Membership in a religious community is ordinarily determined by birth. Based on statistical analyses from 2006, Muslims A Muslim or Moslem is an adherent of the religion of Islam. Literally, the word means "one who submits (to God)". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. All Muslims observe Sunnah, but differences in the definition of what is and what is not Sunnah has led to the emergence of sectarian movements.[ were estimated as constituting 87%[1] of the total population, although their proportion was possibly greater and was certainly growing. The Muslim A Muslim or Moslem is an adherent of the religion of Islam. Literally, the word means "one who submits (to God)". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. All Muslims observe Sunnah, but differences in the definition of what is and what is not Sunnah has led to the emergence of sectarian movements.[ birthrate reportedly was higher than that of the minorities, and proportionately fewer Muslims were emigrating abroad. Of the Muslims, 74%[1] were members of the Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam, also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘ah or Ahl as-Sunnah (Arabic: أهل السنة) for short. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Orthodox Islam. The word "Sunni" comes from the term Sunnah (Arabic: سنة), which refers to the words and actions or example of the Islamic branch, while the remaining 13% were Alawites The Alawis, also known as Alawites, Nusayris and Ansaris are a prominent minority religious group in Syria who describe themselves as a sect of Shī‘ah Islam. Alawis are distinct from the Turkish-based Alevi religious sect, although the terms share similar etymologies, Ismailis and Twelvers Twelver or Imami Shīa Islam is the largest branch of Shī‘ī (Shi'a) Islam. Adherents of Twelver Shī‘ism are commonly referred to as Twelvers, which is derived from their belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imāms and their belief that the Mahdi will be none other than the returned Twelfth Imam that disappeared combined.[1] 10% of the population was made up by Christians Christians in Syria make up about 10% of the population, the largest Christian denomination is the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, closely followed by the Syriac Orthodox Church, and then the Eastern Catholics; there are also a minority of Protestants,[1] while the remaining 3% were Druze The Druze are a religious community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, whose traditional religion is said to have begun as an offshoot of Islam, but is unique in its incorporation of Gnosticism, Neoplatonism and other philosophies, similar to other followers of Ismaili Shi'a Islam.[1]
A striking feature of religious life in Syria is the geographic distribution of the religious minorities. Most Christians A Christian (pronounced /ˈkrɪstʃən/ ) is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe is the Messiah (the Christ in Greek-derived terminology) prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, and the son of God. Most Christians believe in the doctrine of live in Damascus Damascus is the capital of Syria as well as one of the country's 14 governorates. The Damascus Governorate is ruled by a governor appointed by the Minister of Interior. In addition to being widely known as the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, Damascus is a major cultural and religious center of the Levant and Aleppo Aleppo , located in northern Syria, is the largest Syrian city and the most populous in the Levant, with a population of 2,181,061 (2004 official census) and the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian Governorate with a population of more than 4,507,000 (2009 estimate), although significant numbers live in Al-Hasakah Province in northeastern Syria Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية السورية), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest. Nearly 90 percent of the Alawis live in Al-Ladhiqiyah Latakia or Latakiyah (Arabic: اللَاذِقِيَّة Al-Ladhiqiyah) is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages. Its population in 2002 was 402,000 and consisted of Sunnis, Alawites Province in the rural areas of the Jabal an Nusayriyah; they constitute over 80 percent of the rural Rural areas are large and isolated areas of an open country , often with low population density. The terms "countryside" and "rural areas" are not synonyms: a "countryside" refers to rural areas that are open. A forest, wetlands, etc. with a low population density is not a countryside population of the province. The Jabal al-Arab/Jabal al-Druze, a rugged and mountainous region in the southwest of the country, is more than 90 percent Druze The Druze are a religious community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, whose traditional religion is said to have begun as an offshoot of Islam, but is unique in its incorporation of Gnosticism, Neoplatonism and other philosophies, similar to other followers of Ismaili Shi'a Islam inhabited; some 120 villages are exclusively so. The Twelvers Shia's Twelver or Imami Shīa Islam is the largest branch of Shī‘ī (Shi'a) Islam. Adherents of Twelver Shī‘ism are commonly referred to as Twelvers, which is derived from their belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imāms and their belief that the Mahdi will be none other than the returned Twelfth Imam that disappeared are concentrated between Homs Hims (Arabic: حمص, Ḥims, also spelled Homs and anciently called "Emesa" is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Hims Governorate. It is 501 metres (1,644 ft) above sea level and is located 162 kilometres (101 mi) north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Hims is also the central link between the interior cities and Aleppo; they constitute nearly 15 percent of Hamah Hama is a city on the banks of the Orontes river in central Syria north of Damascus. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. It is the location of the historical city Hamath Province. The Ismaili Shia's are concentrated in the Salamiyah region of Hamah Province; approximately 10,000 more inhabit the mountains of Al Ladhiqiyah Province. Most of the remaining Shia Shia Islam , is the second largest denomination of Islam, after Sunni Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'as but the terms Shiites or Shi'ites are common Anglicisations. "Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shī‘atu ‘Alī (شيعة علي), meaning "the followers of Ali" or "the faction of Ali& live in the region of Aleppo Aleppo , located in northern Syria, is the largest Syrian city and the most populous in the Levant, with a population of 2,181,061 (2004 official census) and the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian Governorate with a population of more than 4,507,000 (2009 estimate). The Jewish The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation. Converts to Judaism, whose status as Jews within the Jewish ethnos community is also centered in the Aleppo area, as are the Yazidis The Yazidi are members of a Kurdish religion with ancient Indo-European roots. They are primarily a Kurdish-speaking people living in the Mosul region of northern Iraq, with additional communities in Transcaucasia, Armenia, Turkey, and Syria in decline since the 1990s - their members emigrating to Europe, especially to Germany. Their religion,, many of whom inhabit the Jabal Siman and about half of whom live in the vicinity of Amuda in the al-Jazirah.
Religion permeates life in all but the most sophisticated social groups. The Syrian tends to view religion instrumentally, depending on the deity and subsidiary powers to aid in times of trouble, solve problems, and assure success. The expressions bismallah (in the name of Allah Allah (Arabic: الله Allāh, IPA: [ʔalˤːɑːh] ) is the standard Arabic word for God. While the term is best known in the West for its use by Muslims as a reference to God, it is used by Arabs of all Abrahamic faiths, including Mizrahi Jews, Baha'is and Eastern Orthodox Christians, in reference to "God". The term was also used) and inshallah (if Allah is willing) are commonly heard, expressing the individual's literal dependence on divine powers for his well-being.
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Islam
Main article: Islam in Syria Islam in Syria comprises 87% of the total population. Sunnis make up 74% of the total, mostly of Arab and Kurdish ethnicities. Shia's make up the remaining 13%: Alawites, Ismailis, and Twelvers. Alawites are the pre-dominant Shia group, followed by Twelvers and Ismailis. Sunnis are mainly of the Shafi'i madhhab with pockets of Hanafi and HanbaliSunnis
The largest religious group in Syria is the Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam, also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘ah or Ahl as-Sunnah (Arabic: أهل السنة) for short. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Orthodox Islam. The word "Sunni" comes from the term Sunnah (Arabic: سنة), which refers to the words and actions or example of the Islamic Muslims which makes up around 74% of the population,[1] of whom about 80 percent are native Syrian Arabs Arab people or Arabs (العرب al-ʿarab) are a panethnicity of peoples of various ancestral origins, religious backgrounds and historic identities, whose members, on an individual basis, identify as such on one or more of linguistic, cultural, political, or genealogical grounds. Those self-identifying as Arab, however, rarely do so with it as, with the remainder being Kurds The Kurds are an Ethnic-Iranian ethnolinguistic group mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Substantial Kurdish communities also exist in the cities of western Turkey, and they can also be found in Armenia, Georgia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Russia, Lebanon and, in recent decades,, Turkomans The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, northern Iraq and in northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai, Gagauz and Salar, Circassians The Circassians are a North Caucasian nation and an ethnic group who belong to one of the oldest indigenous peoples of the Caucasus and are among the original inhabitants of the Caucasus. They dwelled and inhabited the whole Northwestern region of the Caucasus and were once among the majority living in the Caucasus before the Russian conquest of, and Palestinians The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs (Arabic: الفلسطينيون, al-filasTīnīyyūn; Arabic: العرب الفلسطينيون, al-`Arab al-filasTīnīyyūn), are an Arabic-speaking people with family origins in Palestine. The total Palestinian population is estimated at approximately 12 million,. Sunni Islam sets the religious tone for Syria and provides the country's basic values. Sunnis follow nearly all occupations, belong to all social groups and nearly every political party, and live in all parts of the country. There are only two provinces in which they are not a majority: Al-Suwayda, where Druzes predominate, and Al Ladhiqiyah, where Alawis are a majority. In Al Hasakah, Sunnis form a majority, but most of them are Kurds The Kurds are an Ethnic-Iranian ethnolinguistic group mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Substantial Kurdish communities also exist in the cities of western Turkey, and they can also be found in Armenia, Georgia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Russia, Lebanon and, in recent decades, rather than Arabs Arab people or Arabs (العرب al-ʿarab) are a panethnicity of peoples of various ancestral origins, religious backgrounds and historic identities, whose members, on an individual basis, identify as such on one or more of linguistic, cultural, political, or genealogical grounds. Those self-identifying as Arab, however, rarely do so with it as.
Of the four major schools of Islamic law, represented in Syria are the Shafii Sunni Islam The Shāfi‘ī madhhab is one of the four schools of fiqh, or religious law, within the Sunni branch of Islam. The Shāfi‘ī school of fiqh is named after Imām ash-Shāfi‘ī. The other three schools of Islamic law are Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali school and the more liberal Hanafi The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab (schools of law) in jurisprudence (Fiqh) within Sunni Islam, the other three schools of thought being Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Iraqi scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit (Arabic: أبو حنيفة النعمان بن ثابت) (699 - 767CE /89 - 157AH), school, which places greater emphasis on analogical deduction and bases decisions more on precedents set in previous cases than on literal interpretation of the Quran The Qur’an is the central religious verbal text of Islam, also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Koran, Qur’ān, or Al-Qur’ān. Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the verbal book of divine guidance and direction for mankind. Muslims also consider the original Arabic verbal text to be the final revelation of God or Sunna. Secularization is spreading among Sunnis, especially the younger ones in urban areas and in the military services. After the first coup d'état in 1949, the waqfs were taken out of private religious hands and put under government control. Civil codes have greatly modified the authority of Islamic laws, and the educational role of Muslim religious leaders is declining with the gradual disappearance of kuttabs, the traditional mosque-affiliated schools. Despite civil codes introduced in the past years, Syria maintains a dual system of sharia and civil courts.
Shi'a
The Shia Shia Islam , is the second largest denomination of Islam, after Sunni Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'as but the terms Shiites or Shi'ites are common Anglicisations. "Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shī‘atu ‘Alī (شيعة علي), meaning "the followers of Ali" or "the faction of Ali&, including Alawites The Alawis, also known as Alawites, Nusayris and Ansaris are a prominent minority religious group in Syria who describe themselves as a sect of Shī‘ah Islam. Alawis are distinct from the Turkish-based Alevi religious sect, although the terms share similar etymologies, Ismailis and Twelvers Twelver or Imami Shīa Islam is the largest branch of Shī‘ī (Shi'a) Islam. Adherents of Twelver Shī‘ism are commonly referred to as Twelvers, which is derived from their belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imāms and their belief that the Mahdi will be none other than the returned Twelfth Imam that disappeared, make up a total of 13% of the population.[1] The current president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad Dr. Bashar al-Assad is the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party, and the son of former President Hafez al-Assad is Shia. In religious affairs, they look to Shia centers in Iraq Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūrīyat Al-Irāq, Kurdish: كؤماری عهراق, Komara Îraqê, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܥܸܪܵܩ) is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the, especially Karbala Karbala is a city in Iraq, located about 100 km (60 mi) southwest of Baghdad at 32.61°N, 44.08°E. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorate, with an estimated population of 572,300 people (2003). The city is best known as the location of the Battle of Karbala, and is amongst the holiest cities for Shī‘ah Muslims after Makkah, Madinah, and and Al-Najaf, and to Iran Iran (Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and formerly known as Persia, is a country in Central Eurasia and Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was widely known as Persia. Both Persia and Iran are. However, Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy (Pahlavi dynasty) under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution, and Syria's alliance with Iran Iran (Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and formerly known as Persia, is a country in Central Eurasia and Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was widely known as Persia. Both Persia and Iran are in its war with Iraq Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūrīyat Al-Irāq, Kurdish: كؤماری عهراق, Komara Îraqê, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܥܸܪܵܩ) is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the, elevated the prestige of Syria's Shia minority. Common sites for Shia pilgrimage include the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque is a shrine located in Damascus, Syria, that contains the grave of Zaynab daughter of ‘Alī and Fātimah, and granddaughter of Muhammad (Arabic: زينب بنت علي ), Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque, the Umayyad Mosque The Ummayad Mosque, also known as the Grand Mosque of Damascus , is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. Located in one of the holiest sites in the old city of Damascus, it is of great architectural importance, and Bab Saghir Cemetery. However, the government of Syria has viewed with caution the resurgence of Shia Islamic fervor in Syria and has taken steps to dampen it.
Ismailis
Ismailis are divided into two major groups, the Mustafians and the Nizaris. The Ismailis of Syria, numbering about 200,000, are predominantly Nizaris. Originally clustered in Al Ladhiqiyah Province, most of the Syrian Ismailis have resettled south of Salamiyah on land granted to the Ismaili community by Abdul Hamid II His Imperial Majesty, The Sultan Abdülhamid II, Emperor of the Ottomans, Caliph of the Faithful, , (Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی `Abdü’l-Ḥamīd-i sânî, Turkish: İkinci Abdülhamit) (21/22 September 1842 – 10 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He oversaw a period of decline in the power and extent, sultan of the Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire was a regime that lasted from 1299 to 1923 from 1876 to 1909. A few thousand Ismailis live in the mountains west of Hamah, and about 5,000 are in Al Ladhiqiyah (Latakia Latakia or Latakiyah (Arabic: اللَاذِقِيَّة Al-Ladhiqiyah) is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages. Its population in 2009 was 650,558 and consisted of Sunnis, Alawites). The western mountain group is poor and suffers from land hunger and overpopulation--resulting in a drift toward the wealthier eastern areas as well as seasonal migration to the Salamiyah area, where many of them find employment at harvest-time. The wealthier Ismailis of Salamiyah have fertile and well-watered land and are regarded as clannish, proud, and tough.
Alawis
The Alawis, and Nusayris, who together number about 1,350,000, constitute Syria's largest religious minority. They live chiefly along the coast in Al Ladhiqiyah/Latakia Latakia or Latakiyah (Arabic: اللَاذِقِيَّة Al-Ladhiqiyah) is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages. Its population in 2009 was 650,558 and consisted of Sunnis, Alawites Province, where they form over 60 percent of the rural population. For centuries, the Alawis constituted Syria's most repressed and exploited minority. Most were indentured servants and tenant farmers or sharecroppers working for Sunni landowners. However, after Alawi President Hafez Assad and his family clan came to power in 1970, the living condition of the Alawis improved considerably. Split by sectional rivalries as the Alawis lack a single, powerful ruling family, has lead, since independence, to the emergence of many individual Alawis who have attained power and prestige as military officers. Although they are settled cultivators, Alawis gather into kin groups much like those of pastoral nomads. The four Alawi confederations, each divided into tribes, are Kalbiyah, Khaiyatin, Haddadin, and Matawirah. Alawis complete Muslims.
Druzes
The Druze community, at 3% of the population,[1] continued to be the overwhelming majority in the Jabal al Arab, a rugged and mountainous region in southwestern Syria. The Druze religion is a tenth-century offshoot of Islam, but Muslims view Druzes as heretical for accepting the divinity of al-Hakim, the third Fatimid caliph of Egypt.
Christianity
Main article: Christianity in SyriaThe Christian communities of Syria, which comprise about 10% of the population,[1] spring from two great traditions. Because both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism were introduced by missionaries, a small number of Syrians are members of Western denominations. The vast majority, however, belong to the Eastern communions, which have existed in Syria since the earliest days of Christianity. The main Eastern groups are the autonomous Orthodox churches; the Uniate churches, which are in communion with Rome; and the independent Nestorian church. Even though each group forms a separate community, Christians nevertheless cooperate increasingly, largely because of their fear of the Muslim majority. The largest Christian denomination in Syria is the Greek Orthodox Church (1.1 million). The Syrian Orthodox Church (0.700) is the second largest Syrian Christian group. Among the Uniate churches, the largest is the Syrian Catholic church, a Uniate offshoot of the Syrian Orthodox church, which uses the same liturgy as the Maronites and has a similar background. The Greek Catholic Church, also known as the Melkite church, is a Uniate offshoot of the Greek Orthodox and, like it, uses Greek and Arabic. Catholics number about 375,000., most of are Melkites. Armenians number about 150,000, of whom a minortiy of 20-30% (?) are Catholics. In 1920 Syria was 30% Christian. Christians have emigrated in higher numbers than Muslims and have a lower birth rate.
With the exception of the Armenians, most Syrian Christians are Arab, sharing the pride of Muslims in the Islamic-Arabic tradition and in Syria's special role in that tradition. Many Christians, particularly the Eastern Orthodox, have joined in the Arab nationalist movement and some are changing their Westernized names to Arabic ones. More Syrian Arab Christians participate in proportion to their number in political and administrative affairs than do Muslims. Especially among the young, relations between Christians and Muslims are improving.
There are several social differences between Christians and Muslims. For example, Syrian Christians are more highly urbanized than Muslims;many live either in or around Damascus, Aleppo, Hamah, or Latakia, and there are relatively fewer of them in the lower income groups. Proportionately more Christians than Muslims are educated beyond the primary level, and there are relatively more of them in white-collar and professional occupations. The education that Christians receive has differed in kind from that of Muslims in the sense that many more children of Christian parents have attended Western-oriented foreign and private schools.
The presence of the Christian communities is expressed also by the presence of many monasteries in several parts of the country.
Judaism
Most Jews now living in the Arab world belong to communities dating back to Old Testament times or originating as colonies of refugees fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. In Syria, Jews of both origins, numbering altogether fewer than 3,000 in 1987, are found. After a mass-emigration in 1992, today fewer than 200 Jews live in Syria, mostly in the capital. A Syrian Jew is Arabic-speaking and is barely distinguishable from the Arabs around him. In Syria, as elsewhere, the degree to which Jews submit to the disciplines of their religion varies.
The government treats the Jews as a religious community and not as a racial group. Official documents refer to them as musawiyin (followers of Moses) and not yahudin (Jews). The government's translation into English of musawiyin is "Judists."
Although the Jewish community continues to exercise a certain authority over the personal status of its members, as a whole it is under considerable restriction, more because of political factors than religious ones. The economic freedom of Jews is limited, and they are under continual surveillance by the police. Their situation, although not good before the June 1967 War, has reportedly deteriorated considerably since then.
The synagogues of the Jewish community have a protected status by the Syrian government.
Yazidis
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Yazidis, whose religion dates back to the time of the Umayyad caliphate (A.D. 661-750), migrated from southern Iraq and settled in their present mountainous stronghold--Jabal Sinjar in northern Iraq. Although some are scattered in Iran, Turkey, and the Caucasus, Iraq is the center of their religious life, the home of their amir, and the site (north of Mosul) of the tomb of their most revered saint, Shaykh Adi.
In 1964, there were about 10,000 Yazidis in Syria, primarily in the Jazirah and at Aleppo; population data were not available in 1987. Once seminomadic, most Yazidis now are settled; they have no great chiefs and, although generally Kurdish-speaking, gradually are being assimilated into the surrounding Arab population.
Yazidis generally refuse to discuss their faith which, in any case, is known fully to only a few among them. The Yazidi religion has elements of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as of paganism. Yazidis consider the Bible and the Qur'an as sacred. Sometimes inaccurately called "devil worshipers" by other Syrians, Yazidis go to considerable lengths to placate a fallen angel symbolized as a sacred peacock called Malik Taus.
Folk spiritual beliefs
In addition to the beliefs taught by the organized religions, many people believe strongly in powers of good and evil and in the efficacy of local saints. The former beliefs are especially marked among the beduin, who use amulets, charms, and incantations as protective devices against the evil power of jinns (spirits) and the evil eye. Belief in saints is widespread among nonbeduin populations. Most villages contain a saint's shrine, often the grave of a local person considered to have led a particularly exemplary life. Believers, especially women, visit these shrines to pray for help, good fortune, and protection. Although the identification of the individual with his religious community is strong, belief in saints is not limited to one religious group. Persons routinely revere saints who were members of other religious communities and, in many cases, members of various faiths pray at the same shrine.
Unorthodox religious beliefs of this kind are probably more common among women than men. Because they are excluded by the social separation of the sexes from much of the formal religious life of the community, women attempt to meet their own spiritual needs through informal and unorthodox religious beliefs and practices, which are passed on from generation to generation.
1943 Syrian census
Sunni Muslims: 1.971.053 Alawis: 325.311 Druzes: 87.184 Ismailis: 28.527 Shi'a Muslims: 12.742 Christians: 403.036 Jews: 29.770 Yazidis: 2.788 TOTAL: 2.860.411;
Religion and law
See also: Freedom of religion in SyriaIn matters of personal status, such as birth, marriage, and inheritance, the Christian, Jewish, and Druze minorities follow their own legal systems. All other groups, in such matters, come under the jurisdiction of the Muslim code.
Although the faiths theoretically enjoy equal legal status, to some extent Islam is favored. Despite guarantees of religious freedom, some observers maintain that the conditions of the non-Muslim minorities have been steadily deteriorating, especially since the June 1967 war. An instance of this deterioration was the nationalization of over 300 Christian schools, together with approximately 75 private Muslim schools, in the autumn of 1967. Since the early 1960s, heavy emigration of Christians has been noted; in fact, some authorities state that at least 50 percent of the 600,000 people who left during the decade ending in 1968 were Christians. In recent decades, however, emigration has slowed..
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Syria - International Religious Freedom Report 2006". U.S. Department of State. 2006. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71432.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
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American Chronicle
The same method is now applied for the targeted parts of Western Iran, Northern Iraq, SE Turkey, and Eastern Syria . The Apostate Freemasonic Lodge that ...
