9781422281154

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Tradition and Diversity

A Muslim is a follower of Islam , one of the world’s three great monotheistic faiths. The shared religious experience unites Muslims in a worldwide community of believers called the umma . However, the questions “Where do Muslims live?” and “How are Muslims governed?” cannot be answered in a simple way. Today Muslims live in practically every country in the world, and they fol- low a wide variety of cultural practices. Islam Around the World Although Islam is often identified with the place of its birth, the Arabian Peninsula, today it is a global faith practiced throughout the world by more than 1.6 billion people. The Islamic world stretches from Africa to Indonesia and includes more than 50 countries. Throughout this region there are many cultural differences. Islam emerged on the Arabian Peninsula during the seventh cen- tury, and today in most Arab countries 90 to 95 percent of the peo-

Opposite: Islam is a global faith, and most Muslims live outside the Middle East. These women selling fruit on a street in Ampana are among the more than 206 million Muslims who live in Indonesia.

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