c. 652.8 million (2019) (32% of the population) [1][2][3]
Regions with significant populations
Pakistan
244,000,000[4] (2024)
India
200,000,000[5] (2021)
Bangladesh
150,400,000[6] (2022)
Afghanistan
41,128,771[7][8] (2022)
Sri Lanka
2,131,240[9] (2023)
Nepal
1,483,060[10] (2021)
Maldives
560,000[11][12] (2021)
Bhutan
727[13][14] (2020)
Religions
Predominantly Sunni Islam
Languages
Liturgical (Universal)
Quranic Arabic[15]
Common (Regional)
Hindustani (Urdu–Hindi), Bengali, Punjabi, Pashto,
Sindhi, Saraiki, Dari (Persian), Kashmiri, Balochi, Maldivian, and other languages of South Asia[16]
Traditional (Community)
Arabi Malayalam, Arwi, Beary and others
Islam is the second-largest religion in South Asia, with more than 650 million Muslims living there, forming about one-third of the region's population. Islam first spread along the coastal regions of the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka, almost as soon as it started in the Arabian Peninsula, as the Arab traders brought it to South Asia. South Asia has the largest population of Muslims in the world, with about one-third of all Muslims living here.[17][18] Islam is the dominant religion in half of the South Asian countries (Pakistan, Maldives, Bangladesh and Afghanistan). It is the second largest religion in India and third largest in Sri Lanka and Nepal.
On the Indian subcontinent, Islam first appeared in the southwestern tip of the peninsula, in today's Kerala state. Arabs traded with Malabar even before the birth of Muhammad. Native legends say that a group of Sahaba, under Malik Ibn Deenar, arrived on the Malabar Coast and preached Islam. According to that legend, the first mosque of India was built by the mandate of the last King of Chera Perumals of Makotai, who accepted Islam and received the name Tajudheen during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (c. 570–632).[19][20][21] On a similar note, Tamil Muslims on the eastern coast also claim that they converted to Islam in Muhammad's lifetime. According to Qissat Shakarwati Farmad, the Masjids at Kodungallur, Kollam, Madayi, Barkur, Mangalore, Kasaragod, Kannur, Dharmadam, Panthalayini, and Chaliyam, were built during the era of Malik Dinar, and they are among the oldest Masjids in Indian Subcontinent.[22][23][24] Historicaly, the Barwada Mosque in Ghogha, Gujarat built before 623 CE, Cheraman Juma Mosque (629 CE) in Methala, Kerala and Palaiya Jumma Palli (630 CE) in Kilakarai, Tamil Nadu are three of the first mosques in South Asia.[25][26][27][28][23]
The first incursion occurred through sea by Caliph Umar's governor of Bahrain, Usman ibn Abu al-Aas, who sent his brother Hakam ibn Abu al-Aas to raid and reconnoitre the Makran region[29] around 636 CE or 643 AD long before any Arab army reached the frontier of India by land. Al-Hakim ibn Jabalah al-Abdi, who attacked Makran in the year 649 AD, was an early partisan of Ali ibn Abu Talib.[30] During the caliphate of Ali, many Hindu Jats of Sindh had come under the influence of Shi'ism[31] and some even participated in the Battle of Camel and died fighting for Ali.[30] According to popular tradition, Islam was brought to Lakshadweep islands, situated just to the west of Malabar Coast, by Ubaidullah in 661 CE. After the Rashidun Caliphate, Muslim dynasties came to power.[32][33] Since 1947, South Asia has been largely governed by modern states.[34][35]
^Burke, Daniel Burke, ed. (29 July 2016). "The moment American Muslims were waiting for". CNN Religion. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
^Pechilis, Karen; Raj, Selva J. (2013). South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today. Routledge. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-415-44851-2.
^"Overall total population" (xlsx). United Nations. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
^"Population". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021. 238,181,034 (July 2021 est.)
^Diamant, Jeff. "The countries with the 10 largest Christian populations and the 10 largest Muslim populations". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
^"Census 2022: Bangladesh population now 165 million". www.dhakatribune.com. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
^"World Bank Open Data". World Bank Open Data. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
^"Afghanistan". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 8 October 2022. (Archived 2022 edition.)
^Department of Census and Statistics,The Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka-2011 Archived 7 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine
^"The Kathmandu Post | Read online latest news and articles from Nepal". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
^"World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
^"World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
^Pew Research Center - Global Religious Landscape 2010 - religious composition by country Archived 5 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
^"Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project - Research and data from Pew Research Center". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
^Al-Jallad, Ahmad (30 May 2011). "Polygenesis in the Arabic Dialects". Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. BRILL. doi:10.1163/1570-6699_eall_EALL_SIM_000030. ISBN 9789004177024.
^Talbot & Singh 2009, p. 27, footnote 3.
^
Pechilis, Karen; Raj, Selva J. (1 January 2013). South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today. Routledge. ISBN 9780415448512.
^
"10 Countries With the Largest Muslim Populations, 2010 and 2050". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
^"World's second oldest mosque is in India". Bahrain tribune. Archived from the original on 6 July 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
^Ibn Nadim, "Fihrist", 1037
^"History". Malik Deenar Grand Juma Masjid. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
^Prange, Sebastian R. Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast. Cambridge University Press, 2018. 98.
^"Oldest Indian mosque: Trail leads to Gujarat". The Times of India. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
^"Oldest Indian mosque: Trail leads to Gujarat". The Times of India. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
^Sharma, Indu (22 March 2018). "Top 11 Famous Muslim Religious Places in Gujarat". Gujarat Travel Blog. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
^Prof.Mehboob Desai,Masjit during the time of Prophet Nabi Muhammed Sale Allahu Alayhi Wasalam,Divy Bhasakar,Gujarati News Paper, Thursday, column 'Rahe Roshan',24 May,page 4
^Al Baldiah wal nahaiyah vol: 7 page 141
^ abMacLean, Derryl N. (1989), Religion and Society in Arab Sind, pp. 126, BRILL, ISBN 90-04-08551-3
^S. A. A. Rizvi, "A socio-intellectual History of Isna Ashari Shi'is in India", Volo. 1, pp. 138, Mar'ifat Publishing House, Canberra (1986).
^Levy-Rubin, Milka (2011). Non-Muslims in the Early Islamic Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 102–103. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511977435. ISBN 978-1108449618.
^Jo Van Steenbergen (2020). "2.1". A History of the Islamic World, 600–1800: Empire, Dynastic Formations, and Heterogeneities in Pre-Modern Islamic West-Asia. Routledge. ISBN 978-1000093070.
^Jalal, Ayesha; Bose, Sugata (1998), Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy (1st ed.), Sang-e-Meel Publications
^Talbot, Ian (2016), A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-21659-2
and 29 Related for: Islam in South Asia information
Islam is the second-largest religion inSouthAsia, with more than 650 million Muslims living there, forming about one-third of the region's population...
adherents of Islam have lived inAsia especially in West Asia and SouthAsia since the beginning of Islamic history. The spread of Islam outside of the...
Islam is the most widely practised religion in Southeast Asia with approximately 240 million adherents in the region (about 42% of its population), with...
and from SouthAsia spread into East Asia and Southeast Asia. Early Christianity and Islam were introduced into coastal regions of SouthAsia by merchants...
SouthAsia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. As commonly conceptualized, the modern...
Gupta Empire. Following the conquest of Islamic rulers in the Indian subcontinent and spread of IslaminSouthAsia, an era featuring persecution of Hindus...
Islamin Central Asia has existed since the beginning of Islamic history. Sunni branch of Islam is the most widely practiced religion in Central Asia...
(2008). IslaminSouthAsia: A Short History. Brill Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-16859-6. Manz, Beatrice F. (2006). "Tīmūr Lang". Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed...
Retrieved 6 May 2015. Introduction, A Historical Overview of IslaminSouthAsia, IslaminSouthAsiain Practice by Barbara D. Metcalf Princeton University Press...
Islam (Korean: 이슬람교) is a minor religion inSouth Korea and North Korea. The Muslim community is centered in Seoul and Busan and there are a few mosques...
Southeast Asia is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent...
South Africa is a Christian majority nation with Islam being a minority religion, practised by roughly 1.6% of the total population. IslaminSouth Africa...
million; 97.9%). List of mosques in Africa Trade & Pilgrimage Routes of Ghana IslaminSouthAsia Muslim Societies in African History (New Approaches to...
Identities in Nineteenth-Century North India. Cambridge University Press. p. 66. ISBN 9781108490535. Jamal Malik (2008). IslaminSouthAsia: A Short History...
speakers. Islam first arrived in Bengal in the year 1204. The establishment of the first Muslim state in Bengal, the Bengal Sultanate, in 1352 by Shamsuddin...
were converted in early Islamization campaigns (khadim-al islam) and those who converted more recently (jadid-al islam). SouthAsian Muslims are divided...
entered the United States this year. IslaminSouthAsiaIslamin Europe Islamin Oceania Organisation of Islamic Cooperation "The Global Religious Landscape"...
same status. SouthAsia has the largest population of Muslims in the world, with about one-third of all Muslims being from SouthAsia. Islam is the dominant...
largest denominations are Sunni Islam (75–90% of all Muslims) and Shia Islam (10–20% of all Muslims). By sheer numbers, SouthAsia accounts for the largest portion...
and the Spread of Islam into the region, part of a long history of interactions between the Middle East, Central Asia, and SouthAsia. Various complexes...
Farah. Islam by country IslaminSouthAsia Education in Afghanistan List of mosques in Afghanistan Religion in Afghanistan Women inIslam "Afghanistan"...
religions in the world: Christianity and Islam, plus Judaism and Druze faith) originated in West Asia. Islam is the largest religion in West Asia, but other...
Asia is the largest and most populous continent and the birthplace of many religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism...