Index| Group | Where | Number of Adherents |
% of total pop. |
Number of congreg./ churches/ units |
Number of countries |
Year | Source | Quote/ Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islam | world | - | - | - | - | 700 C.E. | Oxtoby, Willard G. The Meaning of Other Faiths. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press (1983); pg. 48. | "Following the unification of Arabia by Muhammad's followers, Arab armies conquered the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean, and east into Iran and central Asia, within a century. From Spain to Iraq, Arabic replaced Latin, Greek and other tongues as the vernacular language, as Christian populations became largely Muslim. " |
| Islam | world | - | 12.40% | - | - | 1900 | Johnstone. Operation World. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan (1993); pg. 23. | "Muslim... 12.4% of the world's population in 1900... " |
| Islam | world | 200,000,000 | 12.50% | - | - | 1900 | Marty, Martin E. & R. Scott Appleby. The Glory and the Power: The Fundamentalist Challenge to the Modern World; Boston: Beacon Press (1992); pg. 12. | "The 'World Christian Encyclopedia' estimates that in 1900 there were 1.6 billion people on earth, 560 million of whom were Christian, 200 million Muslim, 200 million Hindu, 127 million Buddhist, and 106 million 'tribal religionists.' " |
| Islam | world | 200,000,000 | 12.40% | - | - | 1900 | *LINK* web page: "Islam: Numbers and Distribution "; web site: "Supporting Materials: Culture " (Slippery Rock Univ., PA). (viewed 31 Aug. 1999). Last Revised: 10-25-95 | "Islam... 1900 -- 200 million (12.4% of world); 1993 -- 1,014 million (18.2% of world); Diffusion from original hearth. " |
| Islam | world | 200,000,000 | 12.40% | - | - | 1900 | *LINK* web page: "Major Religions of the World "; web site: "Supporting Materials: Culture " (Slippery Rock Univ., PA). (viewed 31 Aug. 1999). Last revised 23 June 1999. | "Numbered 200 million in 1900 (12.4% of world) and 1,147 million in 1997 (19.6% of world) " |
| Islam | world | 209,020,000 | - | - | - | 1945 | Ferm, Vergilius (ed). An Encyclopedia of Religion; Westport, CT: Greenwood Press (1976; 1st ed. pub. 1945 by Philosophical Library); pg. 502. | "Mohammedans number about 160,000,000 in Asia, 44,000,000,000 in Africa, 5,000,000 in Europe and 20,000 in North America, a total of approximately 209,020,000. " |
| Islam | world | 300,000,000 | 14.00% | - | - | 1957 | Welles, Sam. The World's Great Religions, New York: Time Incorporated (1957); pg. 101. | "Islam... Today its adherents, 300 million strong, encompass nearly one seventh of the total population of the earth. " |
| Islam | world | 455,000,000 | 14.00% | - | - | 1958 | Welles, Sam. The World's Great Religions, New York: Western Publishing Co. (1972). [11th printing; original edition: 1958]; pg. 89. | "Today its [Islam's] followers at least 455 million strong, number nearly one seventh of the population of the globe. " |
| Islam | world | 464,000,000 | - | - | - | 1960 | *LINK* "The church is larger than you think " in DAWN Fridayfax 1998 #28. (Original source: Patrick Johnstone. "The Church is bigger than you think ", WEC, Bulstrode, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, U.K.) | Table |
| Islam | world | 400,000,000 | - | - | - | 1960 | *LINK* web site: "SIM NOW " (Protestant site); web page: "Islam - The Fastest - Growing Religion on the Earth? " (viewed 5 March 1999); From World Religions Special Report (1998) by SIMNOW (published quarterly by SIM, 14830 Choate Circle, Charlotte, NC 28273 USA) | "Islam has exploded from 400 million adherents in 1960 to a projected 1.3 billion by the year 2000 " |
| Islam | world | 400,000,000 | - | - | - | 1969 | Hutchinson, John A. Paths of Faith; New York: McGraw-Hill (1969); pg. 443. | "...today Islam's four hundred odd million adherents are scattered over the world in utter disregard for typological considerations. " |
| Islam | world | 608,000,000 | - | - | - | 1970 | *LINK* "The church is larger than you think " in DAWN Fridayfax 1998 #28. (Original source: Patrick Johnstone. "The Church is bigger than you think ", WEC, Bulstrode, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, U.K.) | Table |
| Islam | world | 600,000,000 | - | - | - | 1970 | *LINK* Alford, Chip. web page: "LifeWay strategist shares societal, religious trends: Growth of Islam, minority groups "; web site: "LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention " (viewed 26 Feb. 1999), Updated: November 17, 1998. | "Muslims currently number about 1.2 billion worldwide, Tharp said. That's nearly 20 percent of the world's population and double the total adherents in 1970. The number is expected to grow to 2 billion by 2025 " |
| Islam | world | - | 16.67% | - | - | 1973 | Zehavi, A.M. (editor) Handbook of the World's Religions. New York: Franklin Watts (1973); pg. 135. | "In all, a sixth of a seventh of mankind now adheres in some degree to Islam. " |
| Islam | world | 500,000,000 | - | - | - | 1974 | Lang, Robert. The Land and People of Pakistan (Portraits of the Nations series). Philadelphia & New York: J. B. Lippincott Co. (revised edition 1974); pg. 124. | "Throughout the world, but mainly in Asia and Africa, there are more than 500 million Muslims... " |
| Islam | world | 500,000,000 | - | - | - | 1975 | Anderson, Norman (ed.). The World's Religions; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (1989). [1st pub. in 1950. 4th ed., completely revised, pub. 1975.] (Article: "Islam " by Norman Anderson.); pg. 91. | "...numbers some 500 million adherents drawn from races as different as the European from the Hausa-Fulani and the Aryan Indian from the Philippine tribesman; yet we can still speak of the 'world of Islam'. " |
| Islam | world | 530,000,000 | - | - | - | 1975 | Wallechinsky, David & Irving Wallace; The People's Almanac; Garden City, NY: Doubleday (1975); pg. 1268. | List of "Major World Religions ": "Of the 530 million people who are presently believers in Islam, only one out of 4 is Arabic. " |
| Islam | world | 330,000,000 | - | - | - | 1976 | Hopfe, Lews M. Religions of the World, Macmillan Publishing Co.: New York (1983) [3rd edition]; pg. 431. | "The youngest of the world's major religions is Islam. It is also one of the largest, with one-third of a billion adherents... " |
| Islam | world | 500,000,000 | - | - | - | 1978 | Lengyel, Emil. Modern Egypt. New York: Franklin Watts (revised edition, 1978); pg. 29. | "There are more than 500 million Muslims in the world. " |
| Islam | world | 788,000,000 | - | - | - | 1980 | *LINK* "The church is larger than you think " in DAWN Fridayfax 1998 #28. (Original source: Patrick Johnstone. "The Church is bigger than you think ", WEC, Bulstrode, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, U.K.) | Table |
| Islam | world | 550,000,000 | - | - | - | 1981 | Crim, Keith (ed.). The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions. San Francisco: Harper Collins (1989). Reprint; originally pub. as Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, 1981; pg. 359. | "...South Asian Muslims constitute more than one third of its total membership (550 million)... " |
| Islam | world | 589,143,424 | - | - | - | 1981 | Popenoe, David. Sociology (5th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1983). [Source: 1981 Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 433. | Table: Membership in the Major Religions of the World " |
| Islam | world | 800,000,000 | - | - | - | 1982 | Barnhart, Joe Edward. The Southern Baptist Holy War. Austin, Texas: Texas Monthly Press (1986); pg. 173. | William Powell wrote about the 1982 world's fair: "...entered the building for the display of Muslims. The first thing I saw was a very large and a very high painted column on a large scale board stating the Muslims had 800,000,000 members--the largest numbers of any kind of religion--and that they were also the fastest growing religious group!! " |
| Islam | world | 592,157,888 | 13.17% | - | - | 1982 | Robertson, Ian. Sociology (2nd ed.); New York, NY: Worth Publishers (1981 2nd edition; updated since 1977 1st ed.). [Orig. source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year, 1982]; pg. 405. | Table: "Estimated membership of the principal religions of the world " |
| Islam | world | 589,143,424 | 12.81% | - | - | 1982 | *LINK* Web site: "Urantia Book Fellowship Archives "; web page: "An Introduction to Islam " [subtitle: "The Religion of Submission to God "] (viewed 11 April 1999). Written by Meredith Sprunger. | "Islam is the youngest of the major religions of the world. It is the dominant religion of the third world nations of the Middle East and Africa and the second largest of the world's religions with 589,143,400 followers. " [Approx. 1982 world pop.: 4.6 billion.] |
| Islam | world | 751,000,000 | - | - | - | 1983 | Parshall, Phil. Bridges to Islam: A Christian Perspective on Folk Islam; Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House (1985) [2d printing. 1st printing: 1983]; pg. 32. | "India, Pakistan, & Bangladesh together have a population of a quarter of a billion Muslims. This is about one-third of the world's Islamic population. " |
| Islam | world | 589,000,000 | - | - | - | 1983 | Popenoe, David. Sociology (5th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1983); pg. 432. | "The next largest religion after Christianity is Islam. It numbers 589 million adherents, called Muslims... " |
| Islam | world | 555,000,000 | - | - | - | 1984 | Bishop, Peter & Michael Darton (editors). The Encyclopedia of World Faiths: An Illustrated Survey of the World's Living Faiths. New York: Facts on File Publications (1987); pg. 161. | "The total number of Muslims in the world is given as 555 million by the Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year 1984. There are, of course, no complete statistics available, and this estimate may be somewhat low, but the total is unlikely to be more than 600 millions. " |
| Islam | world | 555,000,000 | - | - | - | 1984 | Lindsey, Hal. Planet Earth - 2000 A.D.. Palos Verdes, California: Western Front, Ltd. (1994); pg. 176-177. | "Ten years ago, a survey of the largest religions in the world showed Roman Catholicism first with 622 million followers, Islam second with 555 million, Hinduism third with 462 million and Protestantism fourth with 370 million. " |
| Islam | world | 700,000,000 | 16.70% | - | - | 1984 | Walls, Andrew. "Christianity " in Hinnells, John R. (ed). A Handbook of Living Religions, Penguin Books: New York (1991) [reprint; 1st published in 1984]; pg. 130. | "Altogether there are well over 700 million Muslims, or about one-sixth of the world population. Shi'a Muslims, mostly in Iran and Iraq, make up about one-tenth of the total Muslim population of the world. " |
| Islam | world | 832,000,000 | 20.00% | - | 70 countries |
1985 | Wright, Robin. Sacred Rage: The Crusade of Modern Islam. New York: Linden Press/Simon & Schuster (1985); pg. 21. | "Of the 832 million Muslims in seventy nations--accounting for almost one-fifth of mankind--roughly 10 percent are Shia...' |
| Islam | world | 500,000,000 | - | - | - | 1986 | McCarthy, Kevin. Saudi Arabia: A Desert Kingdom (series: Discovering Our Heritage). Minneapolis, Minnesota: Dillon Press, Inc. (1986); pg. 5. | "For the five hundred million people around the world who belong to the religion of Islam... " |
| Islam | world | 800,000,000 | - | - | - | 1986 | Tarr, David R. & Bryan R. Daves (editors). The Middle East (6th Ed.); Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. (1986); pg. 119. | "Today, about 800 million people living in Asia, Africa, Europe and, to a much lesser extent, the Americas profess faith in Islam. " |
| Islam | world | 600,000,000 | - | - | - | 1987 | Bishop, Peter & Michael Darton (editors). The Encyclopedia of World Faiths: An Illustrated Survey of the World's Living Faiths. New York: Facts on File Publications (1987); pg. 161. | "The total number of Muslims in the world is given as 555 million by the Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year 1984. There are, of course, no complete statistics available, and this estimate may be somewhat low, but the total is unlikely to be more than 600 millions. " |
| Islam | world | 1,034,000,000 | - | - | - | 1990 | *LINK* "The church is larger than you think " in DAWN Fridayfax 1998 #28. (Original source: Patrick Johnstone. "The Church is bigger than you think ", WEC, Bulstrode, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, U.K.) | Table |
| Islam | world | 530,000,000 | - | - | - | 1990 | Carlisle, Richard (editor), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mankind vol. 19, Marshall Cavendish: Freeport, NY (1990); pg. 2494. | - |
| Islam | world | 1,200,000,000 | - | - | - | 1990 | Fisher, Mary Pat & Robert Luyster. Living Religions, I.B. Tauris & Co.: New York (1990); pg. 302. | "Islam is the fastest-growing of all world religions, with one billion two hundred million followers. " |
| Islam | world | 1,000,000,000 | 20.00% | - | - | 1990 | Palmer, Spencer J. & Roger R. Keller. Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View, Brigham Young University: Provo, Utah (1990); pg. 181. | "Muslims... number almost one billion and comprise approximately one-fifth of the world's population. " |
| Islam | world | - | - | - | 172 countries |
1992 | The Baha'is. Leicestershire, United Kingdom: Baha'i Publishing Trust of the U.K. (1994; 1st ed. 1992); pg. 6. | Graphic: "Geographic Spread of the World's Independent Religions: Number of countries with significant communities "; [Original source: 1992 Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year] |
| Islam | world | 800,000,000 | - | - | - | 1992 | Marty, Martin E. & R. Scott Appleby. The Glory and the Power: The Fundamentalist Challenge to the Modern World; Boston: Beacon Press (1992); pg. 137. | "Perlmutter asserts that the world's 800 million Muslims should be viewed as one monolithic force. " |
| Islam | world | 1,000,000,000 | - | - | - | 1992 | Ovendale, Ritchie. The Longman Companion to The Middle East since 1914. London & New York: Longman (1992); pg. 218. | "Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world: it has between 900 million and 1,000 million adherents and is the official religion in at least 44 countries. " |
| Islam | world | 900,000,000 | - | - | - | 1992 | Russell, Chandler. Racing Toward 2001; Zondervan Publishing House: Grand Rapids, MI (1992); pg. 183. | "It was as if America had discovered for the first time a world faith of 900 million members. " |
| Islam | world | 924,611,968 | - | - | - | 1993 | Faux, Marian (ed.). The New York Public Library Sudent's Desk Reference. New York: Prentice Hall (1993); pg. 270. | Table: "The World's Major Religions: How Big Are They? "; "Estimated number of followers of each religion. " |
| Islam | world | 1,035,000,000 | 19.60% | - | - | 1993 | Johnstone. Operation World. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan (1993); pg. 23. | "Muslim 19.6%. 1,025 million. Most live in the great belt of territory stretching from West Africa to central and southeast Asia. It is the majority religion of 43 states [nations] and territories, over 10% of a further 31, and over 1% in 49 others. " |
| Islam | world | 850,000,000 | - | - | - | 1993 | Rausch, David A. & Carl Hermann Voss. World Religions: Our Quest for Meaning; Trinity Press International: Valley Forge, PA (1993); pg. 180. | "Islam... today an estimated 850 million people accept its tenets. " |
| Islam | world | 951,000,000 | - | - | - | 1993 | *LINK* The Cambridge Factfinder | - |
| Islam | world | 1,014,000,000 | 18.20% | - | - | 1993 | *LINK* web page: "Islam: Numbers and Distribution "; web site: "Supporting Materials: Culture " (Slippery Rock Univ., PA). (viewed 31 Aug. 1999). Last Revised: 10-25-95 | "Islam... 1900 -- 200 million (12.4% of world); 1993 -- 1,014 million (18.2% of world); Diffusion from original hearth. " |
| Islam | world | 700,000,000 | - | - | - | 1993 | *LINK* web site: "Toronto Consultants on Religious Tolerance "; web page: "Hinduism " (viewed 2 March 1999) | "Estimates of the total number of Muslims in the world vary greatly: 0.700 billion or more, Barnes & Noble Encyclopedia 1993; 0.817 billion, The Universal Almanac (1996); 0.951 billion, The Cambridge Factfinder (1993); 1.100 billion, The World Almanac (1997); 1.200 billion, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic relations) " |
| Islam | world | 1,014,371,968 | - | - | - | 1993 | *LINK* web site: "Wholesome Words: Worldwide Missions " by Stephen Ross, "First Edition, 1998 "; [original sources: The World Factbook 1997 (CIA, 1998)] | Table: "Major religions of the world (1993 est.) " |
| Islam | world | 1,000,000,000 | - | - | - | 1994 | Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn. Islamic Society in Practice; Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida (1994); pg. 1. | "Although revived or militant Islamic movements have captured the most recent attention of the West in recent years, the majority of the world's nearly one billion Muslims stand outside of these events. " |
| Islam | world | 200,000,000 | - | - | - | 1994 | *LINK* Hexham, Irving. Concise Dictionary of Religion. Carol Stream, USA: InterVarsity Press (1994). (v. online 6 Oct. 1999) | "ISLAM...Today there are over 200,000,000 Muslims in the world. " |
| Islam | world | 1,000,000,000 | - | - | - | 1994 | Lindsey, Hal. Planet Earth - 2000 A.D.. Palos Verdes, California: Western Front, Ltd. (1994); pg. 176-177. | "Islam is the world's fastest growing religion. Ten years ago, a survey of the largest religions in the world showed Roman Catholicism first with 622 million followers, Islam second with 555 million, Hinduism third with 462 million and Protestantism fourth with 370 million. Today Islam has catapulted into first place with more than 1 billion adherents! " |
| Islam | world | 1,040,000,000 | 20.00% | - | - | 1994 | Lindsey, Hal. Planet Earth - 2000 A.D.. Palos Verdes, California: Western Front, Ltd. (1994); pg. 177. | "Of the world's 5.2 billion people, 20 percent are Muslims. Though Islam is Arab in origin, only one-fifth of the world's Muslims live in Arab countries. There are 400 million in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. Iran and Turkey have about 110 million. Africa, too, has large populations of Muslims. " |
| Islam | world | 1,000,000,000 | - | - | - | 1994 | Neusner, Jacob (ed). World Religions in America: An Introduction; Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press (1994); pg. 243. | "The majority of the world's one billion Muslims are Asian and African. " |
| Islam | world | 800,000,000 | 17.00% | - | - | 1994 | Yenne, Bill. 100 Men Who Shaped World History. San Francisco, CA: Bluewood Books (1994); pg. 33. | "Today, Islam is the second most widely held religious belief in the world, with over 800 million faithful, accounting for 17 percent of the world's people. " |
| Islam | world | 1,099,634,048 | 19.24% | - | - | 1995 | The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997 (K-111 Reference Corp.: Mahwah, NJ), [Source: 1996 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 646. | Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1995 "; "Muslims. 83% Sunni Muslims, 16% Shia Muslims (Shiites), 1% other schools. " |
| Islam | world | 1,100,000,000 | - | - | - | 1995 | *LINK* Spartos, Carlos. "Practical Piety: A Guide for the Perplexed " in Village Voice (New York), Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 1999; (viewed online, 29 Jan. 1999) | "Islam... Membership: North America: in 1995, 5.5 million. World: in 1995, 1.1 million " [sic. Article mistakenly has "million " instead of "billion "] |
| Islam | world | - | 20.00% | - | - | 1995 | *LINK* web page: "Principal World Religions "; web site: "Supporting Materials: Culture " (Slippery Rock Univ., PA). (viewed 31 Aug. 1999). | Graph: "Principal World Religions "; "Last Revised: 10-25-95 "; Christianity 30%; Islam 20%; Hinduism 14%; Buddhism 6%; Judaism .3%; Other 30%. |
| Islam | world | 1,126,324,992 | 19.41% | - | - | 1996 | The World Almanac & Book of Facts 1998 (K-111 Reference Corp.: Mahwah, NJ), [Source: 1997 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 654. | Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1996 "; "Muslims. 83% Sunni Muslims, 16% Shia Muslims (Shiites), 1% other schools. " |
| Islam | world | 1,000,000,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | Cavendish, Marshall. Cambodia ( "Cultures of the World " series), Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Corp. (1996); pg. 76. | "Islam... is one of the major religions of the world. It has an estimated one billion believers worldwide. " |
| Islam | world | - | 20.00% | - | - | 1996 | Halverson, Dean C. (ed.) The Compact Guide to World Religions; Colorado Springs, Colorado: International Students Inc. (1996). [Publisher is an Evangelical missionary organization.]; pg. 103. | "Islam makes up around 20% of the world's population. It is the second largest religion in the world, trailing only Christianity. " |
| Islam | world | 1,000,000,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | Knoke, William. Bold New World: The Essential Road Map to the Twenty-First Century. New York: Kodansha International (1996), Chapter 10: "The Global Tribes "; pg. 191. | "The significance of the tribe is demonstrated in the power of Islam. The phenomenal rise of Islam easily traverses national borders, spreading across Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, and Turkey, and affecting the Sudan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan. Its swelling body of a billion adherents reaches into Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and great swaths of India. Its shadow falls as far away as France, England, and the U.S. " |
| Islam | world | 1,000,000,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | Magida, Arthur J. (ed). How to be a Perfect Stranger: A Guide to Etiquette in Other People's Religious Ceremonies. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing (1996); pg. 176. | "With about one billion Muslims around the world, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Every country in the world has at least a small Muslim community. " |
| Islam | world | 850,000,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 430. | "Roughly 85 percent of the 1 billion Muslims in the world today are Sunni, although there are dozens of non-Sunni sects. " |
| Islam | world | 1,000,000,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 430. | "Roughly 85 percent of the 1 billion Muslims in the world today are Sunni, although there are dozens of non-Sunni sects. " |
