Religion In The Middle East

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Misunderstandings and a lacking of cultural appreciation have caused many to fall into a misconception over the Middle East. With mass media only broadcasting the negative stories of the Middle East, a land of beauty, culture, and morality has been painted as a land of terror, destruction and anger from those who do not wish to understand the “why” behind it all. The three variables I believe impacted the Middle Eastern societies was first, the spread of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Second being the migration of western imperialism in the Middle East, in which the British wanted to control the Middle East for selfish reasons. Finally, the Palestinian and Israeli conflict that started after the retreat of western imperialism, as well as …show more content…
It is said the top three religions Christianity, Judaism and Islam were created in the Middle East. (Hoffman, 1) In fact, many people believe the Middle East is home to many significant temples and lands. Majority of the population in the Middle East are Muslims, which is the following and practicing of Islam. Muhammad the founder of Islam believed the basic rules of practicing Islam was the worshiping of one god-Allah, the reverence of god, and the act of sharing ones wealth with others. With Islam being the most prevalent religion in the Middle East, I believe the origination as well as the involvement of it today holds a significant impact over the modern Middle East. The practice of Islam has given many Middle Easterners their moral and spiritual groundings, by creating five pillars to live by: The testimony of faith, the five daily prayers, the annual alms giving, fasting during the Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to mecca known as the hajj- this was to be done only if the individual could afford the trip. During the last few years of Muhammad’s reign, a majority of the Middle East was Muslim. Which was broken down into many subcategories but the two most prominent were the Sunni with about 85% and the Shi’a with about 14% of the population. (Hoffman, 3) The practices of Christianity and Judaism were allowed but the act of spreading any religion other than …show more content…
I believe the major factors were; Religion where Islam is known as the most prominent religion, the coming and retreating of western imperialism where the presence of the western civilization caused many Arabs to unite to get rid of the imperialism, and the Palestinian and Israeli Conflict where the rise of Zionism caused the creation of Israel becoming a national Jewish state and the relocation of many

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