The Levant is a geographical term that refers to a large area in Southwest Asia, south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Arabian Desert in the south, and Mesopotamia in the east. It stretches 400 miles north to south from the Taurus Mountains to the Sinai desert, and 70 to 100 miles east to west between the sea and the Arabian desert.
Religions In Pre-Islamic Arabia
Pre-Islamic Arabia refers to the Arabian Peninsula prior to the rise of Islam in the 630s. Some of the settled communities developed into distinctive civilizations. Sources for these civilizations are not extensive, and are limited to archaeological evidence, accounts written outside of Arabia and Arab oral traditions later recorded by Islamic scholars.
Religions Of The Ancient Near (Middle) East
The religions of the ancient Near (Middle) East were mostly polytheistic, with some early examples of primitive monolatry (Yahwism/Judaism, Mardukites), Ashurism and Monism (Atenism). Some scholars believe that the similarities between they religions indicate that the religions are related, a belief known as patternism.
Three major religious groups, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, originated in the Middle East. Smaller minority religions, such as the Bahá’í Faith, Druze, Yazidism, Gnosticism, and others are also present in the Middle East. Islam is the prevalent religion in most of the region.
The Bahá’í Faith is a monotheistic religion which emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind.
Christianity originated 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. Christianity in the Middle East is characterized with its diverse beliefs and traditions compared to other parts of the old world.
Druze, or Druse, is a monotheistic religion found in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan. Representation ranges from 100,000 in Israel, to
700,000 in Syria. Developing from Isma’ilite teachings, Druze incorporates Jewish, Christian, Gnostic, Neoplatonic and Iranian elements.
Ishikism, a religious
movement within Alevism that rejects its Islamic roots, is found in Turkey. Ishikīs consider themselves to esotericists, claiming that
Alevism is esotericism itself, meaning that they identify themselves with every type of esotericism in history.
Islam is the most widely followed religion in the Middle East. About 20 percent of the world’s Muslims live in the Middle East. Islam is
monotheistic, believing in Allah and follows the teaching of the written sacred text, the Qur’an. Islam is believed to be an extension of Judaism and Christianity with the belief that Muhammad is the final prophet of God, in a long chain of prophets, from Adam on down to John the Baptist, Jesus, and finally Muhammad.
Judaism in the Middle East is mostly in the state of Israel. Israel’s population is nearly 75 percent Jewish, with the remainder made up of Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bahá’í and various other
minorities. There are a few other countries in the Middle
East with significant Jewish populations, but they are small, scattered communities.
The Kakai are an ancient and persecuted sect. They are an independent Kurdish religion, with no affiliation to other groups such as Christians, Muslims or Yazidis. The
religion is also a secret one. The information available online about the Kakai religion is mostly wrong. You may find the name of the Kakai book online, but you will never find the whole text of it.
There are between 60,000 and 70,000 Mandaeans worldwide. In the Middle East they are found in Iraq and Iran. They reject Jesus and Muhammad and view Christianity and Islam negatively, but revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh and Noah. Mandaeans are an ethnoreligious community, which doesn’t allow conversion
Samaritanism is a closely affiliated religion with Judaism, practiced by the ethnoreligious Samaritan community, largely residing in Israel. In the past, Samaritans used to populate Egypt and Syria, but their community had almost collapsed by the late 19th century due to religious persecution by radical Islamists.
There are about 60,000 Shabak people living today, all in northern Iraq. They are an ethnic group with a religion similar to orthodox Islam
and Christianity. The Shabak have much in common with the Yazidis.
Yazidis are found in Iraq, Syria, and Iran. It is a fusion of Zoroastrian, Manichaean, Jewish, Nestorian Christian
and Islamic elements. They do not see themselves as descendent from Adam and maintain complete segregation from the rest of the
population.
In the Middle East, Zoroastrianism is found in central Iran. Today, there are estimated to be under 20,000 Zoroastrians in Iran. It is one
of the oldest monotheistic religions as it was founded 3,500 years ago. It was also one of the most powerful religions in the world for about
1,000 years. Now, however, it is considered one of the smallest religions with only 190,000 followers worldwide.
There are many Hindus in the Arab states, mainly due to the migration of Indians to the oil-rich states around the Persian Gulf. Hindu temples have been built in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Yemen and Oman.
500 – 000
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Last Update: 04/2021
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