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After his conversion to Islam, he later became the founder of the Kedah Sultanate. [208] Shah Shahidullah Faridi (born John Gilbert Lennard) – British convert. [209] Ibn Sahl of Seville – Jewish poet and diplomat, born in 1212–3 to a Jewish family in Seville; Mubarak Shah (Chagatai Khan) – He was the first Chagatai Khan to convert to Islam
The Muslim population in Europe is extremely diverse with varied histories and origins. [4] [5] [6] Today, the Muslim-majority regions of Europe include several countries in the Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and the European part of Turkey), some Russian republics in the North Caucasus and the Idel-Ural region, and the European part of Kazakhstan.
Conversion to Islam is adopting Islam as a religion or faith. People who have converted to the religion often refer to themselves as "reverts." Conversion requires a formal statement of the shahādah, the credo of Islam, whereby the prospective convert must state that "there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."
[3] [4] [5] According to another study published in 2015 by the Pew Research Center, Islam is expected to gain a net of 3 million adherents through religious conversion between 2010 and 2050, which makes Islam the second largest religion in terms of net gains through religious conversion after religiously unaffiliated, mostly comes from Sub ...
Skanderbeg (1405 –1468) Albanians began converting to Islam when they became part of the Ottoman Empire in the late 14th century. [1] Albania differs from other regions in the Balkans such as Bulgaria and Bosnia in that until the 1500s, Islam remained confined to members of the co-opted aristocracy and sparse military outpost settlements of Yuruks.
Portrait of Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud, a Moorish ambassador to Queen Elizabeth I in 1600. The first English convert to Islam mentioned by name is John Nelson. [10] 16th century writer Richard Hakluyt claimed he was forced to convert, though he mentions in the same story other Englishmen who had converted willingly.
During the Ottoman expansion, Islam was spread from into the Balkans and even part of Central Europe. Muslims have also been historically present in Ukraine (Crimea and vicinity, with the Crimean Tatars), as well as modern-day Russia, beginning with Volga Bulgaria in the 10th century and the conversion of the Golden Horde to Islam.
The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates, expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces expanding over vast territories and building imperial structures over time.