The Arab world consists of several nations stretching from North Africa to the Middle East consisting of over 300 million inhabitants. The Arabic nations loosely conglomerate around an organization among themselves called the Arab league. This organization tends to unify these states around common agenda when they are faced with conflicts or when they need to take a common stand on issues of international concern. The Arabic nations have a unifying language called Arabic which is spoken throughout the Arabic world though with different ethnic dialects. According to biblical sources, the Arab world partly originated from Abraham and his close relations. It is stated in the book of Genesis that Abraham’s wife Sarah, could not bear him a child. So out of desperation, he had a son with his wife’s maid servant called Hagar. They named the boy Ishmael. Abraham would then later receive the promise of a son made to him by God in old age through his wife Sarah. In defiance of his native peoples’ polytheist practices, Abraham left his native home to seek refuge in a foreign land. He left behind Hagar and their son Ishmael in a valley in the modern day Saudi Arabia. The family would later settle there and multiplied to form the current nations of the larger Arab nations. In the religious context, Abraham would then play a central role in the formation and emergence of Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
The bible went ahead and stated that after Abraham had had a child with Hagar, he called upon the Lord to honor the promise that He made concerning the descendants of Abraham. So the Lord answered him and told him that his legal wife was Sarah and that even though she was old in age, she would beget Abraham a son whom they shall name Isaac. He reiterated that he shall fulfill his promise to Abraham through his legal son Isaac. Abraham would then cry to the lord about the fate of his son Ishmael. The Lord in his answer told him that He shall bless Ishmael too and that he too shall have many descendants. He added that Ishmael will be very fruitful and shall also be made a great nation. When God fulfilled his promise to Abraham and gave him the promised son Isaac, conflicts began to develop in Abraham’s family. Ishmael had all along grown up knowing that he was the son of promise and that all that God had promised his father Abraham were going to be realized trough him, Ishmael. Reality would then hit Ishmael that he was not just the promised son to Abraham but was an outcast to this family. Tensions then began to develop between Isaac and his brother Ishmael. Abraham on noticing the conflict between his two sons, he sent Ishmael and his mother Hagar into the wilderness. This event would then lead to generational differences between the descendants of Isaac and those of Ishmael. As history would have it, Ishmael would then go on to become the father of the Arab world and by extension, the Muslim faith.
Apart from ethnic backgrounds and languages spoken in the Middle East, religion is another factor worth mentioning in the Arabic speaking countries. The majority of the inhabitants of these countries practice the Islamic faith. Those who practice this faith are called Muslims. Most of the middle eastern countries are largely Muslim dominated save for the nations of Israel and the state of Palestine. Demographically, the Middle East countries mostly exhibit high concentrations of Muslim faithful. In these concentrations however, there are also underlying Muslim sects that should be distinct in their own character. For example, there are Muslim Sunnis, to which a majority of Muslims in the Middle East profess to belong to. There are also Muslim Shiites or Shia as it is called in the native countries. This sub religion of Islam is mostly found in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Bahrain. There are also other smaller sects that are found within the religion of Islam. Sects such as the Alawites, the Druze, the Ismailis, the Shafis, the Ibadis and various Sufi orders among others are also recognizable in the Muslim world and to a larger perspective the Arab nations in the middle east. Besides the Middle Eastern countries, it is worth noting that Islam as a religion is also practiced in other countries all over the world. The religion of Islam spread over the years to various countries and is even a dominant religion in some non Middle East countries like Afghanistan and even in some countries as far as the Far East.
In addition to Islam, other religions could also be found in the Middle Eastern countries. For example in Israel, a higher percentage of the Israeli population is Jews who practice Judaism as a religion. It would also be worth noting that Israel is not the only Middle Eastern state where Muslim is not the dominant religion. Even though Arabic speaking people are also found in Israel, the state is known to have a higher population of Jews as its citizens. It would be, therefore, expected that the Jewish traditions would be much more concentrated in the state of Israel than anywhere else. Even though the Jews are also scattered all over the world, their center of traditions remain in the current states of Israel and in the Palestine. As part of their culture and traditions, they have not abandoned their way and tradition of worship that is exalted in Judaism. The main book of inspiration in Judaism is called the Torah or the bible in Hebrew translation. Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world. It existed thousands of years even before the emergence of Christianity and Muslim in the Middle Eastern countries. As a monotheist religion, Judaism believes in one God whom they refer to as Yahweh, who they believe was the creator of the universe and all that is in the world. In the history of religion in the Middle East, Judaism was the first seriously organized religion that practiced the belief in one God. This organization later laid the foundation for the formation of both Christianity and Islam to also preach the practice of worshipping one God. One of Judaism’s core beliefs is the inheritance of Israel by the Jews as the Promised Land by God as long as they follow His commandments. The reunion of several Jews in the state of Israel after their expulsion by the Roman Empire in the ancient ages is seen as a manifestation of their belief in God. They also preach the coming of the Messiah who will not only come to bring peace to Israel but also to the whole world.
Christianity is also another major religious grouping that has existed in the Middle East for ages. It was one of the major religious organizations in the Middle Eastern countries until the springing of the historic Arab Muslim conquests. As opposed to other parts of the world, it is believed that Christians in the Middle East have practiced very diverse beliefs. The population of Christians is also suggested to have crumbled down from an estimated 20 percent in the early days to approximately 5 percent of the total Arab population. It is believed that this number has shot down due to a number of factors. Top among these contributing factors is inter-religious conflicts that have often been seen in the Middle East. Persecution and harassment of Christians in the Middle East has been a common occurrence in these countries. This is thought to have contributed to cowering Christians into professing their faith in these Muslim dominated countries. There has also been the aspect of political conflicts especially between the states of Israel and Palestine. This has resulted in instability in the region forcing most Christians in the area to seek security in areas outside the Middle East. The emergence of radical psalmists under the guise of jihad or the holy war as it is preached in Islam has also had a toll on the number of other religious groupings in the Middle East more so Christians. Christianity in the Middle East, just like Muslim, also has a number of smaller sects spread across the larger Middle East. For example, there are the Christian Copts, which is considered the largest Christian grouping in the Middle East. It is mainly prevalent in Egypt and speaks the Egyptian version of Arabic language. There are also Christian maronites and Syriac Christians of the Middle East who mainly occupy the state of Syria.
Other smaller religious outfits found in the Arab world include samaritanism. This religious group is said to be closely associated with Judaism in their way of worship and is mostly concentrated in Israel. It is said to have a very low population ad was nearly wiped out of the Arab world through the actions of radical Islamists. There are those who also profess the Bahai faith with presence in Israel. Also found in the middle east are those who profess Buddhism as a religion and make slightly less than one percent of the total Middle East population. There also exists the Druze faith. Druse is a religion found in Syria, Israel, Jordan and Lebanon and practices belief in one God. Its origins could be traced from Isma'ilite teachings. Druze combines Jewish and Christian traditions. It is strictly a monotheist religion. The Druze refuses all conversion to the religion. Most of their practices and beliefs are kept secret from outsiders.
Like mentioned earlier, the Arab world is a Muslim dominated world with Islam as a religion taking the highest percentage of the Arab population even though other religious groupings exist, the Muslim brothers are not happy with their activities as was witnessed with the samaritanism religion and other incidents involving Christians. As such, inte-religious conflicts have been a common occurrence in the Middle East and going by the nature of events, it is not likely to end any sooner.
Work Cited
Simon, Reeva S, Michael M. Laskier, and Sara Reguer. The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. Internet resource.
Elhadj, Elie. The Islamic Shield: Arab Resistance to Democratic and Religious Reforms. Boca Raton, Fla: Brown Walker Press, 2008. Print.
Abu-Rabiʻ, Ibrahim M. Intellectual Origins of Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Arab World. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press, 1996. Print.
Dumper, Michael. The Old City of Jerusalem in the Middle East Conflict. Boulder, Colo: Lynn Rienner Publishers, 2002. Print.
