Faith in the Middle East
Religion plays a key role in many regions of the Middle East, including Iraq, from being the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, to being a conflict source from ancient times to present, and to its role in modern policies and laws. Aside from the three major religions and their subsets, there are small populations of Hindi, Druze, Bahá'í, and smaller sects, numbering 100,000 or fewer. It is important to briefly discuss the role religion plays for all of the Middle East, because religion is so prominent in the lives of the people.
Islam, with two main sects of Sunni and Shi’a, is the majority religion ranging from 59.7% of the population in Lebanon to 100% in Saudi Arabia (C.I.A., 2012). As a result of the lack of separation of church and state, religion plays a key role in internal and external policies. Since religion is an integral part of daily life in the Middle East, it has a direct impact on laws, culture, and behavioral expectations. The seminal examples underlining modern Arab culture and expectations are referenced in the Quran, and more specifically in Hadiths. Hadiths are sayings or traditions of things the prophet Mohammad did or said, forbade or did not forbid, approved or disapproved (Swarup, n.d.).
In high-density Muslim populations, Islam does not just influence the laws, but is the basis for all governing laws, which affect the very core of social structure and forms people’s self-identity (Borade, 2012). They base their clothing, diets, marriages/family dynamics, and even their education on their religious beliefs. Today, with the awareness of Western Cultures, traditional cultural aspects of the Middle East are being challenged and are slowly evolving.
These challenges of centuries-old faith are one of the cores of complex issues facing contemporary women of Iraq today, alongside the ever-present divergence between Islamic factions. A sympathetic understanding of Islamic faith, its history, and structure is a starting point to realizing this faith-based context of the women of Iraq. Hence, we now consider the history of gender roles.
Islam, with two main sects of Sunni and Shi’a, is the majority religion ranging from 59.7% of the population in Lebanon to 100% in Saudi Arabia (C.I.A., 2012). As a result of the lack of separation of church and state, religion plays a key role in internal and external policies. Since religion is an integral part of daily life in the Middle East, it has a direct impact on laws, culture, and behavioral expectations. The seminal examples underlining modern Arab culture and expectations are referenced in the Quran, and more specifically in Hadiths. Hadiths are sayings or traditions of things the prophet Mohammad did or said, forbade or did not forbid, approved or disapproved (Swarup, n.d.).
In high-density Muslim populations, Islam does not just influence the laws, but is the basis for all governing laws, which affect the very core of social structure and forms people’s self-identity (Borade, 2012). They base their clothing, diets, marriages/family dynamics, and even their education on their religious beliefs. Today, with the awareness of Western Cultures, traditional cultural aspects of the Middle East are being challenged and are slowly evolving.
These challenges of centuries-old faith are one of the cores of complex issues facing contemporary women of Iraq today, alongside the ever-present divergence between Islamic factions. A sympathetic understanding of Islamic faith, its history, and structure is a starting point to realizing this faith-based context of the women of Iraq. Hence, we now consider the history of gender roles.