Why is Islam still growing?

Answer 1

Answer 1

Primarily, I would think it is due to the widespread publicity inadvertently being created by the western media. The more the media portrays Islam as a terrible religion, the more curiosity it creates, and that curiosity encourages learning. When people do the learning piece they tend to realise that what is being displayed by extremists and the media is not what Islam actually teaches and as such realise that they are actually more interested and it goes on from there....

Answer 2

Partly because of the high Birth Rate among Muslims! There could be other reasons such as a backlash against anti-Islamic sentiments and a disillusionment with other faiths. Some feel that the left-wing people have neutered Christianity and made it ineffective against what they regard as social ills such as abortion, homosexuality, and adultery, so people who feel that way would welcome Sharia law here.

Cynical Answer

Part of the great design of Islam was to make joining the religion an act of choice, leading the chooser to have confidence and an interest in continuing his faith. Therefore, the entire Islamic experience has been put forward as just such an element. Islamic States have historically created a set of benefits that only Muslims could partake, making a choice to be Muslim tied to choices about economic viability (which trades you could work - especially in government) or tied to choices of social standing. These would strongly weight the choice and produce a steady stream of converts by their very nature. This also prevents widespread insurrection which did occur in Europe when forcible conversions took place. It's much harder to justify a rebellion against unequal treatment than to justify one against actual pogroms and outward persecution.

The reason Islam can afford to be acquire converts in this slower way than forcibly converting large swathes of territory, is that Apostasy (the conversion of out Islam to another faith or to atheism) is an offense punishable by death. Therefore, a choice made by one person binds the hands of all of his descendants. Most religions have to worry about people leaving the faith as well, but Islam cleverly avoids this problem. No Muslim-majority country has established legislation protecting Apostates. Several, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia use the government to enforce the Apostasy Crimes, but many more do not interfere when tribal or regional groups execute a supposed Apostate. Islam can afford to wait until the majority of people make the choice to convert, because once you join, you can't leave, which leads to consistent positive growth.