Earliest converts The first converts to Islam at the time of Muhammad were: Khadija bint Khuwaylid - First person to convert and first free female convert. Ali ibn Abi Talib - First free male child in Muhammad's family to convert. Zayd ibn Harithah - First freed slave male convert.
Khabbab ibn al-Aratt – One of the first converts to Islam, he was a Chaldean from the Yamama region. Addas – He was a young Christian slave boy (originally from Nineveh) who was the first person from Taif to convert to Islam.
Cheraman Perumal is said to be the first Muslim from Indian Peninsular. Cherman was Kerala's King belonging to the Chera dynasty. He is said to have witnessed the splitting of the moon, a supernatural event mentioned in the Quran as a miracle performed by the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.
At age 10, ʿAlī became the second person to accept Islam, after Khadījah, according to tradition. From then, he was a dedicated servant of the early Muslim ummah (community).
77% of new converts to Islam are from Christianity, whereas 19% were from non-religion.
The Parsis, a Zoroastrianism group based in India, classically does not accept converts, but this issue became controversial in the 20th century due to a rapid decline in membership.
Rashidun, (Arabic: “Rightly Guided,” or “Perfect”), the first four caliphs of the Islamic community, known in Muslim history as the orthodox or patriarchal caliphs: Abū Bakr (reigned 632–634), ʿUmar (reigned 634–644), ʿUthmān (reigned 644–656), and ʿAlī (reigned 656–661).
Islam came to India in the 10th century when the Ghaznavids, a Turkic tribe, annexed the area now known as Punjab. By 1200, Muslim warlords had conquered much of northern India, and by 1206 had founded the Delhi Sultanate with its capital at Delhi.
In 610, when Ali was aged between nine and eleven, Muhammad announced that he had received divine revelations (wahy). Ali was among the first to believe him and profess to Islam, either the second (after Khadija) or the third (after Khadija and Abu Bakr), a point of contention among Shia and Sunni Muslims.
Islam arrived in Kerala, a part of the larger Indian Ocean rim, via spice and silk traders from the Middle East. Historians do not rule out the possibility of Islam being introduced to Kerala as early as the seventh century CE.
King Cheraman declared his conversion to Islam in the presence of the Prophet and adopted a new name, Thajuddin. He later performed Haj. As per the wishes of the Prophet, a team of his companions led by Malik bin Dinar started their journey with Thajuddin to propagate Islam in Kerala.
The rise of Islam is intrinsically linked with the Prophet Muhammad, believed by Muslims to be the last in a long line of prophets that includes Moses and Jesus.
Arabian polytheism, the dominant form of religion in pre-Islamic Arabia, was based on veneration of deities and spirits. Worship was directed to various gods and goddesses, including Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt, al-'Uzzā, and Manāt, at local shrines and temples such as the Kaaba in Mecca.
Earliest converts
The first converts to Islam at the time of Muhammad were: Khadija bint Khuwaylid - First person to convert and first free female convert. Ali ibn Abi Talib - First free male child in Muhammad's family to convert. Zayd ibn Harithah - First freed slave male convert.
Abu Lahab is the only person from the enemies of Islam who has been cursed by name in the Holy Qur'an. Although he was an uncle of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.), he staunchly opposed Islam from the very beginning.
Around 62% of the world's Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region (from Turkey to Indonesia), with over one billion adherents. As of June 2023, the largest Muslim population in a country is in Pakistan (240,760,000), followed by Indonesia (236,000,000), India (200,000,000), and Bangladesh (150,800,000).
Before the arrival of Islam beginning in the 8th century, the region comprising Pakistan was home to a diverse plethora of faiths, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism.
There are many reasons why Islam spread so quickly. First Mecca was connected to many global trade routes. Another important reason was their military conquered lots of territory. A third factor was the Muslims fair treatment of conquered peoples.
Allah is the standard Arabic word for God and is used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews as well as by Muslims.
Lubaba claimed to be the second woman to convert to Islam, the same day as her close friend Khadijah. She and her sisters were very prominent in the early Muslim community.
Conversion by Muslims to other faiths is forbidden under most interpretations of sharia and converts are considered apostates (non-Muslims, however, are allowed to convert into Islam). Some Muslim clerics equate this apostasy to treason, a crime punishable by death.
Over the next four decades, Christians will remain the largest religious group, but Islam will grow faster than any other major religion. If current trends continue, by 2050 … The number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world.
According to various scholars and sources Pentecostalism – a Protestant Christian movement – is the fastest growing religion in the world, this growth is primarily due to religious conversion. According to Pulitzer Center 35,000 people become Pentecostal or "Born again" every day.