Buddhist missions at the time of king Ashoka (260–218 BCE), according to his
Edicts n
Buddhist monk teaching a
Chinese monk.
Bezeklik, 9th–10th century; although
Albert von Le Coq (1913) assumed the
blue-eyed,
red-haired monk was a
Tocharian, modern scholarship has identified similar
Caucasian figures of
the same cave temple (No. 9) as ethnic
Sogdians, an
Eastern Iranian people who inhabited
Turfan as an ethnic minority community during the phases of
Tang Chinese (7th–8th century) and
Uyghur rule (9th–13th century). The first Buddhist missionaries were called "Dharma Bhanaks", and some see a missionary charge in the symbolism behind the Buddhist wheel, which is said to travel all over the earth bringing Buddhism with it. The Emperor
Ashoka was a significant early Buddhist missioner. In the 3rd century BCE,
Dharmaraksita—among others—was sent out by emperor Ashoka to proselytize and initially the
Buddhist tradition through the Indian
Maurya Empire, but later into the Mediterranean as far as Greece. Gradually, all India and the neighboring island of
Ceylon were converted. Then, in later periods, Buddhism spread eastward and southeastward to the present lands of
Burma,
Thailand,
Laos,
Cambodia,
Vietnam, and
Indonesia. Buddhism was spread among the
Turkic people during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE into modern-day Pakistan,
Kashmir,
Afghanistan, eastern and coastal
Iran,
Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan, and
Tajikistan. It was also taken into China brought by
Kasyapa Matanga in the 2nd century
CE,
Lokaksema and
An Shigao translated Buddhist sutras into Chinese.
Dharmarakṣa was one of the greatest translators of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. Dharmaraksa came to the Chinese capital of
Luoyang in 266 CE, where he made the first known translations of the
Lotus Sutra and the
Dasabhumika Sutra, which were to become some of the classic texts of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. Altogether, Dharmaraksa translated around 154
Hīnayāna and
Mahāyāna sutras, representing most of the important texts of Buddhism available in the Western Regions. His
proselytizing is said to have converted many to Buddhism in China, and made
Chang'an, present-day
Xi'an, a major center of Buddhism. Buddhism expanded rapidly, especially among the common people, and by 381 most of the people of northwest China were Buddhist. Winning converts also among the rulers and scholars, by the end of the
Tang dynasty Buddhism was found everywhere in China.
Marananta brought Buddhism to the Korean Peninsula in the 4th century.
Seong of Baekje, known as a great patron of
Buddhism in
Korea, built many temples and welcomed priests bringing Buddhist texts directly from India. In 528, Baekje officially adopted Buddhism as its state religion. He sent tribute missions to Liang in 534 and 541, on the second occasion requesting artisans as well as various Buddhist works and a teacher. According to Chinese records, all these requests were granted. A subsequent mission was sent in 549, only to find the Liang capital in the hands of the rebel
Hou Jing, who threw them in prison for lamenting the fall of the capital. He is credited with having sent a mission in 538 to
Japan that brought an image of
Shakyamuni and several sutras to the Japanese court. This has traditionally been considered the official introduction of Buddhism to Japan. An account of this is given in
Gangōji Garan Engi. First supported by the Soga clan, Buddhism rose over the objections of the pro-Shinto
Mononobe, and Buddhism entrenched itself in Japan with the conversion of Prince
Shotoku Taishi. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Western intellectuals such as
Schopenhauer,
Henry David Thoreau,
Max Müller, and
esoteric societies such as the
Theosophical Society of
H.P. Blavatsky,
The Buddhist Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the
Buddhist Society, London spread interest in Buddhism. Writers such as
Hermann Hesse and
Jack Kerouac, in the West, and the
hippie generation of the late 1960s and early 1970s led to a re-discovery of Buddhism. During the 20th and 21st centuries Buddhism has again been propagated by missionaries into the West such as
Ananda Metteyya (
Theravada Buddhism),
Suzuki Daisetsu Teitarō (
Zen Buddhism), the
Dalai Lama and monks including
Lama Surya Das (Tibetan Buddhism).
Tibetan Buddhism has been significantly active and successful in the West since the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959. Today Buddhists make a decent proportion of several countries in the West such as
New Zealand,
Australia,
Canada, the
Netherlands,
France, and the
United States. In Canada, the immense popularity and goodwill ushered in by
Tibet's
Dalai Lama (who has been made honorary Canadian citizen) put Buddhism in a favourable light in the country. Many non-Asian Canadians embraced Buddhism in various traditions and some have become leaders in their respective
sanghas. In the early 1990s, the French Buddhist Union (UBF, founded in 1986) estimated that there are 600,000 to 650,000 Buddhists in France, with 150,000 French converts among them. In 1999, sociologist Frédéric Lenoir estimated there are 10,000 converts and up to five million "sympathizers", although other researchers have questioned these numbers.
Taisen Deshimaru was a Japanese
Zen Buddhist who founded numerous
zendos in France.
Thich Nhat Hanh, a
Nobel Peace Prize-nominated,
Vietnamese-born Zen Buddhist, founded the
Unified Buddhist Church (Eglise Bouddhique Unifiée) in France in 1969. The
Plum Village Monastery in the
Dordogne in southern France was his residence and the headquarters of his international
sangha. , in
La Boulaye,
Saône-et-Loire,
Burgundy In 1968 Leo Boer and Wener van de Wetering founded a
Zen group, and through two books made Zen popular in the Netherlands. The guidance of the group was taken over by Erik Bruijn, who is still in charge of a flourishing community. The largest Zen group now is the Kanzeon Sangha, led by Nico Tydeman under the supervision of the American Zen master
Dennis Genpo Merzel, Roshi, a former student of Maezumi Roshi in Los Angeles. This group has a relatively large centre where a teacher and some students live permanently. Many other groups are also represented in the Netherlands, like the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives in Apeldoorn, the
Thich Nhat Hanh Order of Interbeing and the International Zen Institute Noorderpoort monastery/retreat centre in Drenthe, led by Jiun Hogen Roshi. Perhaps the most widely visible Buddhist leader in the world is
Tenzin Gyatso, the current
Dalai Lama, who first visited the United States in 1979. As the exiled political leader of
Tibet, he has become a popular cause célèbre. His early life was depicted in Hollywood films such as
Kundun and
Seven Years in Tibet. He has attracted celebrity religious followers such as
Richard Gere and
Adam Yauch. The first Western-born Tibetan Buddhist monk was
Robert A. F. Thurman, now an academic supporter of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama maintains a North American headquarters at
Namgyal Monastery in
Ithaca, New York. Lewis M. Hopfe in his "Religions of the World" suggested that "Buddhism is perhaps on the verge of another great missionary outreach" (1987:170).
Christian missions ,
Helsinki,
Finland A
Christian missionary can be defined as "one who is to witness across cultures". to convert the
Native Americans and other indigenous people. About the same time, missionaries such as
Francis Xavier (1506–1552), as well as other
Jesuits, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Dominicans, reached Asia and the
Far East, and the Portuguese sent missions into Africa. Emblematic in many respects is
Matteo Ricci's
Jesuit mission to China from 1582, which is often characterized as peaceful and non-violent. These missionary movements should be distinguished from others, such as the
Baltic Crusades of the 12th and 13th centuries, which were often considered compromised in their motivation by designs of military conquest. , active in the
South Pacific Much contemporary Catholic missionary work has undergone profound change since the
Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965, with an increased push for indigenization and
inculturation, along with
social justice issues as a constitutive part of preaching
the Gospel. As the
Catholic Church normally organizes itself along territorial lines and had the human and material resources, religious orders, some even specializing in it, undertook most missionary work, especially in the era after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West. Over time, the
Holy See gradually established a normalized Church structure in the mission areas, often starting with special jurisdictions known as apostolic prefectures and
apostolic vicariates. At a later stage of development these foundations are raised to regular diocesan status with a local bishop appointed. On a global front, these processes were often accelerated in the later 1960s, in part accompanying political decolonization. In some regions, however, they are still in course. Just as the Bishop of Rome had jurisdiction also in territories later considered to be in the Eastern sphere, so the missionary efforts of the two 9th-century
saints Cyril and Methodius were largely conducted in relation to the West rather than the East, though the field of activity was central Europe. The
Eastern Orthodox Church, under the
Orthodox Church of Constantinople, undertook vigorous missionary work under the
Roman Empire and its successor, the
Byzantine Empire. This had lasting effects and in some sense is at the origin of the present relations of
Constantinople with some sixteen Orthodox national churches, including the
Romanian Orthodox Church, the
Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church, and the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (both traditionally said to have been founded by the missionary Apostle Andrew), and the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church (said to have been founded by the missionary Apostle Paul). The Byzantines expanded their missionary work in Ukraine after the
mass baptism in Kiev in 988. The
Serbian Orthodox Church had its origins in the conversion by Byzantine missionaries of the Serb tribes when they arrived in the Balkans in the 7th century. Orthodox missionaries also worked successfully among the Estonians from the 10th to the 12th centuries, founding the
Estonian Orthodox Church. who were martyred by the
Araucanian Indians in Elicura in 1612 CE Under the
Russian Empire of the 19th century, missionaries such as
Nicholas Ilminsky (1822–1891) moved into the subject lands and propagated Orthodoxy, including through
Belarus,
Latvia,
Moldova,
Finland,
Estonia,
Ukraine, and
China. The Russian
St. Nicholas of Japan (1836–1912) took Eastern Orthodoxy to
Japan in the 19th century. The
Russian Orthodox Church also sent missionaries to
Alaska beginning in the 18th century, including Saint
Herman of Alaska (died 1836), to minister to the
Natives. The
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia continued missionary work outside Russia after the 1917
Russian Revolution, resulting in the establishment of many new dioceses in the
diaspora, from which numerous converts have been made in Eastern Europe, North America, and Oceania. Early
Protestant missionaries included
John Eliot and contemporary ministers, including
John Cotton and Richard Bourne, who ministered to the
Algonquin natives who lived in lands claimed by representatives of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 17th century. Quaker "publishers of truth" visited Boston and other mid-17th-century colonies but were not always well received. The Danish government began the first organized Protestant mission work through its
College of Missions, established in 1714. This funded and directed
Lutheran missionaries such as
Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg in
Tranquebar, India, and
Hans Egede in
Greenland. In 1732, while on a visit in 1732 to
Copenhagen for the coronation of his cousin King
Christian VI, the
Moravian Church's patron Nicolas Ludwig, Count von
Zinzendorf, was very struck by its effects and particularly by two visiting
Inuit children converted by
Hans Egede. He also got to know a slave from the
Danish colony in the
West Indies. When he returned to
Herrnhut in
Saxony, he inspired the inhabitants of the villageit had fewer than thirty houses thento send out "messengers" to the slaves in the West Indies and to the
Moravian missions in Greenland. Within thirty years, Moravian missionaries had become active on every continent, and this at a time when there were fewer than three hundred people in Herrnhut. They are famous for their selfless work, living as slaves among the slaves and together with
Native Americans, including the
Lenape and
Cherokee Indian tribes. Today, the work in the former mission provinces of the worldwide Moravian Church is carried on by native workers. The fastest-growing area of the work is in
Tanzania in Eastern Africa. The Moravian work in
South Africa inspired
William Carey and the founders of the British
Baptist missions. , seven of every ten Moravians live in a former mission field and belong to a race other than Caucasian. Much
Anglican mission work came about under the auspices of the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG, founded in 1701), the
Church Missionary Society (CMS, founded in 1799), and the
Intercontinental Church Society (formerly the Commonwealth and Continental Church Society, originating in 1823).
Modern at
La Christianita Canyon going to the
Apache With a dramatic increase in efforts since the 20th century, and a strong push since the
Lausanne I: The International Congress on World Evangelization in Switzerland in 1974, modern evangelical groups have focused efforts on sending missionaries to every ethnic group in the world. While this effort has not been completed, increased attention has brought larger numbers of people distributing
Bibles,
Jesus videos, and establishing
evangelical churches in more remote areas. Internationally, the focus for many years in the later 20th century was on reaching every "people group" with
Christianity by 2000. Bill Bright's leadership with Campus Crusade, the Southern Baptist
International Mission Board, The Joshua Project, and others brought about the need to know who these "
unreached people groups" are and how those wanting to tell about the Christian God and share a
Christian Bible could reach them. The focus for these organizations transitioned from a "country focus" to a "people group focus". (From "What is a People Group?" by Dr. Orville Boyd Jenkins: A "people group" is an ethnolinguistic group with a common self-identity that is shared by the various members. There are two parts to that word: ethno and linguistic. Language is a primary and dominant identifying factor of a people group. But there are other factors that determine or are associated with ethnicity.) , c. 1797 What can be viewed as a success by those inside and outside the church from this focus is a higher level of cooperation and friendliness among churches and denominations. It is very common for those working on international fields to not only cooperate in efforts to share their
gospel message, but view the work of their groups in a similar light. Also, with the increased study and awareness of different people groups, western mission efforts have become far more sensitive to the cultural nuances of those they are going to and those they are working with in the effort. Over the years, as indigenous churches have matured, the church of the
Global South (Africa, Asia, and Latin America) has become the driving force in missions. Korean and African missionaries can now be found all over the world. These missionaries represent a major shift in church history where the nations they came from were not historically Christian. Another major shift in the form of modern missionary work takes shape in the conflation of spiritual with contemporary military metaphors and practices. Missionary work as
spiritual warfare (Ephesians, Chapter 6) weapons of a spiritual sense, is the primary concept in a long-standing relationship between Christian missions and militarization. Though when the Church establishes a governance, usually this results in a formation of a national or regional military. (Romans, Chapter 13) Despite the seeming opposition between the submissive and morally upstanding associations with prayer and violence associated with militarism, these two spheres interact in a dialectical way. Yet they when properly implemented they are entangled to support one another in the upholding of a civilizations morality and the prosecution and punishment of criminals. In some cases a nations military may fail to operate according to Godly principles and is not supported by the Church or missionaries, in other cases the military is made up of the Church congregants. The results of spiritual conflict are then present in different ways as prayer can be strategically used, for or against a military. Nigeria, and other countries have had large numbers of their Christian adherents go to other countries and start churches. These non-western missionaries often have unparalleled success; because, they need few western resources and comforts to sustain their livelihood while doing the work they have chosen among a new culture and people. preaching from a wagon One of the first large-scale missionary endeavors of the British colonial age was the
Baptist Missionary Society, founded in 1792 as the Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel Amongst the Heathen. The
London Missionary Society was an
evangelical organisation, bringing together from its inception both
Anglicans and
Nonconformists; it was founded in England in 1795 with missions in Africa and the islands of the South Pacific. The
Colonial Missionary Society was created in 1836, and directed its efforts towards promoting
Congregationalist forms of
Christianity among "British or other European settlers" rather than indigenous peoples. Both of these merged in 1966, and the resultant organisation is now known as the
Council for World Mission. The
Church Mission Society, first known as the Society for Missions to Africa and the East, was founded in 1799 by evangelical Anglicans centred around the
anti-slavery activist
William Wilberforce. It bent its efforts to the
Coptic Church, the
Ethiopian Church, and India, especially
Kerala; it continues to this day. Many of the
network of churches they established became the
Anglican Communion. In 1809, the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews was founded, which pioneered mission amongst the Jewish people; it continues today as the
Church's Ministry Among Jewish People. In 1865, the
China Inland Mission was founded, going well beyond British controlled areas; it continues as the OMF, working throughout
East Asia.
Maryknoll In Montreal in 1910,
Father James Anthony Walsh, a priest from Boston, met
Father Thomas Frederick Price, from North Carolina. They agreed on the need to build a seminary for the training of young American men for the foreign Missions. Countering arguments that the Church needed workers here, Fathers Walsh and Price insisted the Church would not flourish until it sent missioners overseas. Independently, the men had written extensively about the concept, Father Price in his magazine
Truth, and Father Walsh in the pages of
A Field Afar, an early incarnation of
Maryknoll Magazine. Winning the approval of the American hierarchy, the two priests traveled to Rome in June 1911 to receive final approval from
Pope Pius X for the formation of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, now better known as the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.
Latter Day Saints of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has an active
missionary program. Young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five are encouraged to prepare themselves to serve a two-year, self-funded, full-time proselytizing mission. Young women who desire to serve as missionaries can serve starting at the age of eighteen, for one and a half years. Retired couples also have the option of serving a mission. Missionaries typically spend two weeks in a
Missionary Training Center (or two to three months for those learning a new language) where they study the scriptures, learn new languages when applicable, prepare themselves to teach the
Gospel of
Jesus Christ, and learn more about the culture and the people they live among. As of December 2019, the LDS Church had over 67,000 full-time missionaries worldwide and over 31,000 Service Missionaries.
Hindu missions Hinduism was introduced into
Java by travellers from India in ancient times. Several centuries ago, many Hindus left Java for
Bali rather than convert to
Islam. Hinduism has survived in Bali ever since.
Dang Hyang Nirartha was responsible for facilitating a refashioning of
Balinese Hinduism. He was an important promoter of the idea of moksha in Indonesia. He founded the Shaivite priesthood that is now ubiquitous in Bali, and is now regarded as the ancestor of all Shaivite pandits.
Shantidas Adhikari was a
Hindu preacher from
Sylhet who converted King
Pamheiba of
Manipur to Hinduism in 1717. Historically, Hinduism has only recently had a large influence in western countries such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada. Since the 1960s, many westerners attracted by the world view presented in Asian religious systems have converted to Hinduism. Many native-born Canadians of various ethnicities have converted during the last 50 years through the actions of the
Ramakrishna Mission,
ISKCON,
Arya Samaj and other missionary organizations as well as due to the visits and guidance of Indian gurus such as Guru Maharaj,
Sai Baba, and
Rajneesh. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has a presence in New Zealand, running temples in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch.
Paramahansa Yogananda, an Indian
yogi and
guru, introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and
Kriya Yoga through his book,
Autobiography of a Yogi.
Swami Vivekananda, the founder of the Ramakrishna Mission is one of the greatest Hindu missionaries to the West.
Ananda Marga missions Ānanda Mārga,
organizationally known as Ānanda Mārga Pracaraka Samgha (AMPS), meaning the
samgha (organization) for the
propagation of the
marga (path) of
ananda (bliss), is a
social and
spiritual movement founded in
Jamalpur,
Bihar,
India, in 1955 by
Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (1921–1990), also known by his spiritual
name, Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti. Ananda Marga counts hundreds of
missions around the world through which its members carry out various forms of selfless service on Relief. (The social welfare and development organization under AMPS is Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team, or AMURT.) Education and women's welfare The service activities of this section founded in 1963 are focused on: • Education: creating and managing primary, post-primary, and higher
schools, research institutes • Relief: creating and managing children's and students' homes for destitute children and for poor students, cheap hostels, retiring homes, academies of light for deaf dumb and crippled, invalid homes, refugee rehabilitation • Tribal: tribal welfare units, medical camps • Women's welfare: women welfare units, women's homes, nursing homes
Islamic missions ,
Sa-Ke-Zu and Wu-Ko-Shun at Mount Lingshan,
Quanzhou Dawah means to "invite" (in Arabic, literally "calling") to
Islam, which is the second largest religion with 2.0 billion members. From the 7th century, it spread rapidly from the
Arabian Peninsula to the rest of the world through the initial
Muslim conquests and subsequently with traders and explorers after the death of
Muhammad. Initially, the spread of Islam came through the Dawah efforts of Muhammad and his followers. After his death in 632 CE, much of the expansion of the empire came through conquest such as that of North Africa and later Iberia (
Al-Andalus). The
Islamic conquest of Persia put an end to the
Sassanid Empire and spread the reach of Islam to as far east as
Khorasan, which would later become the cradle of Islamic civilization during the
Islamic Golden Age (622–1258 CE) and a stepping-stone towards the introduction of Islam to the
Turkic tribes living in and bordering the area. The missionary movement peaked during the
Islamic Golden Age, with the expansion of foreign trade routes, primarily into the
Indo-Pacific and as far south as the isle of
Zanzibar as well as the Southeastern shores of Africa. With the coming of the
Sufism tradition, Islamic missionary activities increased. Later, the
Seljuk Turks' conquest of
Anatolia made it easier for missionaries to go lands that formerly belonged to the
Byzantine Empire. In the earlier stages of the
Ottoman Empire, a
Turkic form of
Shamanism was still widely practiced in Anatolia, but soon lost ground to
Sufism. During the
Ottoman presence in the
Balkans, missionary movements were taken up by people from aristocratic families hailing from the region, who had been educated in
Constantinople or other major city within the Empire such as the famed
madrassahs and
kulliyes. Primarily, individuals were sent back to the place of their origin and were appointed important positions in the local governing body. This approach often resulted in the building of mosques and local
kulliyes for future generations to benefit from, as well as spreading the teachings of Islam. 's mosque in
Oslo, Norway The spread of Islam towards
Central and West Africa had until the early 19th century been consistent but slow. Previously, the only connection was through Trans-Saharan trade routes. The
Mali Empire, consisting predominantly of African and Berber tribes, stands as a strong example of the early Islamic conversion of the Sub-Saharan region. The gateways prominently expanded to include the aforementioned trade routes through the Eastern shores of the African continent. With the
European colonization of Africa, missionaries were almost in competition with the European Christian missionaries operating in the colonies. There is evidence of Arab Muslim traders entering Indonesia as early as the 8th century. Indonesia's early people were animists, Hindus, and Buddhists. However it was not until the end of the 13th century that the process of
Islamization began to spread throughout the areas local communities and port towns. one of the official languages of Malawi, and has engaged in other missionary work in the country. All of the major cities in the country have mosques and there are several Islamic schools. Several
South African,
Kuwaiti, and other Muslim agencies are active in Mozambique, with one important one being the African Muslim Agency. The spread of Islam into West Africa, beginning with ancient
Ghana in the 9th century, was mainly the result of the commercial activities of North African Muslims. The empires of both
Mali and
Songhai that followed ancient Ghana in the Western Sudan adopted the religion. Islam made its entry into the northern territories of modern Ghana around the 15th century.
Mande speakers (who in Ghana are known as
Wangara) traders and clerics carried the religion into the area. The northeastern sector of the country was also influenced by an influx of
Hausa Muslim traders from the 16th century onwards Islamic influence first occurred in India in the early 7th century with the advent of Arab traders. Trade relations have existed between Arabia and the
Indian subcontinent from ancient times. Even in the
pre-Islamic era, Arab traders used to visit the
Malabar region, which linked them with the ports of
Southeast Asia. According to Historians Elliot and Dowson in their book
The History of India as told by its own Historians, the first ship bearing Muslim travelers was seen on the Indian coast as early as 630 CE H. G. Rawlinson, in his book:
Ancient and Medieval History of India claims the first
Arab Muslims settled on the Indian coast in the last part of the 7th century. Shaykh Zainuddin Makhdum's "Tuhfat al-Mujahidin" also is a reliable work. This fact is corroborated, by J. Sturrock in his
South Kanara and Madras Districts Manuals, and also by Haridas Bhattacharya in
Cultural Heritage of India Vol. IV. It was with the advent of Islam that the Arabs became a prominent cultural force in the world. The Arab merchants and traders became the carriers of the new religion, and they propagated it wherever they went. Islam in Bulgaria can be traced back to the mid-ninth century when there were Islamic missionaries in Bulgaria, evidenced by a letter from Pope Nicholas to
Boris of Bulgaria calling for the extirpation of Saracens. Pioneer Muslim missionaries to the Kenyan interior were largely
Tanganyikan, who coupled their missionary work with trade, along the centres began along the railway line such as
Kibwezi,
Makindu, and
Nairobi. Outstanding among them was Maalim Mtondo
Islam in Kenya, a Tanganyikan credited with being the first Muslim missionary to Nairobi. Reaching Nairobi at the close of the 19th century, he led a group of other Muslims, and enthusiastic missionaries from the coast to establish a "Swahili village" in present-day
Pumwani. A small mosque was built to serve as a starting point and he began preaching Islam in earnest. He soon attracted several
Kikuyus and Wakambas, who became his disciples. In 1380,
Karim ul' Makhdum the first Arabian
Islamic missionary reached the
Sulu Archipelago and
Jolo in the Philippines and established Islam in the country. In 1390, the
Minangkabau's Prince
Rajah Baguinda and his followers preached Islam on the islands. The
Sheik Karimal Makdum Mosque was the first mosque established in the Philippines on
Simunul in
Mindanao in the 14th century. Subsequent settlements by Arab missionaries traveling to
Malaysia and
Indonesia helped strengthen Islam in the Philippines and each settlement was governed by a
Datu,
Rajah, and a
Sultan. Islamic provinces founded in the Philippines included the
Sultanate of Maguindanao,
Sultanate of Sulu, and other parts of the southern Philippines. Modern missionary work in the United States has increased greatly in the last one hundred years, with much of the recent demographic growth driven by conversion. Up to one-third of American Muslims are
African Americans who have converted to Islam during the last seventy years.
Conversion to Islam in prisons, and in large
urban areas has also contributed to Islam's growth over the years. An estimated US$45 billion has been spent by the Saudi Arabian government financing mosques and Islamic schools in foreign countries.
Ain al-Yaqeen, a Saudi newspaper, reported in 2002 that Saudi funds may have contributed to building as many as 1,500 mosques and 2,000 other Islamic centers.
Early Islamic missionaries during Muhammad's era During the
Expedition of Al Raji in 625, the Islamic Prophet
Muhammad sent some men as missionaries to various different tribes. Some men came to Muhammad and requested that Muhammad send instructors to teach them Islam, 8 Muslim Missionaires were killed in this expedition., Then during the
Expedition of Bir Maona in July 625 Muhammad sent some Missionaries at request of some men from the Banu Amir tribe, but the Muslims were again killed as revenge for the
assassination of Khalid bin Sufyan by Muhammad's followers Muhammad sent Khalid ibn Walid to invite the Banu Jadhimah tribe to Islam. This is mentioned in the Sunni Hadith .
Ahmadiyya Islam missions Missionaries belonging to the
Ahmadiyya thought of Islam often study at International Islamic seminaries and educational institutions, known as
Jamia Ahmadiyya. Upon completion of their degrees, they are sent to various parts of the world including South America, Africa, North America, Europe, and the Far East as appointed by
Mirza Masroor Ahmad, present head and
Caliph of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Jamia students may be appointed by the Caliph either as Missionaries of the community (often called Murrabi, Imam, or Mawlana) or as Qadis or Muftis of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community with a specialisation in matters of fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence). Some Jamia alumni have also become Islamic historians such as the late Dost Muhammad Shahid, former Official Historian of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, with a specialisation in tarikh (Islamic historiography). Missionaries stay with their careers as appointed by the Caliph for the rest of their lives, as per their commitment to the community.
Jain missions According to
Jaina tradition, Mahavira's following had swelled to 14,000 monks and 36,000 nuns by the time of his death in 527 BCE For some two centuries the Jains remained a small community of monks and followers. However, in the 4th century BCE, they gained strength and spread from
Bihar to
Orissa, then so
South India and westwards to
Gujarat and the
Punjab, where
Jain communities became firmly established, particularly among the mercantile classes. The period of the
Mauryan dynasty to the 12th century was the period of Jainism's greatest growth and influence. Thereafter, the Jainas in the South and Central regions lost ground in face of rising Hindu devotional movements. Jainism retreated to the West and Northwest, which have remained its stronghold to the present. Emperor
Samprati is regarded as the "Jain Ashoka" for his patronage and efforts to spreading Jainism in east India. Samprati, according to Jain historians, is considered more powerful and famous than Ashoka himself. Samprati built thousands of
Jain Temples in India, many of which remain in use, such as the Jain temples at
Viramgam and
Palitana (Gujarat),
Agar Malwa (
Ujjain). Within three and a half years, he got one hundred and twenty-five thousand new temples built, thirty-six thousand repaired, twelve and a half million murtis, holy statues, consecrated and ninety-five thousand metal
murtis prepared. Samprati is said to have erected Jain temples throughout his empire. He founded Jain monasteries even in non-Aryan territory, and almost all ancient Jain temples or monuments of unknown origin are popularly attributed to him. It may be noted that all the Jain monuments of
Rajasthan and Gujarat, with unknown builders are also attributed to Emperor Samprati.
Virachand Gandhi (1864–1901) from
Mahuva represented Jains at the first
Parliament of the World's Religions in
Chicago in 1893 and won a silver medal. Gandhi was most likely the first Jain and the first Gujarati to travel to the United States, and his statue still stands at the Jain temple in Chicago. In his time he was a world-famous personality. Gandhi represented Jains in Chicago because the Great Jain Saint Param Pujya Acharya
Vijayanandsuri, also known as Acharya Atmaram, was invited to represent the Jain religion at the first
World Parliament of Religions. As Jain monks do not travel overseas, he recommended the bright young scholar Virchand Gandhi to be the emissary for the religion. Today there are 100,000 Jains in the United States. There are also tens of thousands of Jains located in the UK and Canada.
Judaism Historically, various Jewish sects and movements have been consistent in avoiding or even forbidding
proselytization (religion-to-religion conversion propaganda) to convert
gentiles (
non-Jews). They believe that gentiles do not need to convert to Judaism, due to
Abrahamic religions being already under the
Seven Laws of Noah.
Chabad Lubavitch has a sub-sect that has engaged in an effort to spread
Noahidism (
Seven Laws of Noah) among non-Jews who follow none of the existing
Abrahamic religions.
Orthodox Judaism outreach (
kiruv) encourages non-practicing
Jews to become more knowledgeable and observant of
halakha (Jewish law). Outreach is done worldwide, by organizations such as
Chabad Lubavitch,
Aish HaTorah,
Ohr Somayach, and
Partners In Torah. Members of
Reform Judaism began a program to convert to their brand of Judaism the non-Jewish spouses of its
intermarried members and non-Jews who have an interest in Reform Judaism. Their rationale is that so many Jews were lost during
the Holocaust that newcomers must be sought out and welcomed. This approach has been rejected by both
Orthodox Judaism and
Conservative Judaism as unrealistic and posing a danger on the entire
Jewish faith.
Sikh missions According to
Sikhs, when he was twenty-eight,
Guru Nanak went as usual down to the river to bathe and
meditate. It was said that he was gone for three days. When he reappeared, it is said he was "filled with the spirit of God". His first words after his re-emergence were: "there is no Hindu, there is no Muslim". With this
secular principle he began his missionary work. He made four distinct major journeys, in the four different directions, which are called
Udasis, spanning many thousands of kilometres, preaching the message of God. Currently there are
gurdwaras in over 50 countries. Of missionary organizations, the most famous is probably
The Sikh Missionary Society UK. The aim of the Sikh Missionary Society is the
Advancement of the Sikh faith in the U.K. and abroad, engages in various activities: • Produce and distribute books on the Sikh faith in English and Panjabi, and other languages to enlighten the younger generation of Sikhs as well as non-Sikhs. • Advise and support young students in schools, colleges, and universities on Sikh issues and Sikh traditions. • Arrange classes, lectures, seminars, conferences, Gurmat camps and the celebration of holy Sikh events, the basis of their achievement and interest in the field of the Sikh faith and the
Panjabi language. • Make available all Sikh artifacts, posters, literature, music, educational videos, DVDs, and multimedia CD-ROMs. There have been several Sikh missionaries: •
Bhai Gurdas (1551–1636),
Punjabi Sikh writer, historian, missionary, and religious figure; the original scribe of the
Guru Granth Sahib and a companion of four of the
Sikh Gurus •
Giani Pritam Singh Dhillon,
Indian freedom fighter •
Bhai Amrik Singh, devoted much of his life to Sikh missionary activities; one of the Sikh community's most prominent leaders along with
Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale •
Jathedar Sadhu Singh Bhaura (1905–1984), Sikh missionary who rose to be the
Jathedar or high priest of Sri
Akal Takhat,
Amritsar Sikhs have emigrated to many countries of the world since
Indian independence in 1947. Sikh communities exist in Britain, East Africa, Canada, the United States, Malaysia, and most European countries.
Tenrikyo missions Tenrikyo conducts missionary work in approximately forty countries. Its first missionary was a woman named Kokan who worked on the streets of Osaka. In 2003, it operated approximately twenty thousand mission stations worldwide. == Criticism ==