This article presents a brief history of the Arab religions and highlights the differences between them. It also examines the different communities of Christians and Jews. It ends with a discussion on the importance and value of anthropological sensibility for interpreting Arabic texts. It also covers the techniques of historical and ethnological research. It seeks to increase appreciation for the variety of Arab religious traditions.
Islam
Islam is the main religion of the Arab world. The history of Islam dates back to the 7th century and it was established in Arabia and Syria. It is similar to the Jewish and Christian religions and its roots are in pre-Islamic Arab poetry. Prophet Muhammad encouraged the Arab past by glorifying and revitalizing it in his writings. Even the Koran contains a verse that describes Allah as the eternal language, lisanal-arab.
Assyrian religions
The Assyrian faith is based on Christianity. It is closely associated to Easter, one of Christianity's most important festivals. While the Gregorian calendar has been adopted by the Assyrian Church of the East as well as other churches based in the Near East, many Assyrians continue to follow the Julian calendar. Assyrians fast during Lent and avoid eating meat and other animal products.
Christian communities in Lebanon
The Christian community of Lebanon is made up of four churches: the Orthodox Church and Maronite Catholic Church as well as the Armenian Apostolic Church and Greek Orthodox Church. The largest church, the Maronite Church (which is in full communion) is the Catholic Church. The Orthodox Church, meanwhile, is the second largest. It has approximately one-third population. Christians in Lebanon hold 64 of the 64 seats in parliament. Maronites hold 34 seats, while the Eastern Orthodox Church and Armenian Apostolic Church each hold about five seats. The Protestant Church also holds one of the seats.
Jews
Pew Research Center conducted an Israeli national survey about their religious affiliation. This survey included 5,601 Jewish, Arab, and Palestinian respondents who lived in Israel, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. The survey also included religiously unaffiliated respondents.
Dualists
While dualists in the arab religions don't necessarily believe in one God, they do believe that there is a divine being. Dualists believe that the soul is not impervious to destruction, but rather a metaphysical substance which interacts with the body. The Devil was believed to have created the human bodies in medieval heresy. Bogomils dualism and qualified dualism are examples of this approach.
Sabians
The Sabians, an ancient, historic Arab religion are known as the Sabians. They existed prior to the Prophet Muhammad and were familiar with the Zabur. They fell under Islamic authority in 639 AD. They are classified in the protected religion category, but were subjugated under the pact by Umar.