Why are you posting this to a typography discussion forum?

It is, by the way, a myth that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. It is often cited, but most people are simply repeating what they have heard without questioning either the source or the method arriving at the conclusion. The idea was first put forward by Harvard University scholar Samuel Huntington, who is also responsible for the whole 'clash of civilisations' idea back in 1993. For a contrasting study you might read Philip Jenkins's The Next Christendom. There are no reliable numbers for the spread of religion in the places that matter most in terms of population growth -- Africa and South America --, but it is pretty clear that in both these continents Christianity is spreading faster than Islam. The number of Christians in Africa outstripped the number of Moslems some time in the 1960s, and the number has more than doubled since 1970.

(3) WORLD POPULATION GROWTH, 1.22%, COMPARED WITH MUSLIMS & CHRISTIAN SUBGROUPS


Muslims 2.11%, All "Christians" 1.27%
http://pages.zdnet.com/arminus/id13.html

John, so why are you encouraging him?

hhp

From what I've heard from different friends of mine who have converted to Islam, there are a few main reasons for most conversions.

1. Islam is a religious lifestyle, not just a quick Sunday morning church visit and a label. Although some Christians do pray before each meal and spend much time with their Bible, etc.many don't in the USA. Islam is something that can't be shunted into a few spare hours. You pray five times a day. Your dress code is affected; even your food choices are explained in the Qur'an. Many converts like it because they feel actively involved and as if they are truly religious.

2. For women, it is a big and welcome change from the "in your face" sexuality of western culture. Women are not required by the Qur'an to veil. They are required to dress modestly and it is *recommended* that they cover their hair. However, most do veil and some go farther with niquab (the face screen) or other traditional clothes. Women dressed like this consider themselves marked as religious women, not easy dates. They don't get hit on. No one gawks at their bodies. They are clearly off limits sexually and many that I personally know say it is liberating not to have to conform to western standards of sexy dress, makeup and spending so much time and money on appearance. You buy a five-dollar hijab, put your hair in a ponytail and cover, wear long skirt and a tunic shirt -you're set.

3. Islam is also growing because many people are not satisfied with Christianity. They feel it is too liberal, too fluid and changes for the culture. Islam on the other hand is more rigid and does not as a whole allow much for modern changes and the whims of society. Many like it because they feel other religions have loose standards.

That's what I got from the new Muslimah's group at Yahoo, Islamway women's board and a few other friends of mine. Stats taken by many college groups say that women convert 4 times more often then men.


This is an example:


Why Are Women Turning to Islam
At a time when Islam is faced with hostile media coverage particularly where the status of women in Islam is concerned, it may be quite surprising to learn that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, and even more ironic to discover that the majority of converts to Islam are WOMEN.
The status of women is society is neither a new issue nor is it a fully settled one, and where Islam is mentioned, for many the term 'Muslim Women' prompts images of exhausted mothers chained to the stove, 'victims' suppressed in a life of indoctrination, frantic to be westernized and so on. Others will go to great lengths to explain how the hijaab is an obstacle, clouding the mind, and comment that female converts are either brainwashed, stupid or traitors to their sex. I reject such accusations and pose to them the following question: why is it that so many women who have been born and brought in the so called 'civilized' societies of Europe and America are willing to reject their 'liberty' and 'independence' to embrace a religion that supposedly oppresses them and is widely assumed to be prejudicial to them?
As a Christian convert to Islam, I can only present my personal experience and reasons for rejecting the 'freedom' that women claim to have in this society in favor of the only Religion that truly liberates women by giving us a status and position, which is completely unique when compared with that of non-Muslim counterparts. Before coming to Islam, I had strong feminist tendencies and recognized that where the women was concerned, a lot of shuffling around had been going on, yet without being able to pin her on the social map. The problem was ongoing: new 'women's issues' being raised without the previous ones being satisfactorily resolved. Like the many women who shared my background, I would accuse Islam of being a sexist religion, discriminating, oppressing and giving men the greater privileges. All this coming from a person who did not even know Islam, one who had been blinded due to ignorance and had accepted this deliberately distorted definition of Islam.

However, despite my criticisms of Islam, inwardly I wasn't satisfied with my own status as a woman in this society. It seemed to me that society would define such terms as 'liberty' and 'freedom' and then these definitions were accepted by women without us even attempting to question or challenge them. There was clearly a great contradiction between what women were told in theory and what actually happens in practice. The more I pondered, the greater emptiness I felt within. I was slowly beginning to reach a stage where my dissatisfaction with my status as a women in this society, was really a reflection of my greater dissatisfaction with society itself. Everything seemed to be degenerating backwards, despite the claims that the 2000 was going to be the decade of success and prosperity. Something vital seemed to be missing from my life and nothing would fill this vacuum. Being a Christian did not do anything for me, and I began to question the validity of only remembering God one day a week - Sundays! As with many other Christians too, I had become disillusioned with the hypocrisy of the Church and was becoming increasingly unhappy with the concept of Trinity and the deification of Jesus. Eventually, I began to look into Islam. At first, I was only interested in looking at those issues, which specifically dealt with women. I was surprised. What I read and learned taught me a lot about myself as a woman, and also about where the real oppression of women lies: in every other system and way of life outside of Islam. Muslim women have been given their rights in every aspect of the religion with clear definitions of their role in society - as had men - with no injustice against either of them. As Allah says: Whoever does deeds of righteousness, be they male or female, and have faith, they will enter paradise and not the least injustice will be done to them [Nisaa 4:124]
So having amended my misconceptions about the true status of women in Islam, I was now looking further. I wanted to find that thing which was going to fill the vacuum in my life. My attention was drawn towards the beliefs and practices of Islam. It was only through establishing the fundamentals that I would understand where to turn and what to prioritize. These are often the areas, which receive little attention or controversy in society, and when studying the Islamic Creed, it becomes clear why this is the case: such concise, faultless and wholly comprehensive details cannot be found elsewhere.

Wow.

A nickle to whoever actually read that post.

Hrant -- Don't you see how this relates to type?
Its a new face.(?) (All sarcasm intended).

Something vital seemed to be missing from my life and nothing would fill this vacuum. Being a Christian did not do anything for me, and I began to question the validity of only remembering God one day a week - Sundays!

You get out of it what you put into it.

I can't resist any longer. Apparently Rin Rode is not the only one who's using this text to... do whatever they think they're doing.

http://members4.boardhost.com/clockwise/msg/31076.html

Search the first few lines of the 2nd paragraph on Google. This is ridiculous, shotgun-blast, religious spamming. Its value in debate here or anywhere is on par with yelling at the TV. Why enter a legitimate forum when you can join legions of Viagra and porn merchants?

John, so why are you encouraging him?

You know me, Hrant: if someone makes an unsupported assertion as if it is fact, I'm liable to question it, especially if I'm aware of something that suggests it is incorrect or misleading. Gerald's post is a good point: if I were to cite 'Approximate Global Mission Statistics' from an evangelical Christian source that cites only other evangelical Christian sources, I reckon you would pretty quickly accuse me of being taken in by their propaganda. Philip Jenkins debunks much of the statistics regularly cited to 'prove' that Islam is the fastest growing religion, pointing out that reliable figures from much of the world, simply are not available, but that in many of these areas there is very little Islamic growth through either conversion of population growth; much of the statistics simply do not include these areas. Even Samuel Huntington, who first suggested that Islam was the fastest growing religion, now notes that there was a baby boom in many Islamic countries that has now ended, with birth rates in some Islamic countries now lower than they were before the baby boom. It is in the interests of some evangelical Protestants to spook their donors with fear of an Islamic planet.

There. That's all I have to say on the topic, and I'm going to ignore this thread from now on.

John,

Islamic religions have some pretty good selling features sorely lacking in Christian thought.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/827994/posts

We don't tolerate any religions in here other than the sacred alphabet. Praise be to the serif. And to the ligature, and to the kerning tables we cherish.

Gerald --

72 virgins? This reminds me of Dennis Millers bit on this topic. Something to the jist of, "After two or three, you just want a girl that is going to stick her finger up your a$."