Religions Across Middle East Asia

Throughout the entirety of the Middle East, Islam is the predominant religion practiced and followed. Although Islam is highly predominant, many other religions are still practiced throughout.

As shown on the map above the predominant religion across the entire Middle East is Islam. When you inspect further into the religions practiced throughout the Middle East you can see that a number of other religions are practiced. This includes religions such as Christianity, Hinduism, and even no religion at all. The Middle East however was not always a predominantly Islam region, and in fact, used to be a Christian region. The Middle East was slowly converted to Islam as early as the seventh century when the Arab armies established an Islam Empire as they took over the Middle East. This conversion was not necessarily a voluntary conversion though. While people who weren't following Islam as a religion were still allowed to freely practiced their own religion, they still had to abide by the rules set by their Islamic rulers. Along with having to follow these rules, they also had special taxes that they would no longer need to pay if and once they converted to Islam.Islam is the predominant religion throughout the Middle East and like Christianity and Judaism, its roots are traced back to the middle east. Christianity and Judaism are still practiced by a number of people throughout the Middle East. Christianity accounts for about 5% of the regions population, though in the earlier 20th century it accounted for nearly 20%. Judaism accounts for a significantly smaller amount of the regions population but it is known that most of the Jewish population in the Middle East region live in Israel and make up about 70% of the city's population.

Religions in Middle East Asia

Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are not all only present throughout the Middle East, but all originated from the Middle East as well. They also are three of the largest religions in the entire world. Although most followers of Christianity and Judaism have migrated their way out of the Middle East, the Middle East is still considered the to be the root/birthplace of these two religions, along with Islam. The Middle East may be home to these three large and empowering religions that impact the world as we know it, but it also is home to a number of smaller religions that are much less talked about and known.

Works Cited:

Kiprop, Joseph. “Which Religions Are Practiced in the Middle East?” WorldAtlas, WorldAtlas, 22 May 2019, https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-religions-are-practiced-in-the-middle-east.html.

“How Did the Christian Middle East Become Predominantly Muslim?” University of Oxford, https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/arts-blog/how-did-christian-middle-east-become-predominantly-muslim#:~:text=Thus%2C%20when%20non%2DArabs%20converted,generation%20of%20scholars%20once%20assumed.

“Religious Minorities in the Modern Middle East.” Foreign Policy Research Institute, 11 Jan. 2016, https://www.fpri.org/article/2015/11/religious-minorities-in-the-modern-middle-east/#:~:text=The%20majority%20of%20the%20Middle,region%20of%20remarkable%20religious%20diversity.

Religions in Middle East Asia