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Religion In The Middle East
For approximately a millennium, the Abrahamic religions have been predominant throughout all of the Middle East. The Abrahamic tradition itself and the three best-known Abrahamic religions originate from the Middle East: Judaism and Christianity emerged in the Levant in the 6th century BCE and the 1st century CE, respectively, while Islam emerged in Arabia in the 7th century CE. Today, Islam is the region's dominant religion, being adhered to by at least 90% of the population in every Middle Eastern country except for Jewish-majority Israel, religiously diverse Lebanon and Christian-majority Cyprus. Muslims constitute 18% of the total Israeli population, ~67% of the Lebanese population (estimates vary) and 25% of the total Cypriot population, or approximately 2% if Northern Cyprus is excluded from this figure. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abrahamic Religions
The term Abrahamic religions is used to group together monotheistic religions revering the Biblical figure Abraham, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The religions share doctrinal, historical, and geographic overlap that contrasts them with Indian religions, Iranian religions, and East Asian religions. The term has been introduced in the 20th century and superseded the term Judeo-Christianity, Judeo-Christian tradition for the inclusion of Islam. However, the categorization has been criticized by some for oversimplification of different cultural and doctrinal nuances. For example, Islam shares cultural and doctrinal exchange from Asian religions, which Abrahamic religions are usually contrasted with. Usage The term ''Abrahamic religions'' (and its variations) is a collective religious descriptor for elements shared by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It features prominently in interfaith dialogue and political discourse but also has entered Academic discourse socializati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yazidism
Yazidism, also known as Sharfadin, is a Monotheism, monotheistic ethnic religion which has roots in Ancient Iranian religion, pre-Zoroastrian Iranian religion, directly derived from the Indo-Iranians, Indo-Iranian tradition. Its followers, called Yazidis, are a Kurdish language, Kurdish-speaking community. Yazidism includes elements of ancient Iranian religions, as well as elements of Judaism, Church of the East, and Islam."Yazīdī" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. (2025) [1998]. Yazidism is based on belief in one God who created the world and entrusted it into the care of seven Holy Beings, known as Angels. Preeminent among these Angels is Tawûsî Melek (, also spelled as ''Melek Taûs''), who is the leader ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A distinction may be made between exclusive monotheism, in which the one God is a singular existence, and both inclusive and pluriform monotheism, in which multiple gods or godly forms are recognized, but each are postulated as extensions of the same God. Monotheism is distinguished from henotheism, a religious system in which the believer worships one god without denying that others may worship different gods with equal validity, and monolatry, monolatrism, the recognition of the existence of many gods but with the consistent worship of only one deity. The term ''monolatry'' was perhaps first used by Julius Wellhausen. Monotheism characterizes the traditions of Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religions such as Judaism, Samaritanism, Christi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the world's oldest organized faiths, its adherents exalt an Creator deity, uncreated, Omnibenevolence, benevolent, and List of knowledge deities#Persian mythology, all-wise deity known as Ahura Mazda (), who is hailed as the supreme being of the universe. Opposed to Ahura Mazda is Ahriman, Angra Mainyu (), who is personified as a List of death deities#Persian-Zoroastrian, destructive spirit and the adversary of all things that are good. As such, the Zoroastrian religion combines a Dualism in cosmology, dualistic cosmology of good and evil with an eschatological outlook predicting the Frashokereti, ultimate triumph of Ahura Mazda over evil. Opinions vary among scholars as to whether Zoroastrianism is monotheistic, polyth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shabakism
Shabakism was the religious tradition of the Shabaks, a people native to the Nineveh Plains in Iraq. Shabakism was based on Ghulat, an extremist branch of Shia Islam, and had influences from other religions. Shabakism emerged during the 16th century and declined in the 20th century. History Shabakism was the ethnic religion of the Shabaks and emerged around the 16th century. Shabakism was a syncretic religion based on the Ghulat of Shia Islam, with heavy similarities to Yarsanism, Yazidism, Christianity, and Alevism.Religious Minorities in Iraq: Co-Existence, Faith and Recovery After ISIS, Maria Rita Corticelli, 2022, pp. 130, Shabakism believed in a trinity very similar to the Christian trinity, but with Allah, Muhammad, and Ali. The religious hierarchy in Shabakism was very similar to that of Yazidism and Yarsanism, as all were based on Sufism. At the top of the Shabak religious hierarchy was the "qutb", meaning "pole" or "axis". The qutb was also called "pir piran". The qutb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabianism
The Sabians, sometimes also spelled Sabaeans or Sabeans, are a religious group mentioned three times in the Quran (as , in later sources ), where it is implied that they belonged to the 'People of the Book' (). Their original identity, which seems to have been forgotten at an early date, has been called an "unsolved Quranic problem". Modern scholars have variously identified them as Mandaeans, Manichaeans, Sabaeans, Elchasaites, Archontics, (either as a type of Gnostics or as "sectarians"), or as adherents of the astral religion of Harran. Some scholars believe that it is impossible to establish their original identity with any degree of certainty. At least from the ninth century on, the Quranic epithet 'Sabian' was claimed by various religious groups who sought recognition by the Muslim authorities as a People of the Book deserving of legal protection (). Among those are the Sabians of Harran, adherents of a poorly understood ancient Semitic religion centered in the upper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yazdânism
Yazdânism, or the Cult of Angels, is a pseudohistoric pre-Islamic religion with claimed ties relating to a Mithraic religion of the Kurds. The term was introduced and proposed by Kurdish and Belgian scholar Mehrdad Izady to represent what he considers the "original" religion of the Kurds. According to Izady, Yazdânism is now continued in the denominations of Yazidism, Yarsanism, and Kurdish Alevism. The concept of Yazdânism has found a wide perception both within and beyond Kurdish nationalist discourses, but has been disputed by other recognized scholars of Iranian religions. Well established, however, are the "striking" and "unmistakable" similarities between the Yazidis and the Yaresan or ''Ahl-e Haqq (People of Truth)'', some of which can be traced back to elements of an ancient faith that was probably dominant among Western Iranians and akin, but separate from Zoroastrianism and likened to practices of pre-Zoroastrian Mithraic religion. Principal beliefs In Yazd� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ishikism
Ishikism ('), also known as Çinarism ('), is a new syncretic religious movement among Alevis who have developed an alternative understanding of Alevism and its history. These alternative interpretations and beliefs were inspired by Turkish writer Erdoğan Çınar with the publication of his book ''Aleviliğin Gizli Tarihi'' (''The Secret History of Alevism'') in 2004. Işık faith While mainstream Alevis believe the term ''Alevi'' means "follower of Ali", as in the Arabic word ‘Alawī (), and consider themselves followers of the teachings and practices of 13th-century Alevi saint Haji Bektash Veli, Ishik believe differently. The Ishik movement claim that the term "Alevi" is derived from the old Anatolian Luvians, claiming that the word "Luvi" means "People of Light" in the Hittite language. Some Ottoman documents from the 16th century refer to the ancestors of today's Alevis as "Işık Taifesi", meaning "People of Light". This is, according to Ishikīs, a proof of the conn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samaritans
Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that comprises the northern half of what is the West Bank in Palestine. They are adherents of Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion that developed alongside Judaism. According to their tradition, the Samaritans are descended from the Israelites who, unlike the Ten Lost Tribes of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, were not subject to the Assyrian captivity after the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Kingdom of Israel was destroyed and annexed by the Neo-Assyrian Empire around 720 BCE. Regarding the Samaritan Pentateuch as the unaltered Torah, the Samaritans view the Jews as close relatives but claim that Judaism fundamentally alters the original Yahwism, Israelite religion. The most notable theological ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yarsanism
Yarsanism (), Ahl-e Haqq (; ), or Kaka'i, is an Ethnoreligious group, inherited, syncretism, syncretic religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran. The total number of followers of Yarsanism is estimated to be over half a million to one million in Iran.''Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa'' (Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2004) p. 82 The numbers in Iraq are unknown. Followers are mostly Kurds from the Guran (tribe), Guran, Sanjâbi (tribe), Sanjâbi, Kalhor (tribe), Kalhor, Zangana (tribe), Zangana and Jalalvand tribes, as well as some Shabaks, Lak (tribe), Laks, and Lurs. Some Yarsanis in Iraq are called ''Kaka'i''. Yarsanis say that some people call them disparagingly as "Ali Allahi" or "worshipers of Ali", labels which Yarsanis deny. Many Yarsanis hide their religion due to the pressure of Iran's Islamic system, and there are no exact statistics of their population. The Yarsanis have a distinct religious literature primarily written ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manichaeism
Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century CE by the Parthian prophet Mani (216–274 CE), in the Sasanian Empire. Manichaeism teaches an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process that takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light, whence it came. Mani's teaching was intended to "combine", succeed, and surpass the teachings of Platonism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Marcionism, Hellenistic and Rabbinic Judaism, Gnostic movements, Ancient Greek religion, Babylonian and other Mesopotamian religions, and mystery cults.Arendzen, John (1 October 1910).Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
