An even more important area of misunderstanding lies in the basic assumptions about religion that the Western world and the Islamic world make. Because of the West's negative experience with religion, an alternate ideology known as secular-humanism had to be established to allow science, rationalism and free thought to flourish. Islamic civilization, in contrast, never impeded science nor the development of human thought, so a break between secular values and religious ones never occurred. Muslims live in every country and region on earth from Norway to Malaysia and Morocco to Mexico. Muslims form a large percentage of the population in Russia, China, India, and Eastern Europe.
Some Islamic lands are Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Malaysia, Egypt and Nigeria.
Arab Muslims form a small minority of the worldwide Muslim population. There are nearly six million Muslims in North America alone. That's more than the population of some states such as Alaska, Nevada and Rhode Island. As a consequence of making this statement sincerely, everything an individual did that was wrong or unethical in his life up to that point, is forgiven by God, no matter what it was. From that moment onwards, the slate is cleared and you begin life again as a new person.