Muslim Majority Countries 2023

A Muslim is a person who adheres to the Islamic creeds. A monotheistic Abrahamic religion that emerged in the 7th century A.D. is known as Islam.

Mecca, a city in modern-day Saudi Arabia, was the birthplace of Islam. In Africa and the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, most Muslims reside.

Islam is the second-largest religion in the world

Over 1.9 billion Muslims live on our planet. Furthermore, the Muslim population is rising at an alarming rate. There are 1.5 billion Sunni Muslims, 240-340 million Shia Muslims, and a few minor denominations distributed across the Islamic community.

More than half of the population in a Muslim-majority nation is Muslim. The number of Muslim-majority nations in the globe now stands at about 50.

However, the exact figure varies significantly depending on the source. In most situations, these discrepancies may be traced back to one of two things. 

Because the Muslim population in each country tends to expand over time, the proportion of Muslims in each country is likely to rise. According to a second reason, there is a discrepancy between certain sources, including places like Western Sahara or Palestine, and others that don’t.

There were a total of 50 Muslim-majority countries in the globe in 2010. However, the Pew Research Center included Nigeria in their 2020 prediction to bring the number to 51.

To put things in perspective, the United States CIA World Factbook for 2021 omits the territories of Mayotte and Western Sahara (as well as Kazakhstan, for some reason). Still, it includes Bosnia and Herzegovina, bringing the total number of countries included in the book to 49.

Eritrea, with a Muslim population ranging from 36.6% to 51.6%, is presently absent from most lists of nations with a majority of Muslims but might be included shortly. Eritrea might be the newest nation with a majority Muslim population, pending the release of more recent statistics.

10 Countries with the Largest Muslim Populations in 2021:

1. Maldives – 100%
2. Mauritania – 99.9%
3. Somalia – 99.8% (tie)
4. Tunisia – 99.8% (tie)
5. Afghanistan – 99.7% (tie)
6. Algeria – 99.7% (tie)
7. Iran – 99.4%
8. Yemen – 99.2%
9. Morocco – 99%
10. Niger – 98.3%

In the absence of the United Nations’ formal recognition, Western Sahara, which is home to 99.4% of the world’s Muslims, would have placed eighth on the list.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that several bigger nations have a greater Muslim population than those mentioned above.

Top 10 Muslim-majority countries in 2021:

1. Indonesia – 231,000,000
2. Pakistan – 212,300,000
3. India – 200,000,000
4. Bangladesh – 153,700,000
5. Nigeria – 95,000,000–103,000,000
6. Egypt – 85,000,000–90,000,000
7. Iran – 82,500,000
8. Turkey – 74,432,725
9. Algeria – 41,240,913
10. Sudan – 39,585,777

The Quran and Islam’s core principles:

Like Christians, Jews, and Bahá’s, Muslims worship the same God, whom they often refer to as Allah.

Even while Muslims recognize Adam, Moses, and Jesus as spiritual people who served as prophets, they believe that their founding prophet Muhammad was sent to deliver Allah’s last message.

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Islam’s sacred scripture, the Quran (also written Qur’an or Koran), contains these teachings, which Muslims believe to be the exact words of God given to Muhammed at the time of his revelation.

Sharia Law, a faith-based code of behavior that contains standards for practically every area of Muslim life, is another legal system that Muslims adhere to.

Muslims adhere to five tenets that form the foundation of their religion. The five pillars of Islam are these.

Islam’s Five Pillars:

Shahada: One must declare their trust in God and confidence in Muhammad by reciting the shahadah.

Salat: Five times a day, people must worship in front of the Kabah, a mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Zakat: Giving to people in need is the obligation of Zakat.

Sawm: One must abstain from food and drink from daybreak till dusk throughout Ramadan.

Hajj: At the very least, one should pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one’s life.