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| Home Front: Politix |
| Sunni/Shi'ite divide |
| 2007-01-30 |
| Most Shi'ite Muslims across the Middle East mark on Tuesday the climax of the Ashura religious festival, which has been politicised by sectarian violence in Iraq and Lebanon. In Kerbala, 70 km (40 miles) north of Najaf, up to 1.5 millions pilgrims gathered to mark Ashura -- the death in battle of Mohammad's grandson in 680, which confirmed the split in Islam between rival claimants to the Prophet's succession. Here are details of comparative numbers of Sunnis and Shi'ite believers. * OVERALL VIEW: -- The majority of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide (projected almost to double by 2010) follow the Sunni branch of Islam with 10-15 percent following the Shi'ite branch. -- Shi'ite populations constitute a majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Azerbaijan. -- There are also significant Shi'ite populations in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen. MIDDLE EAST/CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES: AFGHANISTAN: Population: At least 30 million: Muslims make up 99 percent of the population (80 percent Sunni, 19 percent Shi'ite). AZERBAIJAN: Population: 8 million: Islam is the main religion of whom around 90 percent are Shi'ite. There are small Orthodox Russian and Orthodox Armenian minorities. IRAN: Population: 70 million. The Shi'ite sect of Islam predominates (89 percent), with some Sunni Muslims (9 percent). There are also Baha'i, Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian minorities. IRAQ: Population: 26 million: Although Shi'ites are the minority sect of Islam, they form some 60 percent of Iraq's population and have dominated the government following the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. KUWAIT: Population: 2.7 million of whom around 1 million are actually Kuwaitis. In Kuwait sectarian difference is less a politically charged issue, since Shi'ites -- who form one third of the 1 million -- occupy an affluent place in society. LEBANON: Population: 4.2 million: Muslims make up just over 65 percent of the population, slightly over half of whom are Shi'ites (33 percent). Sunni Muslims make up 27 percent. There is a large Christian population. SAUDI ARABIA: Population: 24 million including around 7 million foreign workers. Most Saudi citizens belong to the austere Wahhabi branch of Sunni Islam (around 90 percent). A sizeable Shi'ite Muslim minority (10 percent) lives mainly in the large oil-producing Eastern Province. SYRIA: Population: 19.5 million: Mainly Sunni Muslim (74 percent) and also (16 percent) Alawites, Shi'ite and Ismailis. There are minority Christian denominations. TURKEY: Population: 73 million: mainly Muslim (80 percent Sunni and 20 percent Shi'ite, including the non-orthodox Alevi). There is a very small Christian minority. YEMEN: Population: 19 million: Sunni Muslims make up most of Yemen's population while Shi'ite Muslims account for about 15 percent of the population. S |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #8 PS - Well you MIGHT not be killed |
| Posted by: Gloque Elmang4914 2007-01-30 23:19 |
| #7 The appeal for members are you get complete control over woman and you won't be killed as an infidel. |
| Posted by: Gloque Elmang4914 2007-01-30 23:15 |
| #6 do = due. *sigh* |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-01-30 20:13 |
| #5 And have each of those children live to adulthood. Not bloody likely anyway, considerably less likely the way things are going, if only do to red-on-red activity. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-01-30 20:12 |
| #4 It is a garbage statistic, thrown out to kill debate; sort of like the Lancet 100,000 dead civilians crap. Remember the saying : "There are lies, damn lies, and statistics." This is propaganda designed to kill any notion of defeating Muslim terrorism, and make one resigned to the terrorists continuing on ad nauseum into the future. Effectively, every Muslim female of child bearing years {12 to 38 or so} would have to have THREE children each within THREE years for those numbers to occur. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2007-01-30 19:28 |
| #3 The notion the planet is somehow going to be overrun with 3.2 billion Muslims in just over three years is absurd. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-01-30 16:14 |
| #2 The complicating factor is the Persian/Arab conflict which predates Islam altogether. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-01-30 10:39 |
| #1 The majority of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide (projected almost to double by 2010) follow the Sunni branch of Islam with 10-15 percent following the Shi'ite branch. Whew. That's faster than the doubling time of most cancers. I don't get the appeal of islam for people. If the majority of Iraq is Shi'ite and Iran is largely Shi'ite, it seems inevitable that Iraq will be closely aligned with Iran. In my mind that seems a problem. Am I missing something? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-01-30 09:28 |