ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Discovering Shi'i Islam Chapter 5 : The shi’a in the world According to UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund) and other sources, in the year 1999 the world population exceeded six billion.[^1] Around twenty percent of this population (that is around 1.2 billion) adhere to Islam.

A breakdown of the Muslim population of the world in (Mid) 1998 is estimated as follows:[^2] Africa: 315,000,000 Asia: 812,000,000 Europe: 31,401,000 Latin America: 1,624,000 Northern America: 4,349,000 Oceania: 248,000. Muslims live all over the world.

The total number of countries with Muslim inhabitants is 208.[^3] About 85% of the Muslims live outside the Arab world.[^4] The majority of Muslims live to the east of the borders of Iran, especially in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. Indonesia is the most populated Muslim country. Among Muslims who constitute the minority of the world population, the Shi’a constitute about 10% of the Muslims, which according to the current population of the world would amount to 120,000,000.

[^5] For example, Britannica 2002 (Deluxe Edition) reads: “Over the centuries the Shi'ite movement has deeply influenced all Sunnite Islam, and its adherents numbered about 60 to 80 million in the late 20th century, or one-tenth of all Islam.

Shi’ism (Arabic: Shi’ah, or Shi’i Islam) is the majority faith in Iran, Iraq, and perhaps Yemen (San’a') and has adherents in Syria, Lebanon, East Africa, India, and Pakistan.” According to some sources, the figure is 11%.[^6] Thus, the present Shi’a populatio of the world must be around 132,000,000.[^7] A breakdown of the Shi’a population in some Asian countries with a Shi’a majority or with a considerable percentage of Shi’a population can be summed up as follows:[^8] [^9] Afghanistan: Population (1998): 24,792,000./ Religious affiliation (1990): Sunni Muslim 84%; Shi'i Muslim 15%; other 1%.[^10] Azerbaijan: Population (1998): 7,650,000./Religious affiliation (1991): Shi'i Muslim 70%; Sunni Muslim 30%.

Bahrain: Population (1998): 633,000. / Religious affiliation (1991): Muslim 81.8%, of which Shi'i 61.3%, Sunni 20.5%; Christian 8.5%; other 9.7%.[^11] India: Population (1998): 984,004,000. / Religious affiliation (1995): Hindu 81.3%; Muslim 12.0%, of which Sunni 9.0%, Shi'i 3.0%; Christian 2.3%, of which Protestant 1.1%, Roman Catholic 1.0%; Sikh 1.9%; Buddhist 0.8%; Jain 0.4%; Zoroastrian 0.01%; other 1.3%.