Top 10 Muslim Countries Ranked by Population, Survey 2022,

As of 2022, the world is home to nearly 8 billion people, with approximately 1.9 billion Muslims spread across the globe. Islam began as a religion in the 7th century, which makes it relatively new when compared to other major religions, but in that relatively short period of time, it has spread throughout the world and become the majority religion in 49 countries.

We're going to focus on the 10 countries with the largest Muslim populations. 

Their ranking is based on the Muslim population of the country, not the total population. 

01. Indonesia has around 240.4 million Muslims and over 277 million people. According to a 2018 government survey, 86.7 per cent of the people in Indonesia are Muslim, or 240 million people, with around 99 per cent of these being Sunni. 

The remaining 37 million people in Indonesia are Christian, including Catholics at 10.7 per cent of the population, Hindus at 1.74 per cent of the population, and Buddhists at a little less than one per cent. One of the points in Indonesia's foundational philosophy, pantasilla, is belief in God, but it does not specify Allah or belief in Islam; it applies to Indonesia's other religions too. 

The way it's written is sometimes interpreted as belief in one God, in other words, monotheism, but it's sometimes interpreted as something like the almighty divine, which wouldn't exclude Indonesia's Hindus and Buddhists. Some people associate Islam with the Arab world, 

02. Pakistan has around 234.4 million Muslims. The other country that arose from the partition of British India is number two. In Pakistan, it makes sense that it has a larger Muslim population than India because it was created as a state for the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. 

Out of Pakistan's nearly 243 million people, around 96.5 per cent are Muslim; most of them are Sunni Muslims, but around 10 to 15 per cent practise Shia Islam, as with India. Islam came to Pakistan via the coastal trading routes very early on, in the mid-7th century. 

Remember, they used to be the same country before the partition. It's interesting to note that if Bangladesh were still part of Pakistan today, together they would form the country with the biggest Muslim population by far, but Bangladesh isn't a part of Pakistan anymore.

Also, Read: Why all the Messengers (Prophets) of Allah are Males 

03. India, with around 197.3 million Muslims. This one might be a bit of a surprise because India does not have a Muslim majority; it has a Hindu majority, and only 14.2 per cent of the population is Muslim, but India has such a huge population that it has more Muslims than most Muslim majority countries; out of close to 1.4 billion people, over 197 million are Muslims. 

Islam came to the Indian subcontinent through coastal trading routes in the 7th century A.D. and spread further with the Rudid conquest in the 12th century A.D. All of India came under Muslim rule just like Bangladesh did, so why does India have such a lower percentage of Muslims than Bangladesh? Well, attempts to convert the population were more successful in Bangladesh, known as Bengal at the time.

 Also, British India had a much higher percentage of Muslims before it was partitioned, at 24.3 per cent in the 1941 census. But with the partition, millions of Hindu refugees fled to India and millions of Muslim refugees fled to Pakistan, both East and West. 

That refugee crisis increased the percentage of Hindus in India and decreased the number of Muslims in 1951. Muslims made up 10% of the population, but that figure has risen due to a higher birth rate among Muslims.

04. Bangladesh has around 146.4 million Muslims. Bangladesh is located in South Asia on the Bay of Bengal. It's a very densely populated country with a population of 165 million people, 88.4 per cent of whom are Muslim. 

Islam was first brought to Bangladesh by Arab traders in the 9th century, mainly through the trading routes via the port city of Chottabang, but it first came under Muslim rule in the 13th century when it was conquered by Muhammad bin of the Hurrid Empire. 

The majority of the population gradually converted to Islam under a number of Muslim rulers until the British took control of the Indian subcontinent in the 19th century after the partition of India in 1947 into predominantly Hindu India and predominantly Muslim Pakistan. 

Bangladesh became a province of Pakistan (East Pakistan) but was separate from the rest of the country geographically; it split from Pakistan and became an independent country in 1971. 

05. Nigeria has around 120.4 million Muslims. The federal republic of Nigeria in West Africa is the most populous country in Africa with its population numbering an estimated 225 million people, of whom an estimated 53.5 per cent are Muslim. 

Islam was introduced to northeastern Nigeria in the 11th century. The Kanemburnu Empire extended from northeastern Nigeria up through the Sahara Desert to present-day Libya, and Islam was brought by Muslim traders via the trade routes from North Africa. 

It was brought to Northwestern Nigeria later, in the 14th to 16th centuries, by traders from the Mali Empire and local traders who had been converted by Muslims in the Senegalese Basin and brought Islam home with them. 

Islam came to the Yodobi areas in southwestern Nigeria in the 14th century also through contact with traders from the Mali Empire, so if Nigeria is 53.5 per cent Muslim, what religion are the rest of the people? Well, around 45.9 per cent of the people are Christian, and 0.6 per cent practise other religions, mainly traditional West African religions. 

Nigeria's Constitution ensures freedom of religion. Some of the northern provinces have Sharia law alongside civil law, but it applies only to Muslims, at least officially. 

06. Egypt has around 97 million Muslims. Egypt is another land of ancient civilizations stretching back many thousands of years. The ancient Egyptian religion was polytheistic and involved the worship of numerous gods. Many Egyptians remained Coptic Christians, but most of the population gradually became Muslim over the following centuries, but a significant Coptic minority still exists today. 

The Islamic conquest of Egypt took place from 639 to 646 A.D. during the rashidun caliphate, the first caliphate after the Prophet Muhammadﷺ. Many Egyptians remained Coptic Christians, but most of the population gradually became Muslim over the following centuries, but a significant Coptic minority still exists today. 

The constitution of Egypt states that Islam is the official state religion and that Sharia law is the source of Egypt's legislation, but normally Sharia law is directly applied only to family law, and an application of family law is to be based on an individual's religion, the recognised religions being the three Heavenly religions. 

07. Iran has 86.4 million Muslims. Iran is a land of ancient civilizations with a recorded history stretching back thousands of years. The pre-Islamic religion of Iran was a monotheistic religion called Zoroastrianism. Islam came to Iran in the 7th century when the rashidun caliphate conquered the land, and the majority of people converted to Islam in the following centuries. 

It was mainly a Sunni Muslim country until the rule of the Safawi Dynasty in the 16th century, which converted the population to Shia Islam. Today Iran has a population of around 86.76 million people, 99.6 per cent of whom are thought to be Muslim, and of these, around 90 to 95 per cent are Shia. 

Numerous Iranians have commented that the population is not nearly as religious as the government statistics would indicate. According to them, there are significant numbers of non-practising Muslims, agnostics, atheists, and people who have changed their religion but can't say this openly on government surveys. 

08. Turkey with 82.9 million Muslims. Turkey is located at the crossroads of largely Christian Europe and the largely Muslim Middle East. During the Arab Conquest in the 7th century, some parts of Eastern Turkey came under Muslim rule, but the Byzantine Empire mostly repelled their invasion. 

Most of Anatolia remained Christian until it was conquered by the Turkic Seljuk Empire from Central Asia in the 11th century. Muslim Turks migrated to the area and most Christians converted to Islam. Muslims are said to make up 99.8 per cent of the total population. 

That's according to the CIA World Factbook, which reflects the Turkish government's official statistics. The majority of them are Sunni, but there's a significant Shia minority, especially the 11 per cent of Shia Islam. 

Note that other surveys have varying numbers of Muslims as low as 82 per cent of the population because some people identified themselves as having no religion or being agnostic or atheist, some people declined to answer, and so on. So at the lower end, Turkey would have about 68 million Muslims.

09. Sudan has 46.5 million Muslims. Sudan is a country in northeast Africa, south of Egypt, with a population of nearly 48 million people as of 2022. 97 per cent of which is Muslim. Before the dominance of Islam, the Nubian Kingdoms in what is now Sudan were largely Coptic Christian, just like Egypt to the north. 

Islam arrived in the 7th century through contact between Arab traders and Nubians, but the population remained largely Christian until the kingdoms declined and, in 1504, the area was taken over by the Muslim fund. Fast forward to more recent times, when 

Sudan's law was based on Sharia law from 1989 to 2019, and in 2020, Sudan became a secular state, ending 30 years of Islamic rule and Islam as the official state religion.

10. Algeria has 43.3 million Muslims; approximately 98 per cent of Algeria's approximately 44.2 million people are Muslim, mainly Sunni Muslims. The spread of Islam throughout Algeria took place between 670 A.D. and 711 A.D. as the Umayyad dynasty gradually conquered the area. 

The native amazing population was rapidly converted to Islam, while pockets of Christian communities and those practising traditional Amazilic religion existed in significant numbers until around the 11th century. 

It's interesting to note that only three of the countries on the list are Arab countries. Algeria Sudan and Egypt Two others are usually considered part of the Middle East but are not Arab. 

Iran and Turkey, but of the top five countries, all are outside the Arab world and the Middle East. Islam has been far more than just an Arabian religion for 1400 years and is now a truly global religion. 

Were there any countries on the list that surprised you? Leave your answers in the comments down below.