\ Islam, the Modern World, and the West Islam, Islamic Studies, Arabic, and Religion
Professor Alan Godlas
University of Georgia

Islam, the Modern World, and the West

Note: Muslims, Islam, and Iraq

Table of Contents

Islam in the United States
The Islamic Impact on America Today
The Anglo-American and Anglo-British Muslim Minority
American Muslim Women
African-American Islam: General Considerations
The Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, W.D. Muhammad, and Louis Farrakhan
Ethnically Mixed Islamic Organizations in the U.S.
Islam in the Countries of the Muslim World
Islam in the Middle East
The U.S. and the Middle East
Islam and Jordan
Islam and Palestine/Israel
Islam and Iran
Islam and Turkey
Islam and Iraq
Islam and Saudi Arabia
Islam and Lebanon
Islam in Africa
Islam in North Africa
Islam and Egypt
Islam and Morocco
Islam and Libya
Islam and Tunisia
Islam and Algeria
Islam and Sudan
Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa
Islam and Senegal
Islam and Mauritania
Islam and Mali
Islam and Niger
Islam and Sierra Leone
Islam and Guinea
Islam and Burkina Faso
Islam and Nigeria
Islam and Chad
Islam and Tanzania
Islam and Kenya
Islam and Rwanda
Islam and Uganda
Islam and Zimbabwe
Islam and Liberia
Islam and South Africa
Islam and East Africa
Islam in Europe
Islam and the Balkans: General Considerations
Islam and Bosnia
Islam and Albania
Islam and Kosova
Islam in Russia
Islam and Chechnya
Islam in Central Asia
Islam and Afghanistan
Islam and Turkmenistan
Islam and Tajikistan
Islam and Uzbekistan
Islam in Southeast Asia and South Asia
Islam and Indonesia
Islam and Malaysia
Islam and the Philippines
Islam and India
Islam and Pakistan
Islam and Kashmir
Islam in Largely Non-Muslim Regions
Islam and South America
Pan-Islamic Movements in Modern World
The Muslim Brotherhood
Tablighi Jama'at
Populations, Maps, and Countries of the Muslim World
Population Statistics for Muslim Countries
Maps of Countries of the Muslim World
Websites for Countries of the Muslim World
Islam in the United States

An informative general essay is Islam in America: from African Slaves to Malcolm X by Thomas Tweed, Ph.D. (Fixed Dec. 17, 2003)

Expressions of Islam in America by Prof. Gisela Webb of Seton Hall University is a useful overview of the current state of Islam in the U.S. (Fixed, Dec. 17, 2003)

The history of Islam in America appears to date back to 1178. In 1992, the American Muslim Council in their booklet by Fareed Numan discussed the history and demographics of the Muslims in the U.S. In this pamphlet, titled, The Muslim Population in the United States: A Brief Statement (link fixed, August, 2000 and 25 August 2002, down Dec. 18, 2003; but now available at Muslim Population in the United States), it was estimated that in 1992 the number of Muslims in United States was between five to eight million. Recent studies have called this number into question. See Harvard's Pluralism Project's webpage on New Studies on Number of Muslims in the U.S. See also the results of the American Religious Identification Survey, (link fixed February 5, 2006) conducted by Graduate Center of the City University of New York in the year 2001.
Muslims in America: Profile 2001 (link fixed Nov. 26, 2001), by Abdul Malik Mujahid of the Muslim publishing company, Sound Vision, is a well-documented article on the latest demographic data about Muslims in the United States.
A number of useful documents and links concerning Islam in the United States can be found at Islam in the USA, a site developed by United States Information Agency (USIA), an agency of the American government (link fixed August, 2000 and October 16, 2001). See in particular a subpage of this site, titled Islam in the U.S. Military, which consists largely of an interview with Rear Admiral A. Byron Holderby, chief of Navy chaplains, and Imam Malik Abel Matoli bin Noel, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and the first Muslim chaplain commissioned in the Navy. (Link fixed October 17, 2001.) And at the USIA site, see as well the large number of Links to Articles on Islam in America found in the commercial press. And a rich resource are the USIA site's numerous articles concerning American Muslims Respond to the Terrorist Attack

The Islamic Impact on America Today
Today the effect of Islam in American cities is noticeable. This is discussed in the article Islam's Urban Impact (link fixed 17 August 2005), by Ray Walsh, in the magazine The Neighborhood Works (May 3, 1996). (Fixed 28 Oct. 1998; offline 17 November 2002.)
Another place where Islam has been having a profound impact is in the prisons of the United States. The article by Professor Robert Dannin on the Island in a Sea of Ignorance (link fixed 5 February 2006) (with the accompanying photo essay "Contours and Dimensions of the Prison Mosque" by Jolie Stahl) discusses the history and current reality of Islam in U.S. prisons, focusing on the case of the prisons of New York.
The issue of participation in American political life is an important one for American Muslims. In his article, A New Cultural Constituency: American Muslims and The Crisis of Political Participation, (link fixed 5 February 2006) Professor Ali Mazrui, the Director of the Institute for Global Cultural Studies at State University of New York at Binghamton, discusses the main aspects of the problem. (Temporarily offline while the site migrates 17 Nov. 2002.)
The Anglo-American and Anglo-British Muslim Minority
Muslims in the United States are primarily African-American converts and immigrant Muslims from all over the Islamic world. Nevertheless a small percentage of Anglo-Americans have also converted. The following two contemporary narratives may help students to understand their motivation: The conversion narrative of Noah Keller (link fixed Nov. 26, 2001 and Nov. 17, 2002) is both an interesting critique of Western culture and a window into the mind of a philosophically informed Anglo-American convert to Islam. The account of the Anglo-American poet, Daniel Moore, titled Choosing Islam -- One Man's Tale (link fixed 5 February 2006), shows the process of conversion to Islam from a counter-cultural direction (link fixed August, 2000 and on Nov. 17, 2002). A good example of Moore's poetry is Ramadan Sonnets. Here you can read them or listen to him reciting them if you have Real Player (November 26, 2001) . The Anglo-American convert Michael Wolfe (interviewed at length while in Mecca during the Hajj of 1997 by Ted Koppel on a Nightline special) has written of his pilgrimage to Mecca in popular book The Hajj and in his articleThe Turning of Arrival, which is one of the many pilgrimage narratives that he includes in a book that he edited One Thousand Roads to Mecca: Ten Centuries of Writing About the Pilgrimage to Mecca (Grove, 1997) and included here in the Utne Field Guide to Sacred Travel(Link fixed August, 2000 and Nov. 17, 2002). One of the more famous Anglo-British converts to Islam is a former rock musician known before his conversion as Cat Stevens. Since his conversion in 1977 his name has been Yusuf Islam. The autobiographical account of his embrace of Islam is titled How I came to Islam. Although for a number of years after his conversion Yusuf Islam did produce any music, he has recently resumed selected musical activities, most notably singing with Malaysian group Raihan on two tracks of their popular 1997 CD, "Syukur" (Thankfulness).
The most prominent Anglo-American and Anglo-British reverts who are also respected as scholars well-versed in traditional Islamic learning are as follows:
1) Shaykh Hamza Yusuf (Hanson), based in California.
2) Shaykh Nuh Keller, based in Amman, Jordan.
3) Professor 'Abd al-Hakim Murad (Winter), of Cambridge (UK).
4) Professor Khalid Blankinship, of Temple University, Philadelphia (US).

American Muslim Women
In spite of the impression dominant in the West that Islam is oppressive to women, the majority of American converts to Islam are women. One can read what some of Words of American Women Who Have Converted to Islam (link fixed 17 August 2005), excerpted from the book written by Carol Amway, a Christian mother of one such convert,Daughters of Another Path tells a number of their stories (Back on-line 12/24/97). One such account is that of Christine Huda Dodge. (Link fixed 12/20/97 and November 17, 2002)
African-American Islam
Much of the early history of African-American Muslims is discussed by Y. N. Kly in the article "The African-American Muslim Minority: 1776-1900."
Conversion to Islam among African-Americans is a significant feature of American Islamic life. In spite of a generally negative portrayal by the U.S. media, Islam is rapidly gaining converts in the U.S. One such conversion was that of African-American writer Steven Barboza. Read his account of his conversion, titled, My Journey to Islam.
One of the causes of the continuing conversion of African-Americans to Islam is the contrast between their brutal and racist enslavement at the hands of Anglo-Americans in the United States, on the one hand, and the relative absence of racism in Islam, on the other. Although one dimension of the current anti-Islamic polemic in the West is the highlighting of the occurence of slavery both in Islamic history and today in Sudan and Mauritania, this has failed to turn away many African-Americans from Islam. There are a number of reasons for this:
the Qur'an repeatedly condemns oppressors;

the Qur'an exhorts people to free their slaves;

while slavery has occured in the Muslim world, it has not been racist;

slavery in the Muslim world was largely a way of dealing with prisoners of war who were then ransomed back to their own people.

Given the clear opposition of Islam to injustice, the Islamic virtue of not practicing slavery, and the relatively recent horrors of African-American slavery, why have Muslims not put an end to slavery in the Muslim world?
I suspect that the answer to this lies in the fact that in most areas of the Muslim world, Muslims are themselves not free to act politically, that they are preoccupied with other local struggles against injustice, or are constrained by poverty. If my suspicion is correct, in the future as Muslims gradually emerge from the bondage of neocolonial dictatorships and/or poverty, we should see Muslims at the forefront of those activists who are striving to end all forms of slavery. See the article by BBC Correspondent David Hecht titled "Slavery" African Style in order to get some insight into the nature of slavery in Mauritania today.
On the other hand, if Muslims do not actively work to end slavery, Islam will no doubt lose much of its appeal to people for whom oppression is a reality. See the article Slavery in Islam for useful source material.
The Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, W.D. Muhammad, and Louis Farrakhan
Roughly 42% of the total Muslim population in the US are African-Americans. This amounts to about 2.1 million people. For many years of the twentieth century the primary form of Islam that they embraced was that of the Nation of Islam. In recent years, however, many African-Americans have begun the practice of mainstream Sunni Islam.
Malcolm X's transformation into a Sunni Muslim has been influential in the move to Sunni Islam among African-Americans. His Letter from Mecca, (link fixed 5 February 2006) excerpted from the Autobiography of Malcolm X, expresses this transformation.
The key factor in this transition after the death of Elijah Mohammed (the founder of the Nation of Islam) was the leadership of his son, Imam W. Deen Mohammed. General information and news concerning him can be found at his site, The Ministry of Imam W. Deen Mohammed (link fixed 17 August 2005).
On the other hand, Minister Louis Farrakhan has continued the teachings of Elijah Mohammed and is the present leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI). The fundamental beliefs of the NOI are found at their Web page under the title The Muslim Program. See their Web page The Nation of Islam Online (links fixed 5 February 2006) here.
Recently, however, Minister Farrakhan appears to have begun to move toward mainstream Sunni Islam. This shift was made public at the recent conference that he convened entitled, "Islam in the New Century." The conference, held in Chicago from July 3-6, 1997, was an international Islamic conference at which Muslim scholars representing a number of schools of Islamic thought, in addition to a few scholars and activists in the NOI, gave talks. Minister Farrakhan himself spoke at length on a number of occasions, during which time he explained the process of transformation that the NOI has undergone. At one point, in the following manner, he likened this process to a plant that must produce strong roots below ground in order to survive. After the plant has become deeply rooted, the plant can produce shoots above ground without the danger of being destroyed. Now, he asserted, the NOI has come into the world above ground, the Islamic world.
Observers will note, however, that if the NOI is to move into mainstream Sunni Islam, Minister Farrakhan will have to further articulate the basic beliefs of the NOI in a manner that will not leave it vulnerable to Islamic criticism such as that which has been leveled against it in the following link (written prior to NOI's shift toward mainstream Islam).
Here a Sunni Muslim writes a critique of a number of the doctrines of the Nation of Islam.
C. Eric Lincoln, one of the most highly regarded scholars to study the NOI, has given strong praise to the recent study by Mattias Gardell,In the Name of Elijah Muhammad: Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam
National American Islamic Organizations

Primarily African-American National Islamic Organizations

The Mosque Cares (link fixed 5 February 2006) appears to be the current name of the organization headed by Imam W. Deen Mohammed (another name of the organization appears to be the Muslim American Society). The organization has been publishing the Muslim Journal for a number of years. Imam W. D. Mohammed's organization has issued a Community Purpose Statement (link fixed 17 August 2005). A general description of the organization, its purposes, and programs is titled Acquaintance Information for Community Progress (link fixed 17 August 2005) and appears to be an official document of the organization, a document designed for new and existing members and containing, in addition, the names and addresses of people to contact for more information. Talks of Imam W. D. Mohammed can be seen and heard online at New Africa Radio. This Muslim American Society headed by W. Deen Mohammed is completely different from another Muslim American Society (MAS) (link fixed 17 August 2005), in Alexandria, VA, which is an offshoot of ISNA.

Nation of Islam (NOI) This is the official website of the NOI, headed by Minister Louis Farrakhan. The Nation of Islam publishes a journal, The Final Call. Minister Farrakhan has been leading the NOI through a process of moving closer to the Islamic core shared by Muslims all over the world. One major step that he had taken was at the "Islam in the New Century" conference held in July of 1997. More recently, when reconciling with Imam W. D. Mohammed at the NOI's Saviours Day celebration and conference, Minister Farrakhan clearly situated the NOI within the broad outlines of Islamic belief and practice held to throughout the Muslim world. Listen with Real Audio to Minister Farrakhan's opening address and to Minister Farrakhan's address at the plenary session. See also news reports of the historical occasion at my page The Healing of the Split in the African-American Muslim Community (links fixed 5 February 2005).
Ethnically Mixed National American Islamic Organizations
These are organizations comprised of all ethnic groups but not primarily consisting of any one ethnicity. A major division among Non-African-American Muslim organizations revolves around their attitude to traditional Islamic Sufism (tasawwuf).
Sunni Organizations That Are Sympathetic to Sufism
Note that having a positive attitude toward traditional Sufism does not necessarily mean that these organizations should be called Sufi organizations, but it does mean, for example, that in addition to devotion to God they hold in high esteem devotion to the Prophet Muhammad and celebrations of that devotion.
Zaytuna Institute headed by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf (Hanson) is very influential among second generation immigrant Muslims in the West and among converts (reverts) to Islam.
Dar al Islam Based in New Mexico (and maintaining an office in Fairfax, VA), their website is a particularly rich resource of articles that are both progressive and harmonious with traditional Islam, even though the organization has been influenced to some degree by Salafi/Wahhabi Islam.
ISRA (Islamic Studies and Research Association), based in South Carolina.
TAM (The American Muslim) headed by Sheila Musaji (a Euro-American convert) is an organization whose main activity involves the publication of a recently revived journal of the same name.
Sunni Organizations That Have Not Generally Been Sympathetic to Sufism
As of 2002, the vast majority of non-African-American Muslims in America have been affiliated with these organizations, which have tended to be influenced by Salafi, Ikhwani, Wahhabi, and Deobandi schools of thought. Although Muslim organizations sympathethic to Sufism sometimes see the following organizations as extreme (relative to traditional Islam) on account of their negative attitude to Sufism and devotion to the Prophet Muhammad, this "extreme" quality should not lead one to think that these are extremist organizations, in the way the term is used today by the Western media to denote an organization that espouses violence.
ISNA Islamic Society of North America.
ICNA Islamic Circle of North America.

The on-line journal ISIM Newsletter, which is produced by the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World at Leiden University is an excellent source containing numerous articles. Issue #1, Issue #2, and Issue #3.
Islam Today in the Various Regions of the Muslim World

Islam and the Middle East

MEDEA Database MEDEA (European Institute for Research on Mediterranean and Euro-Arab Co-operation) is a hypertext encyclopedic database for much that is significant in the political arena of the Middle East today. It contains information such as amounts of monetary aid to Israel and Egypt, important UN Security Council resolutions, and names of many significant political leaders in the Middle East and North Africa today.
Management and Mismanagement of Diversity: The case of ethnic conflict and state-building in the Arab World by political-sociologist Professor Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Ibn Khaldoun Center and American University, Cairo. The article includes an overview of the conflicts and ethnic divides in the Arab world; the issue of identity; state-building; social mobilization and equity; foreign penetration and ethnicity; and the relationship between ethnicity, civil society, and democratization. Islam is mentioned in various places throughout the article, but is discussed in particular with regard to the relationship between ethnicity and the vision of contemporary Islamists.
The U.S. and the Middle East

The Containment Myth: U.S. Middle East Policy in Theory and Practice (link fixed 17 August 2005) by Stephen Hubbell and published by the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) in their Middle East Report, Fall, 1998. Mr. Hubbell is an editor of the journal.

U.S. Policy Toward the Middle East in Clinton's Second Term by Prof. Robert O. Freedman, Professor of Political Science and President of Baltimore Hebrew University. This article focuses on the Arab-Israeli peace process and U.S. policy toward Iraq and Iran. (Fixed, April 17, 2000)

Islam and Jordan

Islamists, the State, and Cooperation in Jordan by Quintan Wiktorowicz, professor of Political Science at Shippersburg University in Pennsylvania, published in Arab Studies Quarterly, Fall 1999. This article discusses in detail the relationship between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Jordanian government.(Offline as of Nov. 22, 2001; back online, June 2004); A similar article also by Prof. Wiktorowicz is State Power and the Regulation of Islam in Jordan (link fixed 17 August 2005), originally published in the Journal of Church & State, Autumn 1999 but now online at the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Oprah Interviews Queen Rania of Jordan on Oprah's Islam 101 show, which aired October 5, 2001.
Islam and Palestine / Israel

The Tikkun Resolution For Middle-East Peace--and Q&A about the resolution: A balanced solution to the Middle East mess The Tikkun Community, headed by Rabbi Michael Lerner, has emerged as the leading American Jewish voice that is seriously committed to reaching a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem. Tikkun's viewpoint sharply contrasts with the view of mainstream American Jewish organizations (archived link fixed 19 March 2006). Another copy of the resolution is available at thepetitionsite.com..
Defending Zionism in a Time of Occupation and Oppression by Professor Stephen Zunes (University of San Francisco), published in Tikkun, March/April 2004 (link fixed 19 March 2006).
Ex-spy chiefs fault Sharon's policy Four former heads of Israel's Shin Bet, the organization responsible for maintaining security within Israel, strongly criticized Sharon's draconian military solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (By Greg Myre in the International Herald Tribue, Nov. 15, 2003 -- originally published in the New York Times.)
Land without a People , by historian Michael Palumbo, is ch. 1 from his book, Palestinian Catastrophe: The 1948 Expulsion of a People From Their Homeland (published in 1987).
A Land Without a People for a People without a Land? (p. 1), p.2, and p.3 My title for the first three pages of the article "Palestine--The Suppression of an Idea" by Muhammad Hallaj (The Link, vol. 15, issue 1, January-March, 1982).
US-Israel-Palestine at ZNet on April 11, 2002, by Noam Chomsky, the world famous linguist and political activist. This article gives a view of the crisis that is not often found in mainstream American newsmedia.
The Jewish Divide on Israel by Esther Kaplan in The Nation (June 24, 2004), discusses the pressure exerted on American Jewish voices for peace by the major American Jewish organizations in order to eliminate growing dissent from Israel's hardline policies.
Gallup Poll Shows That Americans Favor the Israelis but Want the United States to Remain Neutral (link fixed 17 August 2005) Taken on April 9, 2002.
The Myth of a 'Land Without People for a People Without Land' by Roger Garaudy, a important French intellectual and convert to Islam, published in Journal of Historical Review (JHR), vol. 18, no. 5. (Readers should note the following four points: 1) as is discussed in the editor's introduction to this article, Garaudy, in spite of his advanced age and considerable intellectual credentials, was convicted in France of "Holocaust denial." As far as I am aware of, however, there is nothing in this particular chapter that is ojectionable regarding the Holocaust. In fact much of this chapter consists of a variety of useful quotations. 2) the editor in his introduction (not Garaudy), on the other hand, does mark himself as a Holocaust denier by referring to the "Holocaust extermination story." 3) the Institute of Historical Review (IHR), which publishes the JHR, is regarded by the Anti-Defamation League as an anti-semitic organization.) 4) As I have stated on the main page of my web site, the views expressed on the various pages to which my web site is linked are not necessarily views I share. The Founding Myths of Israeli Policy
The Expulsion of the Palestinians Re-examined (link fixed 17 August 2005) a scholarly article by Dominique Vidal (translated by Ed. Emery) in Le Monde diplomatique is the result of ten years of research and discusses how 800,000 refugees were created over a period of twenty months between 1947-49.
The Tantura Case in Israel: The Katz Research and Trial published in the Journal of Palestine Studies (links fixed 17 August 2005) by Ilan Pappe, a professor in the department of political science at Haifa University and the author of a number of books, including The Making of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1947-1951 (London: I. B. Tauris, 1992). In this article Professor Pappe describes the 1948 Tantura massacre, an important event of the "Catastrophe" (nakba), the expulsion and attempted ethnic cleansing of Arabs from Palestine. More specifically, Pappe discusses the recent attempts to suppress discussion of the event and to silence the author of the study, Teddy Katz, who himself is a Zionist.
Studies Concerning Palestine and Jerusalem Detailed historical studies written under the auspices of the United Nations.

Palestinian Christians: Challenges and Hopes by Professor Bernard Sabella, Bethlehem University, Palestine. Most Americans are stunned when they find out that roughly 14% of the Arabs living in Israel are Christian and that they support and work together with many Palestinian Arab Muslim groups, hoping to establish a true Palestinian state.

Palestinian Christians beside Muslims in the Intifada is a report from Reuters, written on November 4, 2000. The article has among other things some useful statistics on Palestinian Christian Arabs.

The Mitchell Report The official report (published on May 20, 2001) of the Sharm el-Sheikh fact finding committee (established by the former President Clinton on November 7, 2000) concerning the Al-Aqsa Intifada that began with Ariel Sharon's provocative visit to Masjid al-Aqsa / Temple Mount area accompanied by 1000 Israeli policeman and that is still continuing with both Palestinians and Israelis committing round after round of escalating violence. The report describes the process that led to the violence, delineates the problems involved, and proposes solutions. It also includes comments by the Israeli government and the official response of the PLO.
What Went Wrong at Camp David? The Official PLO Version from the article by Akiva Eldar in the Israeli newspaper Ha-Aretz, July 24, 2001 (link fixed 19 March 2006) . This article in its original form was distributed by a women's peace organization, Bat Shalom.
Foundation for Middle East Peace appears to take an objective view of the Israeli-Palestinian problem. The chief figures in the foundation are Philip C. Wilcox, former U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem, and Geoffrey Aronson, widely published journalist and historian. The foundation is a Washington-based organization that is not affiliated with the U.S. government.
Truth against Truth by Uri Avnery, one of Israel's leading peace activists. This consists of 101 points that can both undermine the walls of extremist Israeli and Palestinian propaganda as well as provide a just foundation for a peaceful future.(2004)
80 Theses for a New Peace Camp: A Manifesto From Gush Shalom by Uri Avnery.(Tikkun, July-August 2001). This is an earlier version of Truth against Truth(i.e. the previous link (fixed 19 March 2006)).
Because of the utmost significance of the need for a better understanding of the highly partisan and contentious Israeli-Palestinian problem, I have added a number of linked articles that are more representative of a mainstream Israeli perspective than the viewpoints expressed in many of the links above. The first five articles below are from the Jerusalem Letters, a rich archive published by the pro-Israeli The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Among its articles that are particularly relevant to Islam in Israel and Palestine are the following:
The Anti-Millennium: The Islamization of Nazareth by Raphael Israeli, a professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
The Islamic Movement in Israel by Raphael Israeli.
The Arabs in Israel: A Surging New Identity by Raphael Israeli.
Hamas: The Islamic Resistance Movement in the Territories by Boaz Ganor, a member of the editorial board of Matara, The Israeli Magazine for Intelligence, Weapons, Military and Security.
The Islamic Jihad: The Imperative of Holy War by Boaz Ganor.

Islam and Iran

President Muhammad Khatami A web site containing the texts of a number of President Khatami's speeches. Some audio is also included. In his speech made on August 8, 2001, on the occasion of his inauguration for a second term as president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, President Khatami made the following statement: "The meaning of religious democracy is to reform the political system to meet the people's demands, not to control the people and force them to meet the demands of the state." This page is down as of 19 March, 2006; view the archived page.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's Interview with CNN on January 7, 1998 demonstrates that although there are still points of contention between the US and Iran, the philosophical orientation of Iran shares certain principles with the roots of American culture; these principles being religiosity, liberty, and justice.

AbdolKarim Soroush is one of the most creative and controversial Islamic thinkers today. Particularly important is his attempt to weave contemporary Western philosophical concepts together with Islamic discourse. See especially his paper The Expansion and Contraction of Religious Knowledge.

Modernity, Schizochronia, and Homeless Texts by Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, an Associate Professor of History at Illinois State University, is concerned with the construction of Iranian history by both European and Iranian historians, as seen from the viewpoint of postmodern discourse (link fixed 19 March 2006).

The Silencing of Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina (link fixed 19 March 2006) Ayatollah Sistani, the chief Shi'ite religious authority (marja' al-taqlid) of the majority of the 12 Imam Khoja Shi'ites, recently recommended the silencing of Professor Sachedina, a 12ver Shi'ite, who is also a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Virginia. Among the issues for which he was criticized are his views on religious pluralism.

The Religious Background to the 1979 Revolution in Iran, written by the well-known scholar of Shi'ism Moojan Momen.

Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (link fixed 17 August 2005) This translation, edited at the International Constitutional Law (ICL) website, was based on a translation provided by the Iranian embassy in London.

A 'Great Venture': Overthrowing the Government of Iran, is an abridged chapter from Mark Curtis's book The Ambiguities of Power: British Foreign Policy since 1945. Most Americans still have no idea that the Iranian resentment toward Great Britain and the U.S. that in part resulted in the Islamic revolution of 1979 was completely justified (even by Western criteria) and was largely a result of a British and CIA sponsored coup in 1953 as well as a result of the subsequent US political and military support of the Shah of Iran, a support that deprived the Iranian people of their right of self-government.

SAVAK, was the acronym designating the Shah of Iran's secret police, who, trained by the CIA and Israel, created a reign of terror that was an important factor in motivating the Iranian people to revolt against and depose the Shah.

Islam and Turkey

Fethullah Gulen and His Liberal 'Turkish Islam' Movement, written by Professors Bulent Aras and Omer Caha of Fatih University (Istanbul) and published in MERIA (vol. 4:4, 2000). This is a detailed study of Fethullah Gulen and his ideas, emphasizing his relationship to politics in Turkey.
Search for a New Social Contract in Turkey: Fethullah Gülen, the Virtue Party and the Kurds, discusses three major political forces outside the Kemalist establishment in Turkey today. Fethullah Gülen is the most significant leader of the Nurcus, the followers of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. This article was published in the SAIS Review (volume 19:1, 1999) a scholarly journal of Johns Hopkins Press, by M. Hakan Yavuz, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Utah.

The Rise of the Islamist Movement in Turkey Written by Professor Nilufer Narli of Marmara University in Turkey, this article covers the emergence of Muslim political activity within the Turkish system in the form of four successive political parties: National Order, National Salvation, Welfare, and Virtue. It was published online in MERIA, vol. 3, no. 3, September, 1999.

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi was one of the most influential 20th century Turkish Islamic thinkers. This link is to a full-length biograpy of Said Nursi (link fixed 19 March 2006).

Harun Yahya is a prolific Turkish writer on Islam. One of his primary concerns is the relationship betweeen science and Islam.
Atasoy's article "Islamic Revivalism and the Nation-state in Turkey" is an excellent guide to the relationship between Islam and contemporary political affairs in Turkey.

Radical Islamic Political Groups in Turkey (link fixed 9 December 2001) by Prof. Ely Karmon, lecturer at the Political Science Department of Haifa University and Research Fellow in Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzlia (Israel). This article covers the history of the Islamic movement in Turkey, the ideology of the movement, its enemies and strategic objectives, Islamic political power and the problem of terrorism, the movement and its relationship with Iran, and the goals of the Welfare Party (Refah Partisi). Prof. Karmon concludes by stating that with the recent anti-Islamic crackdown in Turkey signaling the closure of doorways for working with the secular Turkish system, terrorism may increase.
Islam and Iraq
Prof. Chibli Mallat in his article on Iraq in the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World estimates that the major population groups in Iraq in the late twentieth century are as follows: 55-60% Arab Shi'is, 15-20% Arab Sunnis, and 20% Sunni Kurds.
Muslims, Islam, and Iraq, a website compiled by Dr. Alan Godlas, appears to be the most detailed website on Islam in Iraq.
Sunni-Shi'i Relations in Iraq The thesis of this article, edited by Helen Chapin Metz and included in the Area Studies Handbook of the Library of Congress, is that contrary to what was thought before the 1980's and in spite of being demographically divided between Sunnis and Shi'is, political analysts as of 1988 were maintaining that Iraq was not in danger of being split along sectarian lines. The real tension in the country was between religious believers and secular Ba'thists.

The Ba'th Party in Iraq Included as part of the Area Studies Handbook of the Library of Congress, this essay surveys the history (until 1988) of the ruling political party in Iraq, the Ba'th, which was a product of socialist and secular Arab nationalism.

Apocalypse Now, (link fixed 17 August 2005) by Prof. Edward Said of Columbia University, is a critique of U.S. policy toward 'Iraq. Because of Saddam Husayn's general persecution of Muslim opposition to him as well as his well-documented slaughter of Kurdish Muslims (by means of poison gas), Muslims have little sympathy for Saddam and in general have not seen the West's attacks on Iraq and the imposition of sanctions against 'Iraq as an attack on Islam. Nevertheless, as Said points out, this is changing; Saddam's strategy of non-compliance, which results in the continuation of the sanctions, has served to cause large numbers of the 'Iraqi people (the vast majority of which are Muslims) to suffer and die. This in turn is enabling Saddam to mobilize anger in the Muslim world against the U.S.

Iraq's Forgotten Majority, written by Frank Smyth as an Op-Ed editorial in the New York Times, October 3, 2002, focuses on the Shi'ite population of Iraq, which represents about 2/3 of the population.
Islam and Saudi Arabia

Wahhabi Theology is a concise summary written as part of the U.S. Library of Congress Country Studies Area Handbook Series.

Wahhabiism Exposed: Sheikh Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al Wahhab(fixed: 5 Apr 2003) is the misleading title of this on-line article (originating with the Hidaayah Islamic Foundation [ Sri Lanka ] and placed online by the Alharamain Foundation of Riyadh)on the life and teachings of Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1206/1792). The title is misleading because the author in fact praises Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab and his teachings, which have become dominant in Saudi Arabia and very influential today in the Muslim world and among Muslims in the U.S. (Link fixed, January 10, 2001)

State, Islam, and Opposition in Saudi Arabic: The Post Desert-Storm Phase (link fixed 9 December 2001) by Professor Joseph Kostiner, Associate Professor at the Department of Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv University and Senior Lecturer, Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies. This July 1997 article was published in MERIA (Middle East Review of International Affairs), a publication of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Israel.

Our Youths Must Be Re-educated...Violence Must Be Discarded an article in the Saudi Daily, Okaz, by the Saudi columnist Abdullah Abu Sameh, and published in English in the Saudi Gazette, October 18, 2002.
Islam and Lebanon

Aspects Of Shi'i Thought From The South Of Lebanon: Al-'Irfan, Muhammad Jawad Mughniyya, Muhammad Mahdi Shamseddin, Muhammad Husain Fadlallah, (link fixed, Nov. 27, 2010) is a detailed and well-documented scholarly study by Prof. Chibli Mallat, in Papers on Lebanon, Number 7, published by the Center for Lebanese Studies, which is affiliated with the Middle East Centre at St Antony's College, Oxford.
Emerging Lebanon: A conference report, 1998 from the Center for Lebanese Studies.
Islamism in Lebanon: A Guide (link fixed 9 December 2001) by Professor A. Nizar Hamzeh, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the American University of Beirut. Published in MERIA (Sept. 1997), this article deals with major Shi'i and Sunni groups, briefly notes a few minor groups, and discusses future prospects. One of its conclusions is that an Arab-Israeli peace settlement would significantly reduce Islamic militancy in Lebanon.

Lebanon's Hizbullah: from Islamic revolution to parliamentary accommodation by A. Nizar Hamzeh. Originally published in Third World Quarterly in 1993.

A Sufi Response to Political Islamism: al-Ahbash of Lebanon by the scholars A. Nizar Hamzeh and R. Hrair Dekmejian and published in International Journal of Middle East Studies in 1996.

Islam and Africa

Map of Islam in Africa from the on-line map archive at the University of Texas. (Fixed, December 15, 2003.)
Islam and North Africa

The Islamic Challenge in North Africa (link fixed 9 December 2001) by Dr. Bruce Maddy-Weitzman covers the current political situation of Islam in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. It was published July, 1997, in MERIA (Middle East Review of International Affairs), a publication of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Israel.

Islam and Egypt

Heresy or Hermeneutics: The Case of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd (link fixed 17 August 2005) by the scholar Charles Hirschkind discusses the recent controversy in Egypt over the modernist interpretation of the Qur'an by Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd and the subsequent successful attempt to declare him an apostate.

The Man Behind Bin Laden: How an Egyptian doctor became a master of terror A detailed and fascinating article about Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri by Lawrence Wright in the New Yorker (Issue Sept. 16, 20020. Aside from the general information repeatedly noted in the media, Mr Wright has done a great deal of investigative reporting on his own, interviewing people such as Abdallah Schleifer, an American professor of Television Journalism at the American University in Cairo, who knew Zawahiri and debated with him from time to time.
Muslim Brotherhood (link fixed 17 August 2005) website contains numerous documents. The Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan al-muslimin), although originating in Egypt in the 20th century, has spread throughout the Sunni world.

Islam and Morocco

Fundamentalism in Morocco (link fixed 17 August 2005) by Greta Meszoely is a "country report" published by the Ibn Khaldoun Center For Development Studies, in their journal Civil Society: Democratization in the Arab World, Volume 5, Issue 52, April 1996.

The Durus Hassaniyah (link fixed 17 August 2005) are the lectures (in English translation) on Islamic principles given every year during Ramadan to the late King Hassan of Morocco by a number of the most prominent Muslim scholars in the world. In addition to the English translation, the lectures are included at the website in the original Arabic as well as in French translation (link fixed 17 August 2005).
Islam and Libya

The Italian Colonization of Libya and the Libyan Resistance (link fixed 17 August 2005 and on 6 July 2010) From 1911 until 1931 the Libyan people, led by Shaykh 'Umar Mukhtar, attempted to resist the ruthless Italian occupation of their country. Although the article at this link needs some editing, it is informative and includes a great photo of Shaykh 'Umar as well as numerous photos of the occupation.

The Green Book of Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi is the political and social manifesto of Libya's ruler. It is in three parts: a) The Solution to the Problem of Democracy: The Authority of the People; b) The Solution to the Economic Problem: Socialism; c) The Social Basis of the Third Universal Theory. (Link updated March 1, 2011)

The Green Book (in Arabic): al-Kitab al-Akhdar
Political Islam in Libya by Alison Pargeter, published originally in Terrorism Monitor (3:6), March 23, 2005.
Islam in Tunisia

How Arabs fight Islamism: Letter from Tunis by Marshall J. Breger, professor of law in the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America; published in the politically conservative American journal The National Interest, Fall, 2003.
End of the International Conference on Islam and Peace: Tunis Declaration for Peace addresses a conference held in Tunis on March 3, 2004. Among the topics discussed at the conference was the emergence of a new era of Islam in Tunisia, involving among other things advancements in human rights and fundamental liberties and spearheaded by President Ben Ali.
Popular and Formal Islam, and Supra-local Relations: The highlands of northwestern Tunisia, 1800-1970 by Wim van Binsbergen, a professor at the African Studies Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. This scholarly article was based on research done in Tunisia between 1968 and 1970. (You might wish to turn off your speaker volume when reading this page; the repeating drum music may become irritating after a while.)
Kairouane, Tunisia is a brief history of early Islam in Tunisia and contains some well-done photographs of Tunisia.
Tunisian Leader Advises on Terror A Washington Times article briefly discussing Tunisian President Ben Ali's views and policies concerning Palestine, political Islam, human rights, women, democracy, and terror.
Tunisia: Reconciliation as a Strategic Objective (link fixed 17 August 2005) is part of an lengthy and wide-ranging interview with the Tunisian Sheikh Rached Ghannoushi, a former philosophy professor who is the exiled leader of the Tunisian Islamist an-Nahda (Renaissance) Movement. See also the entire Interview with Ghannoushi. (Links fixed, March 26, 2004)
Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Concluding Observations: Tunisia, U.N. Doc. A/50/38, paras. 218-277 (1995).
Pictures of Tunisian Mosques
Islam in Algeria
The Rising Threat of Revolutionary Islam in Algeria by James A. Phillips at the Heritage Foundation website, Backgrounder #1060, Nov. 9, 1995. Although dated, this detailed article provides excellent background for understanding the current status of Islam in Algeria.
The Significance of Sufism in Algeria in the aftermath of Independence by Dr. Sossie Andezian, Anthropologist of Religion, currently working at CNRS (French Natioanal Center for Scientific Research). This was a seminar paper presented at the The Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, Jerusalem, 12 December 2002.
Islam in Algeria from the Country Studies at the US Library of Congress, written in 1993, this is an excellent survey of the history of Islam in Algeria from the 7th century until today.
Islam in the Sudan

Is Sudan Transitioning to a Post-Islamist State by Professor Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, June 5, 2008.
The Heart of Dar Fur a PBS "Wide Angle" special video presentation that is the best presentation that I know of on Dar Fur. The major presentation is followed by an interview by Aaron Brown with Nicolas Kristof. The website contains a great of supporting materials. (First presented on TV in July 2008.)
Disaster in Dar Fur by John Ryle, Chair of the Rift Valley Institute, is an extraordinarily clear yet detailed survey of the issues involved in the violence in Dar Fur. (The New York Review of Books, Volume 51, Number 13, August 12, 2004).
The Truncated Conflict in Dar Fur: An overview of Development and Economic Issues, by D. N. N. Mayo, is a very brief article in The Sudan Mirror on the Web, November 2003.
Islam and Islamization in Sudan: The Islamic National Front by Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud, a professor at Tufts University, and delivered to the Conference on Religion, Nationalism and Peace in Sudan, organised by United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC, September 16-17 , 1997.
An Ideology of Domination and the Domination of an Ideology: Islamism, Politics and the Constitution in the Sudan by Dr. Adam M. Abdelmoula and delivered to the Conference on Religion, Nationalism and Peace in Sudan, organised by United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC, September 16-17 , 1997.
The Limits and Dilemmas of "Secular" Re-Islamisation Programmes: The Case of Sudan by Dr. Abdelwahab El-Affendi, at the United States Institute of Peace conference in 1997 noted above.
Proceedings of the Conference on Religion, Nationalism and Peace in Sudan organised by United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC, September 16-17 , 1997.
The Making of Modern Sudan and the Unresolved Issue of National Unity by Yusuf Fadl Hasan, a keynote speech at the Fifth International Conference on Sudan Studies, University of Durham, 30th August - 1st September 2000.
The Sources of Conflict between the North and the South in Sudan by Professor David de Chand, a paper delivered at the Fifth International Conference on Sudan Studies, University of Durham, 30th August - 1st September 2000.
Islam, Democracy, the State and the West (link fixed 17 August 2005) A "Round Table" discussion with Dr. Hassan al-Turabi, Sudanese Muslim leader who was in prison for about a year but was released in 2005.

Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa

Islam and Senegal

Paths of Islam in Senegal (link fixed 17 August 2005) is a scholarly survey of the history of Islam in Senegal by Dr Mamadou Diouf, professor at Cheikh Anta Diop University/CODESRIA Dakar.
People in Islam in Senegal (link fixed 22 Sept. 2005) is a list of linked pages to important contemporary Senegalese Muslims. A number of these pages are not up and running, although one that is is the biography of Shaykh Abdoulaye Dieye, who is both a Sufi shaykh and a member of the Senegalese parliament.
Senegal: Islam and Urban Development (link fixed 17 August 2005) a brief article by Simon Kiba, published in African News Bulletin / Bulletin d'Information Africaine (ANB-BIA) Supplement Issue/Edition Nr 335 - 01/12/1997.
Behrman, Lucy C. Muslim brotherhoods and politics in Senegal. Harvard UP, 1970.
Islam and Mauritania

Stewart, C.C. Islam and the social order in Mauritania, a case study from the 19th century, OUP, 1973
Islam and Mali

Warms, R.L. "Merchants, Muslims and Wahhabiyya: the elaboration of Islamic identity in Sikasso, Mali," CJAS 26 (1992), 485-507.
Islam and Niger
Muslims make up 80% of the population of Niger.
"Niger embraces Islam, but the lay state holds solid," by Vincent t'Sas Broadcast on BICNews, 7 December 1997.
Niger bans Islamic groups opposed to Fashion Festival by Saidou Arji and Noel Tadegnon, November 18, 2000.
"Islam first appeared in Niger in the 11th century. Today most Muslims are linked through their clerics to the Tijaniya brotherhood, which is strong among the Tamacheq, Kanuri, Fulani, and Hausa city dwellers. Over 80 percent of Nigeriens (i.e., citizens of Niger) live in villages of fewer than 5,000 people. There is a training school for marabouts, (holy men), at Say, Niger's principal holy city. There is a powerful Muslim radio ministry funded by the Arabic government based in Niamey. There is also an Islamic university in Niamey." (From an evangelical Christian article "Niger: A Land in Need of Eternal Springs of Living Water," by Daniel Jones. August 2000,
Islam and Sierra Leone
Muslims make up roughly 40% of the population of Sierra Leone, with Christians comprising 35% of the total population.
Trimingham, J.S. and C. Fyfe, "The early expansion of Islam in Sierra Leone," Sierra Leone Bulletin of Religion 2 (1960), 33-39.
Anderson, Christian E. "Early Muslim schools and British policy in Sierra Leone, W.A.J.Education 14:3 (1970), 177-79.
Lamin Sanneh, "Historical Source Materials on Islam in Sierra Leone," Journal of the Historical Society of Sierra Leone, vol. i, no. 2, July, 1977.
Tully, James J. Islamic law in Sierra Leone M.A. thesis Hartford Seminary, 1993. >Islam and Ghana
Friday Prayers at Wa is a detailed teacher's guide to a 22 minute video by John Hanson, who is also the author of "Islam and African Societies," in the textbook, Africa, edited by Phyllis Martin and Patrick O'Meara. The video is part of the CD-ROM Five Windows into Africa which was designed to accompany the textbook Africa.
Islam and Guinea
85% of the population of Guinea is Muslim.
Kaba, Lansine, "Islam, society and politics in pre-colonial Bate, Guinea," BIFAN 35 (1973), 323-44.
Islam and Burkina Faso
Muslims comprise 50% of the population of Burkina Faso, with Christians comprising 10%.
Quimby, Lucy Gardner, Transformations of belief : Islam among the Dyula of Kongbougou from 1880 to 1970 Thesis--University of Wisconsin, 1972.
Islam and Nigeria

Islam in Nigeria, a web dossier compiled by the African Studies Center at Leiden University, briefly discusses Islam in Nigeria, focusing on current issues. The most significant aspect of the website is its extensive bibliography.
Conference on Shariah in Nigeria is an excellent source containing the full texts of the papers delivered at the conference (which was held in London, in April of 2001) as well as links to other important relevant papers and websites.
Benefits of Shariah and Challenges of Reclaiming a Heritage by Prof. Auwalu Hamisu Yadudu, Faculty of Law, Bayero University, Kano.
The Shariah Debate in Nigeria: Time for Reflections (link fixed 17 August 2005) by Prof. A. H. Yadudu (link down as of January 25, 2003). This article was published online in an excellent source for news of contemporary Northern Nigeria WWW.GAMJI.COM. In order to find articles of Islamic content, type the word "Islam" into its online search engine.
Shariacracy and Federal Models in the Era of Globalization: Nigeria in Comparative Perspective by Prof. Ali Mazrui, Director, Institue of Global Cultural Studies at State University of New York at Binghamton, New York, USA.
Various Articles Dealing with the Role of Islam in Nigeria by Sanusi L. Sanusi, a Nigerian banker and progressive Muslim thinker. See even more Articles Written by Sanusi L. Sanusi at the website of the Niger Delta Congress and another Collection of Sanusi L. Sanusi's Articles at www.gamji.com.
Sharia Has Improved the Moral Standards of Muslims - Sanusi is the text of an interview on January 18, 2003 with Sanusi L. Sanusi by Abdul Fattah Olajide, the Lagos Bureau chief of the Daily Trust in Abuja.
Muslim Intellectuals and the Sharia Debate in Nigeria a paper by the journalist Danladi A. Mohammed, which contains, among other things, his initial critique of Sanusi L. Sanusi.
The Milk of Human Kindness: An Intellectual Engagement with the Intellectually Challenged is Sanusi L. Sanusi's initial rejoinder to Danladi A. Mohammed's criticism of him.
A Response to an Intellectual Challenge is Danladi A. Mohammed's response to Sanusi L. Sanusi's defense against Mohammed's initial critique.
Shari‘a and the Practicalisation of Ideological Postulates: Between Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the Rest of Us by Ibraheem A. Waziri, Iya Abubakar Computer Centre, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. This article consists of a few paragraphs by Waziri that introduce an exchange of letters between him and Sanusi L. Sanusi.
Exploring Mutual Perceptions: Dialogue Between U.S. and Nigerian Opinion Leaders discusses a conference held in Kano, Nigeria, on the 27th and 28th of January 2003, in which I was fortunate to have participated. This detailed summary of the proceedings was written by Ibrahim Ado-Kurawa, journalist, author (see a synopsis of his book Shari'ah and the Press in Nigeria), and Director of Research, Institute for Contemporary Research, Kano. He also penned a similarly detailed article of my visit and role in the conference, in particular, titled WEBBY Award Nominee Visits Kano, noting that in my presentations, although I was asserting that the United States is not anti-Islam, some of those Nigerians who attended the conference did not agree. Malam Kurawa has also written Negotiation Identity and Representation: A Review of the Proceedings of British Council International Seminar on Representing Islam which took place of June, 2003. See as well his lengthy article Islam Nigeria-UK Road Tour: Representations of Islam in the Media (Gamji.com, 2004).
Islam and Gender: The Nigerian Case By Gloria Thomas-Emeagwali, 1994.
"Shari'a in the North: A case study of Kogi State," (link fixed 17 August 2005) by Habibu Angulu Sani, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Research and Consultancy, Okene Kogi State.
Islam and Chad

Islam in Chad taken from Chad-A Country Study, in the Library of Congress Country Handbook.
Islam and Tanzania

African Islam in Tanzania, by the scholars Abdulaziz Y. Lodhi and David Westerlund, is a chapter from the English translation (Curzon Press) of the Swedish book Majoritetens Islam.
Islam and Politics in Tanzania by Mohammed Saeed of the Muslim Writer's Organization of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, is a usefully documented article.
Islam and Kenya

Islam and the Religious Dimension of Conflict in Kenya by David C. Sperling.
The role of the RIYADAH MOSQUE-COLLEGE in enhancing the Islamic identity in Kenya by Ahmed Bin Sumeit Khitamy
Islam and Rwanda

Their faith shaken by killings, Rwandans find solace in Islam by Marc Lacey (originally in the New York Times), The State.com, April 11, 2004.
News Articles on Islam in Rwanda from Islam online, BBC, and other sources; collected at Islam Awareness Homepage.
Islam and Uganda

160 Years of Marginalised Islam in Uganda: the Way Forward by Ssennog Abdulazziz, published in the Indian online newsweekly Radiance (38:3) April 6-12, 2003.
Islam and Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe Christians and Muslims Seek Cooperation (link fixed 17 August 2005), a news report published in Ecumenical News International and the Christian website Reporter-Interactive, briefly discusses an interfaith dialogue seminar between Christians and Muslim that was held in Zimbabwe in 1998. Among other things, the article notes that the Muslim population of Zimbabwe has been variously estimated at 1.2 million and also at 200,000.
Islam and Liberia
Muslims make up 20% of the population of Liberia, with 40% being comprised of Christians.
The Status of Liberia Muslims And The Advocacy For Sharia Courts an article Abdullah S. L. Sarnoh, The Liberian Dialogue, November 15, 2002
Islam in South Africa

Islam in South Africa is a general, popular, non-academic but informative article by Abdul Latif.
The Dawah Movements and Sufi Tariqat: Competing for spiritual spaces in contemporary South(ern) Africa is a detailed and scholarly study by Prof. Muhammed Haron, Department of Theology & Religious Studies, University of Botswana. Prof. Haron is also the author of the following four scholarly articles on Muslims in South Africa.
The Dynamics of Christian-Muslim Relations in South Africa (circa 1960-2000): From Exclusivism to Pluralism a detailed and scholarly study presented at the Christian-Muslim Relations in Sub-Saharan Africa conference held at the University of Birmingham, 2004.
Voices from Beyond and Within the South(ern) African Frontiers: The Muslim Print-Media
The South African Muslims making (air)waves during the period of transformation
Islamic Culture Amongst The Nguni (Xhosa & Zulu) Peoples
Islam in East Africa

Penetration of Islam in Eastern Africa by Ahmed Binsumeit A. Badawy Jamalilyl of Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman.
Africa and Islamic Civilization:The East African Experience by Prof Ali Mazrui, Director, Institute of Global Cultural Studies and Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities, State University of New York at Binghamton.
[The] Kadhis' Intellectual Legacy in the East African Coast: The contributions of Al-Amin bin Ali Al-Mazrui, Muhammad Kassim Al-Mazrui and Abdulla Saleh Fasry by Abdulkadir Hashim, Head of Department of Sharia, Faculty of Law and Sharia, Zanzibar University.
Islam in Europe

Islam in the Balkans

The First Contacts of Islam with the Balkans written by a Kosovar scholar, Nexhat Ibrahimi, who has been a chairman of the Society of the Kosovar Muslim Scholars and is currently emprisoned by the Serbian authorities.

Islam and Bosnia

Genocide in Bosnia: consists of a number of links that clarify this recent tragedy.

Submission to God By 'Alija 'Ali Izetbegovic, this is a brief excerpt from his book, Islam Between East and West (at Amazon.com) (link fixed 17 August 2005). Few non-scholars in the West realize that Izetbegovic, Bosnia's Muslim president, is also a serious intellectual completely conversant with Western thought.

Islam and Albania

Albania: Freedom Unconsidered is the title of a historical article on Islam in Albania written by Huseyin Abiva.

Islam and Kosova

Kosovo: The Destruction of Cultural and Religious Heritage: reports from a post-war survey by Andrew Herscher and Andras Riedlmayer. Herscher, an architect and Ph.D. candidate at Harvard, and Riedlmayer, the Director of the Aga Khan Program's Documentation Center for Islamic Art and Architecture at Harvard's Fine Arts Library, are co-directors of the Kosovo Cultural Heritage Project. These reports are among the numerous supplementary documents for the book The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia by Professor Michael Sells of Haverford College.
Islam in Russsia

Islam in Russia is a comprehensive and well-designed website compiled by Russian Muslims.
The Present Situation of the Soviet Muslims: The Example of Kazan Tatars (link fixed 17 August 2005) first published in 1986 by Dr. N. Devlet, this scholarly article is a useful history of Islam in Russia until the break-up of the Soviet Union. Note that Tatarstan is still a Russian republic and is not independent, like Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan for example.
Historical Heritage or Ethno-National Threat? Proselytizing and the Muslim Umma of Russia (link fixed 17 August 2005) by Donna Arzt of Emory University's (Atlanta, GA) Law and Religion Program. Covering both the history and current situation of Russian Muslims, this is a draft of a detailed scholarly article written in 1998.
Tatar Religious Reformation by Dr. Aidar Youzeev, a senior researcher at the Institute of History in the Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan, is a short but informative article covering the most significant figures and events in the Tatar Islamic reformation from the 18th century until 1992.
The Mardjani Mosque in Kazan, the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan.
Islam, Iran, and the Prospects of Stability in the Caspian Region (link fixed 17 August 2005) "It's not about ancient hatreds, it's about current policies: Islam and stability in the Caucasus" by Brenda Shaffer, Ph.D., former policy analyst for Israel, currently the Research Director of the Caspian Studies Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Although written without documentation, this article, published in Caucasian Regional Studies (Volume 5, Issue 1 & 2, 2000), provides a useful and insightful survey of the current situation in the region. Among other things, Dr. Shaffer explains the geo-political reasons for Iran's support of Christian Armenia and opposition to Muslim Azerbaijan!
Islam in the Caucasus
The Caucasus region in Russia includes areas such as Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Daghestan.
Islam in the North Caucasus: A people divided by Yavus Akhmadov, Stephen R. Bowers, Marion T. Doss, Jr., Yulii Kurnosov , as part of a project of James Madison University and published in January 2001. This includes the following:
Preface
Background
Religion in the North Caucasus:Daghestan,
Religion in the North Caucasus: Chechnya,
Religion in the North Caucasus: Ingushetia.
Religion In the North Caucasus: Northern Osetia, Kabardin-Balkaria, Karachayevo-Cherkessia, and Adygeiya and especially
Vakhabism and the Chechen Conflict is essential for understanding the conflict between Sufis and the militant extremists known as Wahhabis (Vakhabis or Vahhabis) in the region. (Links fixed, April 29, 2006.)
Islam and Chechnya

The Religious Brotherhoods in Chechnya: Their Relevance for the Chechen Conflict, written in the year 2000 by Yavus Akhmadov, Stephen R. Bowers, Marion T. Doss, and Valeria Ciobanu and published by the William R. Nelson Institute of James Madison University. The most significant section of this project is the article on a Chechen branch of the Qadiri Sufi order titled Kunta Hadji and the Kunta Hadjists:The Kunta-Hadji Chechen Religious Movement by Dr. Yavus Akhmadov of the Chechen Academy of Sciences. The sections titled Relevance of Religious Brotherhoods to Current Conflict and Contrast Between Kunta Hadji and Vakhab Movements are very useful for giving a broader picture.(Links fixed, April 29, 2006)
The Role of Sufism in the Chechen Resistance by Mayrbek Vachagaev, in Chechnya Weekly, Volume 6, Issue 16 (April 28, 2005).
Nobel Peace Laureates Accuse Russia of War Crimes in Chechnya (and the same story is in the Irish Examiner)(Links fixed, April 29, 2006)
The Religious Roots of Conflict: Russia and Chechnya, written in 1995 by the scholar David Damrel. (Link fixed Apr. 5, 2003).

Hadji Murad, the novel (on-line) of the famous Russian writer Tolstoy, which vividly portrays aspects of Muslim life in the occupied Caucasus, the life of the Russian occupiers, Muslim resistance led by Shaykh Shamyl, and internecine conflicts among the Muslim resistance. For the subsequent chapters of Hadji Murad, see the (Link fixed, April 29, 2006.)

Islam in Central Asia

Central Asia, More than Islamic Extremists Regine A. Spector (Research Assistant, Foreign Policy Studies) and Svante E. Cornell (Editor of the Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University), published in The Washington Quarterly, Winter 2002.

The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (link fixed 17 August 2005) of Johns Hopkins University publishes the online Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst, the Archives (link fixed 17 August 2005) of which are an important source of information about Islam and politics in the region. See also their country by country list of Resource Links for Central Asia and the Caucasus (link fixed 17 August 2005).

Islam as a Political Force in Central Asia (link fixed 17 August 2005), a policy paper on the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) website, is a paper written by a number or scholars as a product of a policy forum convened by IREX at the U.S. Department of State in order to address the impact Islam has on the various Central Asian Countries.
Political Islam and Conflicts in Russian and Central Asia edited by Professors Lena Jonson and Murad Esenov, is an very informative and scholarly online book, published in 1999, by the Central Asia and the Caucasus Center for Social and Political Studies in Sweden.

>A HREF="http://www.ca-c.org/dataeng/09.muminov.shtml">Traditional and Modern Religious-Theological Schools in Central Asia by Ashirbek Muminov, Professor at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, published in Islam and Conflicts in Russian and Central Asia, noted above.
Islam and Afghanistan

Afghanistan: The Forgotten Crisis by the scholar Barnett R. Rubin, is an important article for anyone seeking to understand the Taliban and Afghanistan today.

Undermining the Taliban: The US/UN Counter-terrorism Initiative (link fixed 17 August 2005), from the Central Asia/Caucasus Analyst (May 10, 2000) written by the Ahmed Rashid, a journalist who specializes in Central Asian affairs.

Soldiers of Islam: Origins, Ideology and Strategy of the Taliban (link fixed 17 August 2005) by Aabha Dixit, Research Associate, IDSA (Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis), New Delhi. This was published after March, 1997.
The Taliban Phenomenon (link fixed 17 August 2005) by John Butt, a scholar of Islam, who knows Afghanistan and Afghans well; published on Zanweb (zan is the Persian/Dari word meaning "woman").
Interview with Molla Ma'sum Afghani, Official Spokesperson of the Taliban in the militant Islamic magazine Nida'ul Islam, April-May, 1997.
Interview with Mullah Omar Muhammad, the leader of the Taliban, conducted by the Voice of America and published in the Guardian.
The Islamic Taliban Movement and the Dangers of Regional Assimilation a pro-Taliban article written by Abu Abdul Aziz al-Afghani in Nida'ul Islam, April-May, 1997.
Taliban A pro-Taliban website containing a number of articles.
Islam and Turkmenistan

About the Political Future of Islam in Turkmenistan (link fixed 17 August 2005) written by Alexei Malashenko in a journalistic style on the website of the Trans-Caspian project.

Shrine Pilgrimage in Turkmenistan as a Means to Understand Islam Among the Turkmen, a detailed article published in 1997 by the scholar David Tyson.

Islam and Tajikistan

Dictatorship and Civil War in Central Asia: Tajikistan by Alan Fogelquist of the Eurasia Research Center, this is the first article on the web that I have seen that clarifies the current situation in Tajikistan, specifically identifying the Islamic opposition to the government and explaning the causes of the oppostion.

Interview with Qadi Akbar Turajonzoda, who in 1995 was regarded as the main spiritual leader of Tajik Muslims. This 1995 interview is from the journal Central Asia Monitor.

Islam and Uzbekistan

The Ferghana Valley: Source or Victim of Islamic Fundamentalism by Professor Bakhtiyar Babadzhanov, Head of the Department of Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental studies, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, published in Political Islam and Conflicts in Russia and Central Asia, edited by Lena Jonson and Murad Esenov (October, 1999).
Islam, State-Building and Uzbekistan's Foreign Policy (link fixed 17 August 2005) by Henry E. Hale Ph.D., a Research Associate at Harvard. This on-line article was originally published in The New Geopolitics of Central Asia and Its Borderlands, edited by Banuazizi and Weiner (1994).

The "Fundamentalist" Threat to Uzbekistan: Crisis or Chimera (link fixed 17 August 2005), a news report written by Prof. Reuel Hanks and published in the Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst (August 30, 2000), a publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of John Hopkins University.

Islam in Southeast Asia

Islam and Indonesia

Nurcholish Madjid, Indonesian Muslim Intellectual by Prof. Martin van Bruinessen. Known as Cak Nur, Nurcholish Madjid was a leading moderate Indonesian Muslim intellectual who passed away in 2005.
Gus Dur: an obituary article. Written shortly after his death on Dec. 30, 2009, this article, published in The Economist, is a delightful portrayal of this Muslim leader and Sufi, who rose to become the president of Indonesia and still managed to keep alive a wonderful sense of humor.
Islam in Indonesia: Where "soft Islam" is on the march, Jan. 10, 2008, published in the Economist.
Currents in Contemporary Islam in Indonesia by James Fox, The Australian National University, 2004.
President Gus Dur, Indonesia, Islam, and Reformasi (link fixed 17 August 2005) by Professor Mark R. Woodward, of Arizona State University. Woodward begins his scholarly article with a brief overview of Indonesia and Islam. Subsequently he discusses President Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid) and the vision of Islam put forth by the Nahdlatul Ulama, and then Woodward speaks about the relationship between President Wahid, Islamism, and the Sociology of Islam.
Global and Local in Indonesian Islam by Prof. Martin Van Bruinessen, Southeast Asian Studies (Kyoto) vol. 37, no. 2 (1999), 46-63.
The Islamic Factor in Indonesia's Political Transition (link fixed 17 August 2005), by Suzaina Kadir and published originally in the Asian Journal of Political Science, 7:2 (December 1999), discusses, among other things, Islamic groups and democratization, the general nature of Islam in Indonesia, the contemporary manifestations of traditional divergences and tensions, the Islamic cultural revival and a united ummat, the major Islamic political party, the Nahdlatul Ulama (which is now the ruling party), Islamic groups of the recent Reformasi movement, the June 1999 elections, and prospects for a "Middle-Axis" coalition.
Islam and Politics in Indonesia, June 1997 consists of an article titled "How Muslims will say 'No'" by George Aditjondro, Professor of Sociology at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

Indonesia as a Model for Islamic Society of the 21st Century Written by Prof. Bassam Tibi, a scholar of contemporary Islam, this article portrays Indonesia as an Islamic society that has embraced the best of modern humanistic values while still remaining thoroughly Islamic. (Back on-line 3/3/98)

Tjoet Njak Dien: The Queen of Jihad by Benny Ohorella and Zaynab El-Fatah
Islam in Modern Indonesia A Conference Cosponsored by the United States-Indonesia Society and the Asia Foundation, February 7, 2002, in Washington, D.C. Among the information included at this webpage is the executive summary of the conference as well as detailed summaries of all of the scholarly presentations.
Indonesia and Islam: Before and After 9/11 published in Peacework (December 2001/ January 2002) by Ehito Kimura, a graduate student studying comparative politics of Southeast Asia at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Islam in Indonesia: The Dissemination of Religious Authority in the 20th Century is an extensive program of research combining the efforts of a number of scholars and academic institutions, among which is the The Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM), Leiden.
Islam and Malaysia

The New Challenges of Political Islam in Malaysia by Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid of Universiti Sains Malaysia, June, 2009.
Anwar Online is a site dedicated to Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, who was recently deposed by the Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad. Mr. Ibrahim, the former protege of Mahathir Mohamad, was arrested, emprisoned, and is currently on trial for what seems to be trumped up charges.

The Malaysian Government and Christian-Muslim Relations in Malaysia is the on-line publication of an article written by Professor Theodore Gabriel, a professor of Religious Studies in the UK. (Link fixed, 16 October, 1999)

'Islam, Adat and Multiculturalism in Malaysia written by Marion Bowman of Bath College of Higher Education in the UK, clarifies and discusses the tensions between Gulf Islam and Malaysian Islam, particularly between Gulf cultural tradition and Malaysian adat (custom or cultural tradition).

The Impact of the Islamic Resurgence on the Belief System of Rural Malays is the on-line publication of a scholarly article written by Anne Kathrine Larsen and originally published in Temenos 32 (1996).

Islam, Apostasy, and PAS (a Muslim political party in Malaysia) (link fixed 17 August 2005), an article written by the Sisters in Islam of Malaysia that argues against capital punishment for apostasy.
Islam in the Philippines

The Moros: Political Islam in the Philippines, taken verbatim from the Library of Congress' Area Handbook Series.

Muslim Filipinos, taken verbatim from the Library of Congress' Area Handbook Series.

Muslim Separatism in the Philippines, an interview with Professor Thomas McKenna, professor of Anthropology at the University of Alabama and author of Muslim Rulers and Rebels: Everyday Politics and Armed Separatism in the Southern Philippines.

Islam and India

Hindu-Muslim Tensions in India from the Library of Congress (U.S.) Country Studies Series, 1995.
Muslim Legacy In India: Do Muslims Deserve the Hatred of Hindus? by Javeed Akhter; a well-written, balanced survey article designed for mass readership.
Politics and Religion in India Today consists of two papers: Castes and Islam in Tamil Nadu and Islam and the Brotherhood of the Afflicted written by Lars Kjærholm (Aarhaus University, India Studies Courier, February, 2001) and focusing on the region of Tamil Nadu.
The Mughals: A History of Islam in India from the Mughal Empire until independence (1483-1947), by Richard Hooker. The major topics of this history are the following: Babur (1483-1530 CE) the founder of the dynasty; Akbar (1556-1605); The Last Three Great Emperors: Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb.
Modern Islam in India a downloadable (free) book by the world renown scholar of Islam and Religion, Wilfred Cantwell Smith. Published in 1943.
Social Stratification Among Muslims in India by Salil Kader, intended by for general readership yet scholarly (Countercurrents.org, 15 June 2004).
History of Islam in India (711-1775) a brief history written at a high school reading level.
Islam and Pakistan

According to the journalist, Ahmed Rashid, in his book, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia (Yale: 2000), Mullah Omar, the amir (leader) of the Taliban, is in constant contact with Maulana Samiul Haq, who is the head of the Haqqania madrasah (religious school), which is located in Akhora Khatak near Peshawar (in the Northwest Frontier province in Pakistan). Rashid states that Samiul Haq "helps him [Mullah Omar] deal with international relations and offers advice on important Sharia decisions (legal decisions)." Samiul Haq is also the head of the Jamiat-e Ulema-Islam (JUI), which is a society that leaders of the Deobandi school had originally established in order to propagate their beliefs; and also, Ahmed Rashid describes Samiul Haq as having established the most important breakaway, extremist faction of the JUI. For mention of Samiul Haq on the web, see the 1999 article carried by BBC news.
Sectarian and Militant Pakistani Muslim Groups (link fixed 17 August 2005) by the Research Directorate of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Ottawa, Canada in July, 1999.
Pushtuns (Pathans) in Pakistan from 1990 to 2000 (link fixed 17 August 2005) by the Center for International Development and Conflict Management of the University of Maryland.
Biography of Maududi (1903-1979), one of the most influential modern Muslim thinkers. The source of this biography appears to be a book or an article titled "Islamic Perspective," published by the Islamic Foundation (UK), 1989. The biography is on the web at the site of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the organization founded by Maududi.

The Finality of Prophethood, an on-line book by Sayyid Abul al-A'la Maududi (or Mawdudi) (1903-1979). Founder of the Jama'at-i Islami (the Islamic Party), Maududi's thought has influenced Muslim activists all over the Muslim world.

What Islam Stands For is another on-line book by Maududi. (Fixed, April 17, 2000)

Links to Maududi's Works at the Islamic Interlink directory.

Islam and Kashmir

Violations of Human Rights and U.N. Mandate in Kashmir This link consists of a briefing paper titled, "The Kashmiri War: Human Rights and Humanitarian Law," prepared by Karen Parker, J.D. and presented to The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 1996 Session, March, in Geneva.

Islam and Largely Non-Muslim Regions

Islam and Latin America

Islam in Latin America (link fixed 17 August 2005), a website compiled by the Muslim organization LAMU (Latin American Muslim Unity) (link fixed 17 August 2005), containing a number of linked articles to Islam in various countries of Latin America and among Latinos.
Under Wraps by Jamal Arif (IViews, June 11, 1999), discusses Islam in Argentina and Brazil, noting, among other things, the renunciation of Islam on the part of Argentine President Carlos Menem.
Islam in Brazil

Two BriefArticles on Islam in Brazil (link fixed 18 August 2005) from the LAMU website.
Islam in Cuba

New Islamic Movement Seeks Latin Converts (link fixed 18 August 2005) a short article that is essentially a report by Sheikh Muhammad bin Nassir Al-Aboudy of the Muslim World League on his visit to Cuba (a report which briefly surveys the situation of Muslims in Cuba). It was originally published in International Islamic News Agency and reprinted at the LAMU website.
Islam in Panama

A Brief History of the Muslims in Panama (link fixed 18 August 2005), originally published in The Message, Canada (August, 1997), is a relatively detailed article by Dr. AbdulKhabeer Muhammad, who in 1997 was the director of the International Center for Islamic Research and Studies.
Islam in Peru

A Brief History of Islamic in Peru From the LAMU website.
Islam in Guyana

Muslims in Guyana (link fixed 18 August 2005), by Raymond Chickrie, is a documented and detailed article giving the history and main characteristics of the Muslim community in Guyana (South America). Muslims make up roughly 10% of the population of Guyana.
Pan-Islamic Movements in Modern World

The Muslim Brotherhood

al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (The Muslim Brotherhood) Although it originated in Eygpt, the Muslim Brotherhood has now become established in over seventy countries. This page, in spite of its numerous mistakes in English, is a useful overview. The Brotherhood, although more militant in its early years, recently seems to be attempting to work patiently with the existing political systems in the Arab world.

The Muslim Brotherood web page looks promising, but only one of its subpages has been constructed, The Writings of Hasan al-Banna. This link (fixed 18 August 2005), however, is well developed and is useful for readers investigating the ideas of the Brotherhood's founder, Hasan al-Banna. (Down as of October 17, 2001.)

Tablighi Jama'at

Just "a Religion": For the Tablighi Jama'at, Islam is not totalitarian, a brief article by Yahya Sadowski, currently professor of Political Science, American University of Beirut (The Brookings Review, Summer 1996: Vol.14 No.3, pp. 34-35).
Islam and Women: The Case of the Tablighi Jama'at a scholarly article by Prof. Barbara Metcalf of the University of California, Davis, provides a useful survey of the history of Tablighi Jama'at and then focuses on the position of women in the movement. (Stanford Electronic Humanities Review, vol. 5, issue 1, February 1996.)(Link fixed, April 12, 2004.)

The Jamaat Tableegh and the Deobandisan online book by Sajid Abdul Kayum is a critique.

Populations, Maps, and Countries of the Muslim World

Demographics (Population Statistics) of the Muslim World
Country by Country Statistics of Muslim Populations (link fixed 18 August 2005) In order to find the country or region you are looking for, scroll down and then at the bottom right hand corner of the page, click to go on to the next page. This is from the website of Adherents.com, which has population statistics on all the world's religions and sects.
Maps of the Muslim World

The Perry-Castaneda Map Archive at the University of Texas at Austin is an excellent comprehensive collection of high-quality maps. The following link is to an Italian mirror of the UT archive.
Map of Muslims in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, showing the distribution of Sunni and Shi'i Muslims (Link fixed, October 7, 2001.)
Map of the Middle East and North Africa and The Italian mirror site. (Links fixed, October 7, 2001.)
A Comprehensive Collection of Maps of the Middle East, most of which were made by the CIA. The map archive at the University of Texas that is the source of all of these maps seems to be experiencing difficulties as of 15 September 1998. In the event of continuing difficulties, go to this Italian mirror of the UT Map archive.
Map of Africa (Link fixed, October 7, 2001.)
Map of the Caucasus and Central Asia, 1995 (Link fixed, October 7, 2001.)
Map of Ethnic Group Distribution in Central Asia (Link fixed, October 7, 2001.)
Map of the Chinese-Former USSR Border Region (Chinese Turkestan) (Link fixed, October 7, 2001.)
Maps of Afghanistan
Historically Related Maps of the Muslim World Collected by Prof. Von Schlegell at the University of Pennsylvania, this is the best collection of its kind on the web. (Link fixed October 24, 2001.)
Websites for the Countries of the Muslim World
Most people in the West think of Islam as a Middle Eastern religion. Nevertheless, Islam is clearly a South Asian, South East Asian, Central Asian, African, and Middle Eastern religion, with a growing presence in Europe and North America.

Studies of Countries with Significant Muslim Populations, researched by the U.S. Library of Congress as part of its Area Studies on-line handbook.
Encyclopaedia of the Orient is a well-designed and useful reference covering mainly the Middle East and North Africa.
Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library, excellent links for Muslim countries in Asia.
Interactive Central Asia Resource Project (ICARP) This is probably the most comprehensive collection of links for all of Central Asia. (Link fixed October 7, 2001.)
Web Resources for Central Asia, part of the web site of the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center (IAUNRC) at Indiana University, contains numerous links to all of the countries in Central Asia as well as links to the region as a whole.
Muslim World Internet Resources At this site, there are links to sites concerning most of the countries with significant Muslim populations. A number of Muslim countries are omitted from it, however. Among them are the following Muslim Countries in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), which were former colonies of the Soviet Union:
Azerbaijan (link fixed 18 August 2005) This link consists of a comprehensive article (with linked maps) describing Azerbaijan and its history. The article, by Adil Baguirov, draws on material from the CIA World Factbook and an article written by Dr. Tadeusz Swietochowski, an authority on Azerbaijan.
Kazakstan This site, developed by the Interactive Central Asia Resource Project (ICARP), includes original material and well-organized links. (Link fixed, October 7, 2001.)
Krygyzstan This is another ICARP site. (Link fixed, October 7, 2001.)
Tajikistan This comprehensive site has articles on all aspects of Tajikistan. The news section is particularly rich.
Turkmenistan (link fixed 18 August 2005) This link is comprehensive and provides information on many aspects of Turkmenistan.
Uzbekistan (link fixed 18 August 2005) This site consists of numerous well-organized and comprehenseve links.
The link to Afghanistan on the Muslim World Internet Resources site is not useful. Instead, see the following:
Afghanistan from the Interactive Central Asia Resource Project (ICARP) website. And see also CIA Factbook on Afghanistan
A number of African countries with significant Muslim populations were omitted from the Muslim World Internet Resources site noted above. These are listed as follows, along with the percentage of their population that is Muslim (a number of the links below were fixed on 16 January 2001):
Angola 25%
Benin 60%
Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) 44% (Link fixed 18 August 2005.)
Cameroon 21% (link fixed 18 August 2005.)
Chad 52% (link fixed 18 August 2005.)
Eritrea51% (link fixed 18 August 2005.)
Ethiopia 40%
Gambia87%
Guinea 88% (link fixed 18 August 2005.)
Guinea-Bissau 80% (link fixed 18 August 2005.)
Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) 55%
Liberia 21%
Libya 98%
Malawi 55%
Mali 90% (link fixed 18 August 2005.)
Niger 90%
Nigeria 50%
Senegal 91% (link fixed 18 August 2005.)
Sierra Leone 80%
Tanzania 65%
Togo 55% (link fixed 18 August 2005.)

Islam in Predominantly Non-Muslim Countries

Islam in China 1.44% Muslim, but this equals about 17.6 million Chinese Muslims (link fixed 18 August 2005).
India 12% Muslim, but this is roughly 100 million, the largest number of Muslims in any country, with the exception of Indonesia, which has a Muslim population of about 160 million.

Extreme-DM tracker

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