Religion still dominates the ethos of a human being. It remains a driving force in everyday life. Presently the Catholic faith is the most preferred in the world, with the Sunni form of Islam coming second.

The Pew research centre is a non-partisan foundation that carries out research and polls and brings forth its findings in the form of a report, complete with statistical data. The research centre was started in 2004 and is based in Washington. It has earned a name for accurate and unbiased reports.

The Pew centre has published its latest report on religions and their growth. The centre has after due analysis of available data and trends concluded that by 2050, Islam will overtake Christianity as the biggest religion in the world. It also forcasts that Hinduism will decline by 2 percentage points in the over all scenario. It clearly states as per available, data, that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. It also brings out the unsavory fact that both Buddhism and Hinduism are declining in appeal. The Pew centre does not go into reasons and only publishes cold facts. It is for social scientists to analyse and interpret the data.

One can understand the decline in Hinduism. One reason is the rigidty of caste, a phenomenon that does not exist in any other religion. This lowers the esteem value of Hinduism and unlikely to attract new adherents. In fact a sizeable number of lower caste Hindus will be happy to convert to any other religion. One can recollect that Dr Ambedkar and millions of his followers converted to Buddhism in one stroke.

Christainity is growing, but its appeal appears limited. It is also a liberal religion and loses out against the fanatical zeal of Islam. Buddhism of ofcourse is too pacifist in approach and also has a monk structure that does not appeal to a new convert. The fact is that both Buddhism and Hinduism are in a declining mode.

Islam is the religion of the 21st century as Christianity was the religion of the 19th and 20th century. It has tremendous appeal and is a classless society. Its puritan approach has a appeal and thought of Mohammed as Messanger of God has tremendous motivation. The Islamic concept of paradise and promise of 72 virgins to the true believers has its own charm.

One fact that stands out from the figures published by the Pew Centre is that in due course of time Islam will dominate the world. That is a sobering thought.