Group Of Young Boys Studying In A Bilal Mosque Madrassa, Mysore, India, 2008 (photo)

Islam is the second-most practiced religion in India after Hinduism, with more than 13,4% of the country's population, that is over 160 million persons in 2009, Indian Muslim is the country's largest minority group; it is also the world’s third largest Muslim community in the world and the world's largest Muslim-minority population; Muslims represent the majority in Jammu, Kashmir and Lakshadweep, and high concentrations in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, and Kerala; Islam came to India with the Arab merchants and traders on the Malabar Coast in the 7th century; Sunni Islam is practised by nearly 80% of Indian Muslims; there are around 30,000 operating madrasahs, the majority of these schools follow the Hanafi school of thought, the religious establishment forms part of the mainly two large divisions within the country, namely the Deobandis and the Barelvis, government surveys show that Muslims live shorter, poorer and unhealthier lives than Hindus and are often excluded from the better jobs, that sense of injustice is at the root of Muslim identity today and lots of tensions and social unrest in India