensions of countries of the world, with the state-year as the unit of observation. It covers 220 independent states, 26 selected substate entities, and 41 geographically separated dependencies, for every year from 2015 back to 1900 and often 1800 (more than 42,000 state-years). It estimates populations and percentages of adherents of 100 religious denominations including second level subdivisions within Christianity and Islam, along with several complex categories such as 'Western Christianity.' RCS is designed for easy merger with datasets of the Correlates of War and Polity projects, datasets by the United Nations, the Religion And State datasets by Jonathan Fox, and the ARDA national profiles.

Islam is the major religion in many African countries, especially in the north of the continent. In Comoros, Libya, Western Sahara, at least 99 percent of the population was Muslim as of 202. These were the highest percentages on the continent. However, also in many other African nations, the majority of the population was Muslim. In Egypt, for instance, Islam was the religion of 79 percent of the people. Islam and other religions in Africa Africa accounts for an important share of the world’s Muslim population. As of 2019, 16 percent of the Muslims worldwide lived in Sub-Saharan Africa, while 20 percent of them lived in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Together with Christianity, Islam is the most common religious affiliation in Africa, followed by several traditional African religions. Although to a smaller extent, numerous other religions are practiced on the continent: these include Judaism, the Baha’i Faith, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Number of Muslims worldwide Islam is one of the most widespread religions in the world. There are approximately 1.9 billion Muslims globally, with the largest Muslim communities living in the Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, Indonesia hosts the highest number of Muslims worldwide, amounting to over 200 million, followed by India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Islam is also present in Europe and America. The largest Islamic communities in Europe are in France (5.72 million), Germany (4.95 million), and the United Kingdom (4.13 million). In the United States, there is an estimated number of around 3.45 million Muslims.

The Bahá’í faith is one of the world's youngest major religions, having been founded in 19th century Persia (now Iran) by the prophet Bahá’u’lláh. Bahá’u’lláh had been a follower of a merchant called the Báb, who had developed a substantial following in Persia after claiming to be a manifestation of god. This small but growing religion was brutally suppressed by the Shia Muslim authorities in Persia, with the Báb himself being executed in 1850. Following this, Bahá’u’lláh fled into exile in Baghdad, in present-day Iraq, where he began to preach that he was the next in the line of God's messengers after the Báb. Both of the prophets claimed the lineage of all Abrahamic religions, combining beliefs from Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Bahá’u’lláh was eventually forced to settle in the coastal city of ‘Akká, Palestine (now Acre, Israel) where he died in 1892. The site of his death became the central place of pilgrimage in the Bahá’í faith, and is why the center of the religion is today in the nearby city of Haifa. Beliefs of the Bahá’í The Bahá’í are perhaps unique for a major religion, as rather than emphasizing the correctness of their own beliefs over other religions, followers of Bahá’í believe that there is truth in all world religions and that there should be peace and harmony among the different faiths. Bahá’ís recognize the prophets and messengers of the different world religions as all part of the same process of revelation by God to humanity. While they believe in plurality among those who bring God's message, the Bahá’í are monotheistic and believe in only one god, rather than multiple. Bahá’u’lláh taught that the different religions developed to convey the same message of God, but in different societies and time periods, meaning that the message has been delivered in different ways to suit the needs of the time and place. The key teachings of the Bahá’í faith include the unity of science and religion, equality between different peoples and religions, the importance of education and tolerance, and the unity of world religions due to the oneness of God. Today it is estimated that over five million people follow the teachings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh worldwide.

Majâlis-almu’minîn.

This manuscript is now IO Islamic 704 in the India Office collections.

[metadata: Hermann Ethé, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, 2 vols. (Oxford: India Office, 1903): volume 1, number 1400 here with notations and hyperlinks].

f. Miscellaneous.

704

Majâlis-almu’minîn (مجالس المؤمنين ) .

Biographies of famous Shî’ites, from the beginning of Islâm to the rise of the Ṣafawî dynasty, and the triumph of the Shî’ah faith as the acknowledged state religion in Persia, A.H. 905 (A.D. 1499), composed between A.H. 993-1010 (A.D. 1585-1602), by Nûr-allâh bin Sharîf alḥusainî almar’ashî alshûshtarî, and entitled Majâlis-almu’minîn (see fol. 2b , ll.6 and last but one); comp. Bodleian Cat., Nos. 367-370; Rieu i [=Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, volume 1], p. 337 ; W. Pertsch, Berlin Cat., p. 564 sq.; Goldziher, Beiträge zur Literaturgeschichte der Shî’a und der sunnitisehen Polemik, Wien, 1874; O. Loth, Zeitschrift der D. M. G., vol. 29, p. 676. Printed in Ṭaharân, A.H. 1268.

The work is divided into an introduction (فاتحه ) and twelve sections (مجلس ), viz.;

فاتحه در تحقيق تعريف مطلق شيعه و شيعۀ اماميّۀ اثناعشريّه (on the Shî’ah in general and the Imâmiyyah or Ithnâ-’ashariyyah sect in special), on fol. 2b, last line.

مجلس اوّل در ذكر بعضى از اماكن لطيفه و مواطن شريفه كه آنرا با ائمّۀ طاهرين و شيعۀ با اخلاص ايشان اختصاص خاصّ حاصل است (on places connected with the Shî’ah and the Imâms), on fol. 10a.

مجلس دوم در بيان طائفۀ چند كه بتشيّع مشهور و در سلك اهل ايمان مذكورند ( on some Shî’ah tribes ), on fol.51b.

مجلس سيوم در ذكر اكابر شيعه از اصحاب حضرت سيّد الانام ( on the great Shî’ites among the Aṣḥâb or companions of the prophet ), on fol. 66a.

مجلس چهارم در ذكر اكابر دين و افاضل مؤمنين از زمرۀ تابعين ( on the Tâbi’în or followers of the Aṣḥâb) , on fol. 129a.

مجلس پنجم در ذكر بعضى از اکابر متکلمین و افاضل مفسّرين و محدّثين و اعاظم فقهاء مجتهدين و اعيان از تبّع تابعين… (on the great theologians, commentators, traditionists, leading legists, etc., among the Tubba’ Tâbi’în, or the second generation after the Aṣḥâb), on fol. 154a.

مجلس ششم در ذكر جمعى از صوفيان صافى طويّت كه نزد سالكان مسالك طريقت الخ ( on the Ṣûfîs ; the heading is incomplete ), on fol. 280b.

مجلس هفتم در ذكر مشاهير حكماء اسلام و متكلّمين اعلام كه اكثر ايشان عالم بفروع و اصول شريعت حضرت رسول بوده اند ( on the Ḥakîms or philosophers ), on fol. 364a.

مجلس هشتم در ذكر ملوك نامدار و سلاطين كامگار از فرقۀ تاجيّه (on the famous Shî’ah kings), on fol. 391a.

مجلس نهم در ذكر امراى نامدار و سپهسالاران عالى تبار كه كريمان روزگار و شاهسواران كارزار بوده اند (on the famous Shî’ah Amîrs, generals, etc.), on fol. 464a.

مجلس دهم در ذكر وزراى عظام و كاتبان كرام (on the great Shî’ah Wazîrs and secretaries), on fol. 478b.

مجلس يازدهم در ذكر شعراى عرب كه مسند ارباب ادب اند (on the Arab poets), on fol. 507a.

مجلس دوازدهم در ذكر شعراى عجم (on the Persian poets), on fol. 545b.

This last Majlis begins with Firdausî (on ff. 545b-557a), Asadî (on ff. 557a-558a), etc., and ends with Lisânî (on ff. 597a-598a).

Beginning, on fol. 1b: نفحات دلگشاى حمد و رشحات جانفزاى ثنا كه از جهت شمال اعتقاد الخ .

The author, Sayyid Nûr-allâh, suffered for his Shî’ah tendencies under the emperor Jahângir (A.H. 1014-1037=A.D. 1605-1627), see H. T. Colebrooke, Asiatic Researches, vol. vii. p. 338.

No date.

No. 1400, ff. 598, ll. 23; written in unequal Nasta’lîḳ, by different hands; size, 111/4 in. by 7 in.

[ed note: Quick link to other manuscripts of this author.]

Weighted proportion of home birth by place of residence and regions.

Sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents in Ethiopia, 2016 (N = 5796).

As of 2020, Christianity was the largest religion in the world, with around 2.5 billion believers. In the second place was Islam, with around 1.9 billion adherents.

Random effect model and model fitness for the assessment of anemia among young women in Ethiopia.

According to the latest census data, Lakshadweep, the island union territory had the highest share of Muslim population in the country, where 97 percent of its population identified as followers of the Islamic faith. Jammu & Kashmir ranked second at 68 percent during the same time period. With almost all major religions being practiced throughout the country, India is known for its religious diversity. Islam makes up the highest share among minority faiths in the country.

Obstetric and behavioral characteristics of participants.

In 2023, over ** percent of Indonesians declared themselves to be Muslim, followed by *** percent who were Christians. Indonesia has the largest Islamic population in the world and for this reason is often recognized as a Muslim nation. However, Indonesia is not a Muslim nation according to its constitution. The archipelago is a multifaith country and officially recognizes six religions – Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. Not all provinces in Indonesia are Muslim majority The spread of Islam in Indonesia began on the west side of the archipelago, where the main maritime trade routes were located. Until today, most of the Indonesian Muslim population are residing in Western and Central Indonesia, while the majority religion of several provinces in Eastern Indonesia, such as East Nusa Tenggara and Bali, is Christian and Hindu, respectively. Discrimination towards other beliefs in Indonesia The Indonesian constitution provides for freedom of religion. However, the Government Restrictions Index Score on religion in Indonesia is relatively high. Indonesians who practice unrecognized religions, including Indonesia’s indigenous or traditional belief systems, such as animism, dynamism, and totemism, face legal restrictions and discrimination. Indonesian law requires its citizens to put one of the recognized religions on their national identity cards, with some exceptions for indigenous religions. Although legally citizens may leave the section blank, atheism or agnosticism is considered uncommon in Indonesia.