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Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, or approximately 172.2 million people, identifying as adherents of Islam in a 2011 census. [7] India also has the third-largest number of Muslims in the world. [8] [9] The majority of India's Muslims are Sunni, with Shia making up around 15% of the Muslim ...
Religion in India is characterised by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices. Throughout India's history, religion has been an important part of the country's culture and the Indian subcontinent is the birthplace of four of the world's major religions, namely, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, which are collectively known as native Indian religions or Dharmic religions and ...
India is the country with the largest Muslim population outside Muslim-majority countries with more than 200 million adherents. [25] The Middle East-North Africa region hosts 23% of the world's Muslims, and Islam is the dominant religion in every country in the region [26] other than Israel. [12]
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 was primarily Hindu in ancient times. Buddhism appeared around 500 BCE. [10]Christianity and Islam made an appearance in Kerala during this time period; Saint Thomas is believed to have travelled to Kerala soon after the death of Jesus and converted some people, [11] while the first mosque to be built in India was built during the Islamic prophet Muhammad's lifetime in Kerala. [12]
The Muslim peasantry in western Uttar Pradesh benefited from the Green Revolution, while those in eastern Uttar Pradesh did poorly. The Muslim League eventually declined, with most Muslims initially supporting the Indian National Congress. [25] The post partition period saw a reduction in communal violence between Hindus and Muslims.
Seeking comfort in the certainty of the past, Indians are devouring reruns of popular Hindu religious dramas. The country’s public broadcaster has revived epic television shows like “Ramayan ...
The most popular Vaishnava teacher of the south was Ramanuja, while of the north it was Ramananda. [citation needed] Several important icons were women. For example, within the Mahanubhava sect, the women outnumbered the men, [169] and administration was many times composed mainly of women. [170] Mirabai is the most popular female saint in India.