Intro to Islam in Iraq

Islam Today: Demographics There are an estimated 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide Approximately 1/5th of the world's population Where Do Muslims Live? Only 18% of Muslims live in the Arab world 20% are found in Sub-Saharan Africa 30% in the South Asian region of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh The world's largest single Muslim community is in Indonesia The Top 9: 1) Indonesia, 2) Pakistan, 3) Bangladesh, 4) India, 5) Turkey, 6) Iran, 7) Egypt, 8) Nigeria, and 9) China

Two Main Braches of Islam There are two main branches of Islam today Sunni recognize the male heirs of the first 4 elected (according to Muhammad's instruction) caliphs (or spiritual heads) after Muhammad’s death Shiite recognize the decedents of only the 4th caliphs—Ali (M’s son-in-law & cousin), the only true descendent of Muhammad In all other ways Sunni and Shiite are very similar

Muslims view other religions: Muslims believe that God had previously revealed Himself to the earlier prophets of the Jews and Christians Muslims therefore accept the teachings of both the Jewish Torah and the Christian Gospels They believe that Islam is the perfection of the religion Moses

The 5 Pillars of Islam Allah is the one and only true god and Muhammad is his prophet. Worship Allah 5 times a day (dawn, noon, afternoon, dusk, night) Followers must fast during the month of Ramadan Followers must give to charity Followers should take a trip to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if that is possible.

The Spread of Islam During the 8th Century (700s AD), one hundred years after M’s death, Islam spreads through three continents The empire spread from Spain to the edge of India Map of the expansion of Islam. 7th-8th centuries

Brief History of Iraq

How did we get here? Iraq's modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sevres. Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom. A monarchy was established in 1921 and Iraq gained its independence in 1932. In 1958 the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic was created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Ba’ath party from 1968-2003. After Iraq was invaded by America and coalition forces in 2003, Saddam Hussein and the Ba’ath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005

Ba’athists Saddam’s Ba’athist party was secular but included more Sunnis than Shiites (although a large number of Shiites were part of the party and worked in governmental positions). In 1980, the Iran-Iraq War started over a history of border disputes and fears that the Iranian Revolution (1979) would inspire insurgency among Iraq’s Shiite majority (also because Iraq thought that Iran would be an easy target after their revolution)

America’s involvement In 2003, the US led a coalition of forces and invaded Iraq to overthrow the government of Saddam Hussein, who they thought had weapons of mass destruction that could harm Americans. America also (wrongly) believed that he was working with Al Qaeda

America’s involvement cont. As the war dragged on, many Iraqis became angry with the American occupation. This encouraged support for anti-American groups (such as Al Qaeda) to move into Iraq and be able to grow. The power vacuum left behind after the removal of Saddam Hussein also helped Al Qaeda to grow in Iraq