AHC: Screw Islam as much as possible with PODs after 1750

Your challenge is to screw Islam as much as possible, without ASBs. Potentially things that can count as contributing the screw:

- OTL Muslim-ruled territory ruled by non-Muslims (either other religions or anti-Islam secularists)
- Losses of major religious centers to non-Muslim states
- As small a global Muslim population as possible
- Nominal Muslims do not really have the required beliefs of Islam (a la modern English Christians)

You can have as many PODs as you want, but they all have to be after 1800. Some ideas:

- Mass conversion to nationalist versions of other religions (like the Korean Christians)
- Anti-Colonial uprisings lead to government-encouraged syncretism, leading to new religious identities (e.g. Kebatinan/Kejiwan in the East Indies)
- Averted European revolutions lead to surviving Ancien Regimes with more pro-Christianity colonial policy
- Earlier collapse of the Caliphate, leading to less Muslim unity and in-fighting, causing more religious turmoil and possible new religions
- Less population growth in the Islamic world
- Greater and more lasting movements toward secularism
 
- Less population growth in the Islamic world

IIRC, Algeria experienced a population boom after colonialism due to the introduction of antibiotics. Perhaps have Algeria either not colonized, or colonized with a more hands off policy (hold Algiers, tax grain, and otherwise leave the hinterland alone) and the population will remain much smaller than OTL. I don't know how well this situation can be duplicated in other Maghreb countries, though.
 
Your challenge is to screw Islam as much as possible, without ASBs. Potentially things that can count as contributing the screw:

- OTL Muslim-ruled territory ruled by non-Muslims (either other religions or anti-Islam secularists)
- Losses of major religious centers to non-Muslim states
- As small a global Muslim population as possible
- Nominal Muslims do not really have the required beliefs of Islam (a la modern English Christians)

You can have as many PODs as you want, but they all have to be after 1800. Some ideas:

- Mass conversion to nationalist versions of other religions (like the Korean Christians)
- Anti-Colonial uprisings lead to government-encouraged syncretism, leading to new religious identities (e.g. Kebatinan/Kejiwan in the East Indies)
- Averted European revolutions lead to surviving Ancien Regimes with more pro-Christianity colonial policy
- Earlier collapse of the Caliphate, leading to less Muslim unity and in-fighting, causing more religious turmoil and possible new religions
- Less population growth in the Islamic world
- Greater and more lasting movements toward secularism

To cut a general number of the Muslims you’d need:

Massive attempts of Christianization in the Russia-held Muslim territories (from Volga to the CA).
Greater than in OTL Chinese “activities” on the Muslim territories they held.
British anti-Muslin policies in India
Dutch anti-Muslim policies in Indonesia
French anti-Muslim policies in Northern Africa

Out of all these possibilities China seems to be (based on OTL) the only candidate to implement a big scale genocidal policies. Effectiveness of the conversion attempts elsewhere seems to be quite questionable. How exactly the Russians, Brits, Frenc or Dutch would manage to conduct it? AFAIK, the most successful example of a mass conversion was Spain after the Reconquest but it was not matched elsewhere.

OTOH, if just having the Muslim territories governed by the non-Muslims counts then it is quite simple and OTL almost produced the needed results. The only things you need are:
1. Dealing with the “sick man”: Franco-British agreement to the plans of Nicholas I regarding partition of the Ottoman Empire. If post-WWI partition happens in mid-XIX then all OTL protectorates are colonies. The Ottoman Empire shrinks down to approximately the modern Turkey or perhaps even less (completely out of Europe, loss of the whole Armenia).
2. Russian-British Partition of Persia (perhaps leaving some small rump state): Russia is getting the Northern part and Britain South.

Add this to the existing colonies/territories already ruled by Britain, Russia, France, Netherlands and China and you get something close to a maximum screwup.
 
If you want to 'kill' a religion you really ought to aim for the tumultuous years of its birth; by 1800 CE Islam is a firmly entrenched, multi-million member religion with no sign of going anywhere without some rather seriously unsavory suggestions.
 
USSR/Eastern Block and Albania largely fullfils these conditions. Anti-religious policies there had large impact on shape of Islam in post-communist countries. Lots of non-denominational Muslims lives there, or Muslims who have never been in mosque or never prayed. Islam in Albania is like Catholicism in France (if not like in Czech Republic).
 
If you want to 'kill' a religion you really ought to aim for the tumultuous years of its birth; by 1800 CE Islam is a firmly entrenched, multi-million member religion with no sign of going anywhere without some rather seriously unsavory suggestions.

Yeah, but that is easy. More difficult restraints makes for more interesting ideas. I also find genocide a boring answer. Unusual ideas like Kejiwan becoming the official religion of Indonesia are the ones I like the most.
 
USSR/Eastern Block and Albania largely fullfils these conditions. Anti-religious policies there had large impact on shape of Islam in post-communist countries. Lots of non-denominational Muslims lives there, or Muslims who have never been in mosque or never prayed. Islam in Albania is like Catholicism in France (if not like in Czech Republic).
AFAIK, the SU did not exist in the 1900 or earlier so it is rather irrelevant in 5his specific forum. :)
 
Top