For approximately a millennium, the Abrahamic religions have been predominant throughout all of the Middle East.[1][2][3] 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.[4] Muslims constitute 18% of the total Israeli population, ~45% of the Lebanese population (estimates vary) and 25% of the total Cypriot population, or approximately 2% if Northern Cyprus is excluded from this figure.[5][6]
There are a number of minority religions present in the Middle East, belonging to the Abrahamic tradition or other religious categories, such as the Iranian religions. These include the Baháʼí Faith, Druzism,[7] Bábism, Yazidis, Gnosticism, Rastafari, Mandaeism, Manichaiesm, Yarsanism, Samaritanism, Ishikism, Ali-Ilahism,Yazdânism, Sabianism, Shabakism, and Zoroastrianism. While contemporary Middle Eastern religious practices are overwhelmingly monotheistic, most of the region's ancient traditions were polytheistic, including the Semitic religions, the Egyptian religion, the Greek religion, and various Iranian religions.
- ^ "Middle East (region, Asia)". Britannica. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
- ^ MacQueen, Benjamin (2013). An Introduction to Middle East Politics: Continuity, Change, Conflict and Co-operation. SAGE. p. 5. ISBN 9781446289761.
The Middle East is the cradle of the three monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
- ^ Takacs, Sarolta (2015). The Modern World: Civilizations of Africa, Civilizations of Europe, Civilizations of the Americas, Civilizations of the Middle East and Southwest Asia, Civilizations of Asia and the Pacific. Routledge. p. 552. ISBN 9781317455721.
- ^ "Which Religions Are Practiced In The Middle East?". WorldAtlas. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
- ^ "The Muslim Population in Israel 2022". www.cbs.gov.il. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project: Cyprus. Pew Research Center. 2010.
- ^ C. Held, Colbert (2008). Middle East Patterns: Places, People, and Politics. Routledge. p. 109. ISBN 9780429962004.
Worldwide, they number 1 million or so, with about 45 to 50 percent in Syria, 35 to 40 percent in Lebanon, and less than 10 percent in Israel. Recently there has been a growing Druze diaspora.