Islam in
Asia began in the 7th century during the lifetime of
Muhammad. In 2020, the total number of Muslims in Asia was about 1.3 billion, it is the largest religion in Asia. Asia constitutes in absolute terms the
world's largest Muslim population.[1] and about 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with
Indonesia,
Pakistan,
India, and
Bangladesh having the largest
Muslim populations in the world. Asia is home to the largest Muslim population, with
West Asia,
Central Asia,
South Asia, and
Southeast Asia being particularly important regions. A number of adherents of Islam have lived in Asia especially in West Asia and South Asia since the beginning of
Islamic history.
History
The spread of
Islam outside of the Arabian peninsula and into other parts of the continent can be linked to the extensive trade routes connecting West Asia to China.
The Barmakid family was an early supporter of the
Abbasid Revolution against the Umayyads and of
As-Saffah. This gave
Khalid ibn Barmak considerable influence, and his son
Yaḥyā ibn Khālid (d. 806) was the vizier of the caliph
al-Mahdi (ruled 775–785) and tutor of
Hārūn ar-Rashīd (ruled 786–809). Yaḥyā's sons
al-Faḍl and
Ja'far (767–803) both occupied high offices under Harun. Many
Barmakids were
patrons of the sciences, which greatly helped the propagation of Indian science and scholarship from the neighboring
Academy of Gundishapur into the Arabic world. They patronized scholars such as
Gebir and
Jabril ibn Bukhtishu. They are also credited with the establishment of the first
paper mill in Baghdad. The power of the Barmakids in those times is reflected in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights; the vizier Ja'far appears in several stories, as well as a tale that gave rise to the expression “Barmecide feast”.
We know of Yaḥyā ibn Khālid al-Barmakī (d. 805
CE) as a patron of physicians and, specifically, of the translation of Hindu medical works into both Arabic and Persian. In all likelihood, however, his activity took place in the orbit of the caliphal court in Iraq, where at the behest of Hārūn ar-Rashīd (786–809), such books were translated into Arabic. Thus Khurāsān and Transoxiana were effectively bypassed in this transfer of learning from India to Islam, even though, undeniably the Barmakī's cultural outlook owed something to their land of origin, northern Afghanistan, and Yaḥyā al-Barmakī's interest in medicine may have derived from no longer identifiable family tradition.[2]
Many of the early governors of the Caliphate were Barmakids. Khalid ibn Barmak built
Mansura, Sindh and later
Baghdad. His son was the governor of what is now
Azerbaijan.
^"Statistik Umat Menurut Agama di Indonesia" (in Indonesian).
Kementerian Agama Republik Indonesia. 15 May 2018. Archived from
the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020. Muslim 231 Million (86.7), Christian 20.45 Million (7.6), Catholic 8.43 million (3.12), Hindu 4.65 million (1.74), Buddhist 2.03 million (0.77), Confucianism 76.630 (0.03), Others/Traditional faiths 126.51 (0.04), Total 266.5 Million