In America, people are allowed to worship who they want, and believe in what they choose. The Middle East supports three major religions; Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Some practices of the Alevis are based on Sufi elements of the Bektashi[48] tariqa.[52][53]. The Armenian Genocide during and after World War I drastically reduced the once sizeable Armenian population. [65], Some countries (Iraq, Tunisia) surveyed had 0% of respondents identifying as atheists. Today the Samaritan community has grown to about 800 persons from as few as 150 in the early 20th century. Most of the people in the Middle East practice Islam. With the nuclear program developing in Iran and much conflict after September 22, 2001, Iran and the Islamic Republic are at a crossroads.[75]. The 3 main religions in the Middle East ( Christianity ) STUDY. Research indicates that close to 94% of Middle East's population belonged to Islam. Answer this question. [60] Most live in Iraq but also 70,000 in Syria. AND RELIGIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST a graduate class project of Fairleigh Dickinson Universit y by Alexandra Acosta Amanuel Ajawin Anwar Al-Barout Ahmed Al-Muharraqi Waleed Al-Shahari Jaime Buenahora Eve Burnett Pilar Bustamante ... family as the main economic unit of society led in turn to the creation of the administrators who oversaw the city’s output and managed the surplus. The religious site in the country, the Hala Sultan Tekke, serves as a pilgrimage site for both Christians and Muslims. Many came due to the migration of Indians and Nepalese expatriates and employees to the oil-rich states around the Persian Gulf. Protestant converts number around 400,000. They occasionally avoid an Arabic identity in favour of a pre-Arab Phoenician-Canaanite heritage. Although these two sects agree on the fundamentals of Islam and the teachings of the Quran, they are in conflict about who would lead the Muslim community after Muhammad's death. [72] It is illegal to practice any other religion than Islam in Saudi Arabia. Another current religious tension in Egypt is the role of the Muslim Brotherhood, founded by Hassan al-Banna in Egypt. Apart from being the largest religion in the Middle East, it is also one of the largest religions in the world. [13] The number of Armenians in Turkey is disputed having a wide range of estimations. [63] It is ultimately up to the individual to decide which deity they will follow. Islam has over one billion followers of the, Introduction: Today we will be assessing each religion and comparing them to one another. [citation needed] Hindus, adherents of folk religions and Buddhists are expected to experience the greatest growth as a percentage of their modest 2010 counts[citation needed]. Buddhist adherents make up just over 0.3% of the total population of the Middle East. Please tell us about your … [68][69] Want to know the number and percentage of religions in The Middle East and North Africa. The most, explored the culture of the Middle East because I find it very interesting and different from my own. A Pew survey found 63% of Egyptian Muslims favored the death penalty for those who leave the religion of Islam. Also, ALL 3 religions were born in the Middle East! Today Judaism in the Middle East is mostly practiced in Israel. Although Buddhism has had a presence in the Middle East for over 1000 years, it has recently[when?] [76], Religion in Jordan is represented by 92% Muslim (Sunni), 6% Christian (mostly Greek Orthodox), and 2% other. [70], Sikhism, the fifth-largest organized religion in the world after Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, having over 25 million Sikhs worldwide, has a small presence in the Middle East too, mainly in the U.A.E, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iran. Arabic-speaking Lebanese Maronites number some 1.1–1.2 million across the Middle East. (met NL ondertiteling)", http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/?MIval=cw_usr_view_SHTML&ID=705, "WIN-Gallup International 'Religiosity and Atheism Index' reveals atheists are a small minority in the early years of 21st century", "Egypt's atheists number 866 – precisely", "Conversions From Islam in Europe and Beyond", "Hindu temples of Gulf countries: more exist than you imagined", "Religion Statistics - Top 10 Organized Religions", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Religion_in_the_Middle_East&oldid=991675039, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2020, All articles with vague or ambiguous time, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2015, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 1 December 2020, at 07:18. In Iraq numbers of indigenous Assyrians has declined to somewhere between 500,000 and 800,000 (from 0.8–1.4 million before 2003 US invasion) or 6% of the population of 23 million.[11]. Abraham’s intimacy with God is similar to the intimacy between Odysseus and the Greek goddess Athena. [61] Now, however, it is considered one of the smallest religions with only 190,000 followers worldwide. While it’s thought of as an Islamic region, the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church is a significant part of the region, for example. Developing from Isma'ilite teachings, Druze incorporates Jewish, Christian, Gnostic, Neoplatonic and Iranian elements.[56]. Religions in the Middle East, credit: Offiziere.ch Sunni Muslims make up the majority, while Shias are the majority in Iran, Azerbaijan and Iraq, whilst also found in Yemen, Egypt, KSA, Afghanistan and Lebanon. Devoted followers of Christ. [39] They emerged in the eighth century out of Shi'a Islam. Judaism began in an ancient country called Canaan. All three have a tie to Jerusalem as a Holy City. In the Middle East, support for suicide bombing is highest in the Palestinian territories, where 46% of Muslims say that it is often or sometimes justified in order to defend Islam. 2% are Jewish. A small number of engineers, company directors, and managers from Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea have also moved to the Middle East. Islam is the major religion in North Africa, West Africa the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of the Indian subcontinent, and it is the religion of the state, enshrined in the constitution of several Middle Eastern countries. Christian communities are centred in the major urban areas of Muscat, Sohar and Salalah. Christians now make up 5% of the population, down from 20% in the early 20th century. many from countries and regions that have large Buddhist populations, such as China, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. Sinai. What is the main religion of the Middle East. [77], Religion in Saudi Arabia is allegedly 100% Muslim. Christianity originated in the region in the 1st century AD, and was one of the major religions of the region until the Muslim conquests of the mid-to-late 7th century AD. Middle East considers one of the most studied areas in the world due to its rich history of politics, social, economic, and its culture and civilization. Each of the three main religions is incredibly attached to this city and claim it as their own. This is the foundation of uniqueness of Lebanon and the source of much of its conflicts; and while changes have been made to attempt to make parliamentary representation more even, many are still urging for reform and change. There are currently several million Christian foreign workers in the Gulf area, mostly from the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Religion in Turkey is represented by 99.8% Muslim (mostly Sunni and approximately 20% are Alevi), and 0.2% other (mostly Christians and Jews). Samaritanism is a closely affiliated religion with Judaism, practiced by the ethnoreligious Samaritan community, largely residing in Israel. Lebanon has a confessional political system in which, regardless of political parties, the President is always Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim, and the Speaker of the Parliament a Shi’ite Muslim, and the Deputy Prime Minister Greek Orthodox Christian. [61] It was also one of the most powerful religions in the world for about 1000 years. According to Christians, the son of God whose life and teachings provide the basis for the Christian religion. The previous laws disallowing the Hijab, religious headscarf, in schools and public places has been a huge source of contention. It’s heritage traces back to God giving his commandments to Moses on Mt. In the modern era, … For the current candidates for the presidency, more than one is likely to be affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. PLAY. Our understanding of people and events in the Middle East requires familiarity with classical Islamic texts and history, as well as knowledge of the region’s more recent history, especially the last one hundred years with the … The Middle East is at the center of everything, and is home to many ethnic groups which don't always get along. Religious Holidays of the Middle East. Representation ranges from 100,000 in Israel to 700,000 in Syria. [63], According to a 2012 WIN-Gallup International ‘Religiosity and Atheism Index’, atheists are a small minority in the Middle East with only 2% of those surveyed in the Arab World identifying themselves as "committed atheists". There are three major religious based out of the middle east, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The short and somewhat unnuanced answer is that Judaism came from the area today known as Israel. Volunteer efforts are welcome. Judaism (followed later by Christianity and Islām) traces “the Religion” back to Abraham, who had personal and direct relations with God, as was customary in the ancient Middle Eastern milieu. 90% of the population in the Middle East practice Islam. Syrian Orthodox number about 1 million in Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, with the great majority being in Syria. [49] Alevis have some links with Twelver Shia Islam (such as importance of the Ahl al-Bayt, the day of Ashura, the Mourning of Muharram, commemorating Karbala), but do not follow taqlid towards a Marja' "source of emulation". Disciples. Free e-mail watchdog. These Sunni groups often dissent through violence targeted at government, Western or non-Muslims that threat the Muslim nation, Shiites, and sometimes generally directed against moral corruption. The spread of Islam is closely linked with the history of the Middle East as the converts established some caliphates with their own laws based on Islamic law. Israel represents the religious Holy Land for Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Baha'is. Even though all these religions are monotheistic, they are far from the same, in many different ways. The Islamic Revolution replaced an old-world monarchy with a theocracy based on the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist (Velayat-e Faqih) where a Shia cleric (faqih) is the ruler, though there are also competitive elections of candidates approved by another clerical body. [60] They do not see themselves as descendent from Adam and maintain complete segregation from the rest of the population (5). [72] There was much religious oppression and executions of members of the Baháʼí Faith. [54] There are few other countries in the Middle East with significant Jewish populations, but the communities are small and scattered. Around 1.5% of the population of Cyprus are Roman Catholics and 1% are members of the Church of England. Islam is the second most followed religion in the country with the majority of the Turkish Cypriots identifying themselves as Sunni Muslims. Many of these Buddhists are workers who have migrated from other parts of Asia to the Middle East in the last 20 years,[when?] Many conflicts between the two communities have occurred. [72] As of 2013, the Israeli "Government - Christians Forum" was formed under the umbrella of the Ministry of Public Security, by Dr. Mordehcai Zaken, head of the Minorities Affairs Desk, to address and promote the concerns of Christian leaders and representative in their interactions with the State. The Brotherhood is however unpopular among the majority of Egyptians on account of its fundamentalist views, its clampdown on tourism and its desire to impose Sharia law on the nation. [75] This is a mix of republicanism and religion where that would use religion to rule for elective and democratic institutions; it was to be a blend of liberalism and religious injunctions (abs). Religion in Yemen is represented by a majority of Islam (including Sunni and Shiite), small numbers of Jewish, Baháʼí, Christian, and Hindu. Today, Alawites represent 11 percent of the Syrian population and are a significant minority in Turkey and northern Lebanon. The majority of the Muslims are Sunni, followed by Shi'a. The pre-Christian people – now commonly referenced as 'pagans' – had no such label for themselves. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are often referred to as "sister religions" because they are closely related. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism believe that their sacred texts (or scriptures) are the "Word of God." % of population’s religious beliefs in SW Asia Sales Muslim Christian … [71], Religion in Egypt consists of Islam (mostly Sunni Muslim) 80-90%, Coptic Christians 10-20% and Other Christians 1%. There is still tension, however, between the Sunnis and the Shias. Since the 1950s because of growing antisemitism, most of these Jews fled to Israel where they make up the majority of Israel's Jewish population and roughly a third of total world Jewry. The prophet and founder of Islam was Muhammad, who lived from 570 to 632 in what is today Saudi Arabia. Age, founder, population of believers, culture of origin, documentation, and differing views on the Messiah all factor in determining the differences and similarities between these, "This is my simple religion. These are the main findings of a new Pew Research Center survey conducted among 14,244 respondents in 14 countries with significant Muslim populations from April 10 to May 25, 2014. For a brief time, in the Middle East, ideologies could do that. Its international headquarters are located on the northern slope of Mount Carmel at Haifa, Israel. [46], Alevism is a small syncretic,[47] heterodox[48] form of Islam, following Shia, Sufi, Sunni and local traditions,[49] whose adherents follow the mystical (bāṭenī)[50] teachings of Ali, the Twelve Imams, and a descendant—the 13th century Alevi saint Haji Bektash Veli. The origin of the name was invented by the colonies as a necessity to describe, The present battle in the Middle East, specifically in Iraq, is in part because of a conflict between the different cultures rooted there. [68], In Egypt, Al Jazeera reported a clandestine atheist group of over 100 in Alexandria in 2013. A major source of conflict in the Muslim Middle East is the divisive nature between the two main sects of Islam: Sunni and Shi'a. They number between 200,000 and one million worldwide and worship the main divinity called Yazīdī is Malak Ṭāʾūs (“Peacock Angel”). There is also a population living in the village of Ghajar in the Golan Heights. Islam is the third and most recent of the religions that began in the Middle East. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. [19] Islam is a monotheistic religion, teaching belief in one God (Allah) and is based on the Quran. Jews make up between 1% and 2% of the people in the Middle East-North Africa region. In the past, Samaritans used to populate also Egypt and Syria, but their community had almost collapsed by the late 19th century due to religious persecution by radical Islamists. [68] Devji states there is "a new movement of atheists in countries such as Saudi Arabia ... which takes the form of secret societies", meeting "in internet chat rooms and unnamed physical locations, like the mystics of old". Please excuse my small text, I will edit it later. [41][42] At the core of Alawite belief is a divine triad, comprising three aspects of the one God. Palestinian maps draw Jerusalem as divided and Israeli maps show it as a part of Israeli territory. However, they are generally considered to be Ghulat by most other sects of Shia Islam. Holidays are a part of the national and religious life of each people. Mandaeans are an ethnoreligious community, which doesn't allow conversion. I hope you enjoy the Three Main Religions of the Middle East prezi. The Shabak have much in common with the Yazidis. Yazidi. 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