Freed from European colonial tutelage and representing almost a billion souls, grouped in approximately forty states, the Muslims have entered the international scene without really having any other choice but to imitate the existing institutions, or to accept provisions in which they, historically speaking, have had no participation. Nevertheless, the process of modernization has not lured the Muslims away from the remembrance of a glorious heritage. On the contrary, wherever the movement of Westernization has been too brutal, it has run into a religious challenge.