Middle East Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Religions=== {{Main|Religion in the Middle East}} [[File:Mosque.jpg|thumb|Islam is the largest religion in the Middle East. Here, Muslim men are [[prostration|prostrating]] during prayer in a mosque.]] The Middle East is very diverse when it comes to [[Major religious groups|religions]], many of which originated there. [[Islam]] is the largest religion in the Middle East, but other faiths that originated there, such as [[Judaism]] and [[Christianity]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East|first=Philip |last=Jenkins|year= 2020| isbn=978-1538124185| page =xlviii |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|quote=The Middle East still stands at the heart of the Christian world. After all, it is the birthplace, and the death place, of Christ, and the cradle of the Christian tradition.}}</ref> are also well represented. [[Christianity in the Middle East|Christian communities]] have [[Role of Christianity in civilization|played a vital role]] in the Middle East,<ref>{{cite book|title=Jews, Antisemitism, and the Middle East|first=Michael |last=Curtis|year= 2017| isbn=978-1351510721| page =173|publisher=Routledge|quote=Christian communities and individuals have played a vital role in the Middle East, the cradle of Christianity as of other religions.}}</ref> and they represent 40.5% of Lebanon, where the [[President of Lebanon|Lebanese president]], half of the cabinet, and half of the parliament follow one of the various Lebanese Christian rites. There are also important minority religions like the [[Baháʼí Faith]], [[Yarsanism]], [[Yazidis]]m,<ref name="Fuccaro" >{{cite book |author1=Nelida Fuccaro |title=The Other Kurds: Yazidis in Colonial Iraq |date=1999 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |location=London & New York |isbn=1860641709 |page=9}}</ref> [[Zoroastrianism]], [[Mandaeism]], [[Druze]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Middle East Patterns: Places, People, and Politics| first=Colbert|last= C. Held|year= 2008| isbn= 978-0429962004| page =109|publisher=Routledge|quote= 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.}}</ref> and [[Shabak people#Religious beliefs|Shabakism]], and in ancient times the region was home to [[ancient Mesopotamian religion|Mesopotamian religions]], [[ancient Canaanite religion|Canaanite religions]], [[Manichaeism]], [[Mithraic mysteries|Mithraism]] and various [[monotheist]] [[gnostic]] sects. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page