Originally, the term "minorities" was not found in the Muslim lexicon for a long period because Islam does not recognize fragmentation represented by the geographical borders between countries, which were drawn by colonialism and given a beautiful guise for acceptance. These borders led to the emergence of minorities in Western societies and other communities.

If we want to examine the origins in detail, we will find that the historical emergence of various Muslim minorities in the current era occurred through one of these ways:

1. Conversion to Islam**: Some Muslim minorities were formed in certain regions when some of the inhabitants converted to Islam.
2. Migration of Muslims to Non-Muslim Lands**: This migration could be due to political, economic, social, or other reasons, as seen today in the formation of Muslim minorities in Europe, the West, and other continents.
3. Occupation of Muslim Lands by a Non-Muslim State**: The occupying state may try to expel the original inhabitants through various methods or force these Muslims to integrate with the population of the occupying country, as happened in Eastern Europe, India, and Palestine.

Historical experiences over the ages indicate that a Muslim minority in a state can form through more than one of these aforementioned methods, such as through both migration and conversion to Islam.

Notably, the story of the emergence of Muslim minorities, particularly in the West, began with the fall of Granada. The Islamic presence receded from the majority of Western Europe, and after the rise of the Ottoman Empire and its westward expansions, a Muslim population settled in the eastern and southern parts, which still exists today, such as in Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia. There are also Muslim populations in areas of East and West Asia and Southwest Asia.

When Arab and Muslim workers residing in Europe were allowed to bring their families and granted citizenship to their children born on European soil, waves of migration from all over the Islamic and Arab worlds to European countries ensued. Since then, Muslim communities have grown to millions, having been in the tens of thousands at best at the beginning of the 20th century.