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Qatar is an Islamic state with multi-religious minorities like most of thePersian Gulf countries with waves of migration over the last 30 years. The official state religion is Sunni Islam. The religious community is made up ofSunni andShi’a Muslims,Christians,Hindus, and small groups ofBuddhists andBaha’is.[3]Muslims form 65.5% of the Qatari population, followed by Christians at 15.4%, Hindus at 14.2%, Buddhists at 3.3% and the rest 1.9% of the population follow other religions or are unaffiliated. Qatar is also home to numerous other religions mostly from theMiddle East andAsia.[4]
The country has also hosted numerous interfaith dialogue conferences.[citation needed]
The state religion inQatar is Islam.[5] Most Qataris belong to theSunni sect of Islam.[6][7][8]Shiites comprise around 10% of Qatar's Muslim population.[9] Religious policy is set by theMinistry of Islamic Affairs and Islamic instruction is compulsory for Muslims in all state-sponsored schools.[5]
The state mosque is theMohammed Bin Abdul Wahab mosque, which is located in theLejbailat neighbourhood and was designed by renowned Qatari architect Ibrahim Jaidah, drawing on traditional Qatari architecture.
TheAbdulla Bin Zaid Al Mahmoud Islamic Cultural Center is located in theAl Souq neighbourhood ofDoha, adjacent toSouq Waqif. The center provides Arabic lessons to beginners and intermediate speakers.
At the tertiary level, Islamic Studies is taught atQatar University, and atHamad Bin Khalifa University’s (HBKU) Faculty of Islamic Studies where a master's degree is offered. SheikhaMoza bint Nasser, the consort of the Father Emir and mother of current Emir, is the most notable graduate.[10]
Education City is also home to the Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE), a think tank founded in 2012 and headed bySwiss political philosopher ProfessorTariq Ramadan of theUniversity of Oxford.[11]
Islam’s role in scientific discovery has also been an area of interest for theQatar Foundation, and recently, the Society for Muslim Scientists was established with prominent members. In 2010, the joint venture betweenBloomsbury Publishing and the Qatar Foundation began, publishing the book ‘Science in Islam’.[12]
Hindus make up 14% ofQatar. There are an estimated 422,118 Hindus in the country.[2] Many Hindus are from South and Southeast Asia.[13][14]
The Christian community in Qatar is a diverse mix of European, North and South American, Asian, Middle Eastern and African expatriates. In 2023, they form around 15.1% of the total population, being mainly made up of foreign workers from the Philippines, Europe, and India.[5][2]
No foreign missionary groups operate openly in the country. In May 2005, the Qatari Government leased a piece of property on the outskirts of Doha to the representatives of Christian churches in the country for the construction of Church buildings.[15] A 2015 study estimates some 200 believers in Christ from a Muslim background, though not all of those are necessarily citizens.[16]
In 2020, Buddhism was represented by between 1.8–3.8% of the population of Qatar,[5][17] mainly comprising migrant workers from South-East Asia and East Asia especially fromChina,South Korea,Japan, andVietnam.
In 2023, the country was scored 2 out of 4 for religious freedom byFreedom House.[18]
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