Islam Is The World's Fastest Growing Religion?

[Tyson]

I've heard this claim stated quite a few times and never really paid it much attention until toay. I've often heard it in the context of comparison with Christianity which seems to be losing members as fast as it may claim it gains. The subtle impression Muslim apologists appear to want to give is that because the religion is gaining adherents faster than other religions, then it must be true or provides better benefits as compared to other religions. This takes the path of the argumentum ad populum logical fallacy ("because lots of people follow or believe a thing, then the thing must be true").

 

Personally I feel that the whole thing is misleading. There is an illusion created because Christianity is losing its grip in once dominant Christian nations in places like Europe. If it were not for the Latin countries and their high birth rates (births into the Catholic faith and growing Fundamentalist movement) and to a lesser degree, black folk, the slide might be even more dramatic. For this reason, overall Christian growth has slowed and as it has, the Muslim growth appears to have increased. In addition, perhaps the apparent growth has something to do with higher birth rates in traditional Muslim dominated countries.

 

Finally, Islam is more a way of life, something not easy to change. To add to this, in some areas, allegiance to Islam is enforced and to even try to change from its path could be met with severe consequences.

 

Your thoughts?

[Astreja]

If we're considering absolute numbers of new bodies within a belief I suspect that much of that "growth" is due to newborn kids being automatically enrolled in the religions of their parental units.

 

If we're dealing in percentages, however, a good case could be made for... Say... An obscure group of Hungarian pagans going from two members to five. That would translate into a 150% increase.

 

Neither scenario enhances the "truth" of any belief, however. It's just Argumentum ad Populum in shiny new shoes.

 

And I seriously doubt that there are many religions that would openly admit to losing members, anyway, even if the mosques and synagogues and churches and whatnot are emptying faster than they're filling up.