Religion inIraq dates back toAncient Mesopotamia, particularlySumer,Akkad,Assyria, andBabylonia between c. 3500 BC and 400 AD.[1][2] Iraq consists of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious population, all living together in one geographical area. The Iraqi civilization was built by peoples and nations, including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Persians, Arabs, and Babylonians. Religious and cultural circumstances have helped Arabs to become the majority of Iraq’s population today, followed by Kurds, Turkmen, and other nationalities.
A national census has not been held since 1987.[4] In the 2020s, the country is overwhelmingly Muslim, who are split into two distinct sects,Shia andSunni. Approximately 95% to 98% of the population are Muslims, with Shia Muslims constituting around 55%, and Sunnis around 40%.[5][6] The remainder followChristianity,Yazidism,Mandaeism andYarsanism.
The religious development of Mesopotamia and Mesopotamian culture in general, especially in the south, was not particularly influenced by the movements of the various peoples into and throughout the area. Rather, Mesopotamian religion was a consistent and coherent tradition which adapted to the internal needs of its adherents over millennia of development.[1]
There was increasingsyncretism between the Sumerian and Akkadian cultures and deities, with the Akkadians typically preferring to worship fewerdeities but elevating them to greater positions of power. Circa 2335 BC,Sargon of Akkad conquered all of Mesopotamia, uniting its inhabitants into the world's first empire and spreading its domination into ancientIran, theLevant,Anatolia,Canaan and theArabian Peninsula. The Akkadian Empire endured for two centuries before collapsing due to economic decline, internal strife and attacks from the north east by theGutian people.
The “Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism” listed Iraq as one of six countries as having the lowest rate of atheism in 2012. After six years, with religious figures coming to power, the situation changed fast as the tide of religiosity receded. According to Iraqi thinker Izzat Shahbandar, this came after their ruling political class came to power, and their role in sectarianism and state corruption, and by regularly occupying television slots to spread their agendas. The increasing prevalence of atheism and agnosticism signals a tidal public opinion change.[7][8]
Iraq has Islam as the official religion of the state, according to Article 2 of the Constitution, Article 14 of which states that all Iraqis are equal before the law without discrimination.[9] Article 43 of the Constitution gave freedom to followers of every sect to practice their religious rituals, and emphasized the Husseini rituals, and that the state guarantees freedom of worship and the protection of its places.[9] The population, according to the latest census prepared by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics for the year 2017, is 37 million, 139 thousand, and 519 people, with a growth rate of 2.61%, with a male-to-female ratio at birth of 103.9%.[9]
In 2005, the population was 27,962,968, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.[9] The population, according to the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation for 2015, reached 36 million people, an increase of 5 million from 2009, when the number reached 31.6 million people.[9] All figures and statistics are estimates, as no census has been conducted since 1997.[9]
Iraq's Muslims follow two distinct traditions,Shia andSunni Islam. According to theCIA World Factbook, Iraq is approximately 95% to 98% Muslim, with approximately 55% Shia and 40% Sunni.[5] According to a 2011 survey byPew Research, 51% of the Muslims identify as Shia and 42% as Sunni.[6] Iraq is home to many religious sites important for both Shia and Sunni.
Baghdad was a hub ofIslamic learning and scholarship for centuries and served as the capital of theAbassids. The city ofKarbala has substantial prominence in Shia Islam as a result of theBattle of Karbala, which was fought on the site of the modern city on October 10, 680. Similarly,Najaf is renowned as the site of the tomb ofAlī ibn Abī Tālib (also known as "Imām Alī"). The Shia consider him to be the righteous caliph and firstimām. The city is now a great center ofpilgrimage from throughout the Shia Islamic world even though his grave is debatable and it is estimated that onlyMecca andMedina receive more Muslim pilgrims.
The city ofKufa was home to the famed Sunni scholarAbu Hanifah, whose school of thought is followed by a sizable number of Sunnis across the globe. Likewise,Samarra is home to theal-Askari Mosque, containing the mausoleums of theAli al-Hadi andHasan al-Askari, the tenth and eleventhShia Imams, respectively, as well as the shrine ofMuhammad al-Mahdi, known as the "Hidden Imam", who is the twelfth and final Imam of the Shia of the Ja'farī Madhhab. This has made it an important pilgrimage centre for Ja'farī Shia. In addition, some female relatives of the Islamic prophetMuhammad are buried in Samarra, making the city one of the most significant sites of worship for Shia and a venerated location for Sunnis.
Smaller sects of Islam exist in the country, such as the small ShiaShaykhist community concentrated inBasra and Karbala.
Iraqi Arabs are a mix between Shia and Sunni. The Arab Sunni live mainly in the area of the so-calledSunni Triangle, but there are other communities in other parts of the country, whereas the Arab Shia live mainly in Southeast Iraq. The capital Baghdad is mixed of Arab Sunni and Arab Shia as well as other religions.
Iraqi Kurds are around 70% Sunni, with a ShiaFeyli minority of 30%.[10] Most Kurds are located in the northern areas of the country. Most Iraqi Kurdish Muslims follow theShafi school ofIslamic law, while others are members of either theQadiri or theNaqshbandiSufitariqah.[10]
About 75% ofIraqi Turkmen are Sunni, and about 25% practice Shia Islam.[11][12] Collectively, most Iraqi Turkmen aresecular, having internalized the secularist interpretation of state–religion affairs practiced in theRepublic of Turkey.[11] The religious and tribal factors and tensions inherent in Iraq's political culture do not significantly affect the Iraqi Turkmen Sunnis and Shias.[13]
Christianity was brought to Iraq in 40's AD/CE byThomas the Apostle,Thaddaeus of Edessa and his pupils Aggagi and Mari. Thomas and Thaddeus belonged to the twelve Apostles.[14] Iraq's indigenousAssyrian people represent roughly 3% of the population (earlier CIA Factbook), mostly living in Northern Iraq, concentrated in theNinewa andDahuk governorates.
In 1950 Christians may have numbered 10-12% of the population of 5.0 million.[citation needed] They were 8% or 1.4 million in a population of 16.3 million in 1987 and 1.5 million in 2003 of 26 million.[citation needed] Emigration has been high since the 1970s. In 2002, the Christian population in Iraq numbered 1.2–2.1 million.[citation needed] There is also a significant population ofArmenian Christians in Iraq who had fledTurkey during theArmenian genocide.[citation needed]
Since the 2003Iraq War began, there has been no official census, but in 2022, local leaders suggest that there were 150,000 Christians in 2022;[15] however, other estimates suggested that there were 295,000 Catholics alone.[16] Thepost-2003 war have displaced much of theAssyrian community from their homeland as a result of ethnic and religious persecution at the hands ofIslamic extremists.[citation needed]
Assyrians in Iraq are divided into five church bodies:
Assyrians constitute 0.5% of the population of Iraq.[9] They are a Semitic people who settled in the northern part of Iraq since the third millennium BC.[9] Assyrians speak the modern Assyrian language, also known as Syriac in church literature, due to its spread by the Church of the East, which was known as Syriac.[9]
TheYazidis are a group[17] in Iraq who number just over 650,000. Yazidism, or Sherfedin, dates back to pre-Islamic times.[9]Mosul is the principal holy site of the Yazidi faith.[9] The holiest Yazid shrine is that ofSheikh Adi located at thenecropolis ofLalish.[9] They are primarily a religious component, and their number, according to the 1977 census, was more than one hundred thousand people.[9] Their unofficial percentage, according to their sources, is 2% of the population.[9] They are an ethnic mixture of Kurds, Arabs, Persians and Turks, and speak these languages.[9] They are concentrated in the Sheikhan district, northeast of Mosul, and Sinjar Mountain, near the Syrian border in northwestern Iraq.[9]
Zoroastrianism was one of the dominant religions inNorthern Mesopotamia before the Islamic era. Currently,[18] Zoroastrianism is an officially recognized religion inIraqi Kurdistan andIran.
Zoroastrianism has become the fastest growing religion withKurds, especially in Kurdish-controlledNorthern Iraq.[19] Because of the religion's strong ties to Kurdish culture, there has been a recent rebirth of Zoroastrianism in the region, and as of August 2015 the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officially recognized Zoroastrianism as a religion within Kurdish Iraq.[20] Arguably the world's oldest monotheistic religion, Zoroastrianism (Zardashti in Kurdish) has almost disappeared in the last century until recent years. According to Yasna, an association that promotes Zoroastrianism in Kurdistan, since 2014 about 15,000 people have registered with the organization, most of them Kurds converting from Islam.[21][22][23] People in Iraqi Kurdistan have converted toZoroastrianism from aMuslim background since 2015, with the first new Zoroastrian temples being built and opened in 2016.[24]
Many Kurdish people converted from Islam to Zoroastrianism, especially afterISIL attacked Iraqi Kurdistan.[25][26] The surge in Kurdish Muslims converting to Zoroastrianism, the faith of their ancestors is largely attributed to disillusionment with Islam after the years of violence and barbarism perpetrated by theISIS terrorist group.[27][28] A Kurdish Islamic cleric claimed that Zoroastrianism was forced on Kurds by "fire-worshipping Persians", where as Islam liberated them, and he called on Kurdish Muslims to kill Zoroastrian converts if they do not convert back to Islam in 3 days.[29]
On 21 September 2016, the first official Zoroastrianfire temple ofIraqi Kurdistan opened inSulaymaniyah. Attendees celebrated the occasion by lighting a ritual fire and beating theframe drum ordaf.[30] There are no accurate numbers on the population of Zoroastrians in Iraq because they are listed as "Muslims" on their government-issued documents.[31] According to the KRG MERA, there are approximately 80,000 to 100,000Zoroastrians in theIraqi Kurdistan Region.[32]
They are an Aramaic people, who migrated to Iraq around the year 100 AD.[9] Their number is estimated at about 200,000 people, and they are concentrated in Baghdad, Amara, Basra, Nasiriyah, Kut, Diwaniyah, and Diyala.[9] They live on the banks of rivers and speak their own language. Mandaeism is a religion whose followers believe that it is one of the oldest known religions in human history, and that their first prophet and teacher was Adam, then his son Seth, Sam bin Noah, and John bin Zachariah (John the Baptist), peace be upon them.[9] The Mandaeans say that they follow John.[9]
According to theHaran Gawaita, a text that tells the history of the Mandaean people, the Mandaeans arrived in theParthian Empire during the reign ofArtabanus II, and later moved to southernBabylonia.[33][34] This would make the Iraqi presence of Mandaeans approximately 2000 years old, making it the third oldest continually-practiced faith in Iraqi society after Zoroastrianism and Judaism. However, Mandaeans believe their religion predates Judaism and Christianity as a monotheistic faith tracing it back to their first prophetAdam.[35] The oldest independent confirmation of Mandaean existence in the region isKartir's inscription atKa'ba-ye Zartosht. The Mandaean faith is commonly known as the last surviving Gnostic religion.John the Baptist, known asYahia Yuhanna, is considered to have been the final Mandaean prophet and first trueRis'Amma, or Ethnarch, of the Mandaean people.[36]
Saddam was recognized for safeguarding theMandaean minority in Iraq.[37] Mandaeans were given state protection under his government.[38][39] As a sign of respect, theMandaean Book of John's first copy translation into Arabic was given to Saddam.[38][37][40] After this he vowed to construct temples for the Mandaeans, with quoting, "Iraqis have religious freedom, whether they are Muslims, Christians orSabaeans".[41][40] TheSabian–Mandaean Mandi inBaghdad was built on land donated by the Ministry of Finance.[40][39] Mandaeans were some of the best goldsmiths and jewelers in Iraq, with Saddam's personal jeweler being of Mandaean background.[40][42] A large number of Mandeans also worked in numerous positions, such as poet Abdul Razzaq, the cultural advisor to the Ministry of Culture and Information and Lamia Abbas, who was a cultural attaché and deputy permanent representative of Iraq to UNESCO in Paris for the period 1973-1975.[43] However, after his downfall, Mandaeans faced severe persecution, and constant kidnappings.[42][40] They often expressed that they were better under Saddam's rule, and praise him for the protection they received.[40][42]
Until the2003 Iraq war, there were about 75,000 estimated Mandaeans living in Iraq.[44][36] Most Iraqi Mandaeans live near waterways because of the practice of total immersion (orbaptism) in flowing water every Sunday.[36] The highest concentrations are inAmarah,Nasiriyah andBasra. Besides these southern regions andAhvaz in Iran, large numbers of Mandaeans can be found inBaghdad, giving them easy access to theTigris River. In 2001, Saddam Hussein awarded the Mandaean community as a Golden Sect. Under his rule, Mandaeans flourished in Iraq.
The Jewish presence in Iraq dates back to the days of the Babylonian and Assyrian captivities, during which they experienced significant displacement.Judaism first came toIraq under the rule of theBabyloniankingNebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. In the 19th century, Baghdad became a leading center for Jewish learning. Jewish communities were also present in Basra and northern Iraq, where they played an important role in shaping the country's development. Notable Jewish figures in Iraq includeSassoon Eskell,Menahem Saleh Daniel,Salima Pasha,Mir Basri,Anwar Shaul,Naim Dangoor, andIbrahim Hesqel. By 1948, their population numbered around 150,000 to 450,000, constituting approximately 3% of Iraq's total population.
Following the establishment ofIsrael in 1948, Jews in Iraq faced persecution, as was the case in much of the Arab and Muslim world. DuringOperation Ezra and Nehemiah, more than 100,000 Jews were airlifted to Israel, although many still remained afterward. Iraqi-born Israeli-British historianAvi Shlaim later argued that the sudden mass migration was driven by a mix of fear, political pressure, and covert Zionist activity, including bombings in Baghdad that hastened the exodus.[45]Abdul-Karim Qasim treated them relatively well. However, after theSix-Day War in 1967, riots prompted the majority of Jews to flee. WhenSaddam Hussein came to power, around 20,000 Jews still remained. He lifted restrictions on travel, which led to further emigration and a decline in the Jewish population. Nevertheless, Saddam ensured that the remaining Jews would not be harmed.
In 2003, the Jewish Agency estimated that 35 Jews were living in Iraq. However, it is likely that there were hundreds more who remained hidden out of fear. Among the American forces stationed in Iraq in 2008, there were three Jewish chaplains.[46] Estimates of the Jewish population in Iraq vary.[47][48][49] A small number of Jews, estimated to be around 500, still live in Iraq, primarily in the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad.[9][50]
There were 3,801 (0.01%)Hindus inIraq in 2010 according toARDA.[51] By 2020 according to ARDA, they made up an estimated 0.01% or 2,800 people in Iraq.[52]
It is estimated that in 2020, Sikhs made up an estimated 0.02% or 5,600 people.[52]
It is believed that Guru Nanak Dev (founder of Sikhism) came to Baghdad in the early sixteenth century, around 1511 AD.[53] In March 2023, India formally requested Iraq renovate a historic Sikh temple,Baba Nanak Shrine, which was built in the memory of the faith's founder Guru Nanak who once visited Baghdad as part of his travels in the Muslim world during a visit by Iraqi National Security Adviser, Qasem Al-Araji, to Delhi where he met his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.[54][55]
The constitution states that Islam is the official religion of the country.[15]
In 2023, Iraq was scored 1 out of 4 for religious freedom.[56]
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