The book discusses the demographic changes in Muslim countries. It thereby focuses on topics such as the demographic dividend and the demographic transition, labour market challenges, health care, universal education and gender issues. These challenges are addressed at a country level and include policy implications for the large majority of the Muslim countries covered in this book. Moreover, political consequences for Europe with respect to the integration of Muslims are presented to the reader.

The book discusses the demographic changes in Muslim countries. It thereby focuses on topics such as the demographic dividend and the demographic transition, labour market challenges, health care, universal education and gender issues. These challenges are addressed at a country level and include policy implications for the large majority of the Muslim countries covered in this book. Moreover, political consequences for Europe with respect to the integration of Muslims are presented to the reader.

The birth of Islam over fourteen centuries ago was a monumental event in human history with an everlasting effect on humanity. For centuries, researchers have contemplated the growth and distribution of Muslims throughout the world. This book presents a reliable estimate of the world Muslim population since the inception of Islam at the start of the seventh century to the end of the twenty-first century. In this book, the world is divided into five continents, each of which is further divided into non-overlapping regions, and these in turn are divided into current countries. A centennial data estimate for each region and current country from 600 AD to 2100 AD (approximately 1 H to 1500 H) of the total population, and the corresponding Muslim population and its percentage are provided. Furthermore, the same data in decennial order from 1790 to 2100 (or 1210 H to 1520 H) are provided for each region and country. These data are summarized to be an accurate reference for other studies and discussions related to the Muslim population. Written for demographers, researchers, historians, as well as general readers, this book is an essential reference to all aspects of the world Muslim population.

The demographic trends of the twenty-first century will challenge the geopolitical assumptions of both the left and the right."--BOOK JACKET.

This book examines the promises as well as the challenges the demographic dividend brings to sub-Saharan Africa as fertility rates in the region fall and the labor force grows. It offers a detailed analysis of what conditions must be met in order for the region to take full economic advantage of ongoing population dynamics. As the book makes clear, the region will need to accelerate reforms to cope with its demographic transition, in particular the decline of fertility. The continent will need to foster human capital formation through renewed efforts in the areas of education, health and employment. This will entail a true vision and determination on the part of African leaders and their development partners. The book will help readers to gain solid knowledge of the demographic trends and provide insights into socioeconomic policies that eventually might lead sub-Saharan Africa into a successful future.

A look at the developing conflicts in Christian-Muslim relations during late antiquity and the early Islamic era How did the medieval Middle East transform from a majority-Christian world to a majority-Muslim world, and what role did violence play in this process? Christian Martyrs under Islam explains how Christians across the early Islamic caliphate slowly converted to the faith of the Arab conquerors and how small groups of individuals rejected this faith through dramatic acts of resistance, including apostasy and blasphemy. Using previously untapped sources in a range of Middle Eastern languages, Christian Sahner introduces an unknown group of martyrs who were executed at the hands of Muslim officials between the seventh and ninth centuries CE. Found in places as diverse as Syria, Spain, Egypt, and Armenia, they include an alleged descendant of Muhammad who converted to Christianity, high-ranking Christian secretaries of the Muslim state who viciously insulted the Prophet, and the children of mixed marriages between Muslims and Christians. Sahner argues that Christians never experienced systematic persecution under the early caliphs, and indeed, they remained the largest portion of the population in the greater Middle East for centuries after the Arab conquest. Still, episodes of ferocious violence contributed to the spread of Islam within Christian societies, and memories of this bloodshed played a key role in shaping Christian identity in the new Islamic empire. Christian Martyrs under Islam examines how violence against Christians ended the age of porous religious boundaries and laid the foundations for more antagonistic Muslim-Christian relations in the centuries to come.

Confounding all conventional wisdom, the fertility rate in the Islamic Republic of Iran fell from around 7.0 births per woman in the early 1980s to 1.9 births per woman in 2006. That this, the largest and fastest fall in fertility ever recorded, should have occurred in one of the world’s few Islamic Republics demands explanation. This book, based upon a decade of research is the first to attempt such an explanation. The book documents the progress of the fertility decline and displays its association with social and economic characteristics. It addresses an explanation of the phenomenal fall of fertility in this Islamic context by considering the relevance of standard theories of fertility transition. The book is rich in data as well as the application of different demographic methods to interpret the data. All the available national demographic data are used in addition to two major surveys conducted by the authors. Demographic description is preceded by a socio-political history of Iran in recent decades, providing a context for the demographic changes. The authors conclude with their views on the importance of specific socio-economic and political changes to the demographic transition. Their concluding arguments suggest continued low fertility in Iran. The book is recommended to not only demographers, social scientists, and gender specialists, but also to policy makers and those who are interested in social and demographic changes in Iran and other Islamic countries in the Middle East. It is also a useful reference for demography students and researchers who are interested in applying fertility theories in designing surveys and analysing data.