The Ayaan Institute launches a major new report today; “Ummah at the Margins – the Past, Present, and Future of Muslim Minorities”. It is authored by its Research Director, Yahya Birt, which sets out a global agenda for Muslim Minorities.

Over a fifth of Muslims, some 400 million, live as minorities today in different parts of the world. The report sets outs to strategic thinking, particularly about the two major political challenges facing Muslims as living as minorities.

The first challenge identified is how can Muslims survive and even thrive as minorities given a turn towards ethnic nationalism and the emergence of a multipolar world?

The report argues that strategies to enhance the freedoms and prosperity of Muslim minorities requires urgent attention, and these have often been overshadowed by interstate rivalries in the Muslim majority world that sees these minorities as either national assets or liabilities.

The author argues that the second challenge is how does the relationship between Muslim minorities and the Muslim majority world become mutually empowering?

Yahya Birt, Research Director of Ayaan Institute said:

“This report argues that Muslim minorities have strong soft power potential to revitalise Islamic civilization. Muslims are globally connected to all multipolar powers in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas today. Provided that their organisation and activities are nurtured in ethical terms rather than neutered in service to religious nationalisms, they can have significant impact globally”.

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