It may be relevant to question in the beginning of this chapter whether religion in modern time should be used to classify people and countries so diverse in terms of geography, culture, history, social and political structure, and level of development without committing errors of grave distortions. As a matter of fact, Islamicity , as is used here as a reference, has been accepted for labeling populations in international studies. The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), for instance, founded on September 25,1969, counts 57 member countries spanning East Asia, South Asia, Southern Europe (Turkey), the Middle East, and in many parts of the African continent from North Africa to sub-Saharan Africa. These countries, which are so heterogeneous, have in common not only the sense of belongingness to this great religion and a glorious past but also a harsh reality of dealing with modern life without losing their Islamic identity. This shared religious identity has also been “reinforced by a new shared experience – the penetration, domination, and (in most areas) the departure of European colonialists” (Lewis 1993 , pp. 21–22). Twenty-four Islamic countries did not enjoy freedom from colonization until the second half of the twentieth century. Five of them – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – were freed from the former Soviet Union only recently in 1991. The status of other places such as Palestine, Western Sahara, and Chechnya has not yet been decided. Unfortunately all Islamic countries are considered “third world.”
