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A common misconception about the Middle East and North Africa is that everyone is Muslim. However, with 93% of the population following Islam, who are the underrepresented remaining 7%?
Christianity
Making up 20% of the population in the Middle East before, Christians in the Middle East now consist of only 5% of the population. Regions with a significant Christian population include Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Jordan. Christianity in the Middle East is practiced slightly differently than how it is in Europe and North America, with Christians avoiding pork and referring to their God as Allah. Some christian women also wear the headscarf and a veil during mass. In Lebanon, it is the law for the president to be a Christian.
Judaism
The mass majority of Jews in the Middle East reside in Israel, taking up 75% of the population. Before the state of Israel, Jews in the Middle East mostly lived in Morocco, Iran, Yemen, Iraq and Syria. The Middle East is strongly represented in the history of Judaism, with Abraham and Sarah hailing from modern day Iraq and believing that the land of Canaan (Palestine, Lebanon and parts of Syria and Jordan) should be inherited by Jews. The biggest sect of Jews that either live in Israel hailing from the Middle East or stayed put are the Mizrahi Jews. A famous Middle Eastern Jew is Charles Saatchi, who is from Iraq.
Zoroastrianism
What is now considered one of the smallest religions in the world, Zoroastrianism used to be one of the worlds most powerful after being founded 3500 years ago. In the Middle East, the biggest Zoroastrianism community is in Iran with 25,000 members. This polytheistic religion follows the Iranian prophet Zoroaster and the holy book, the Avesta which has all of his teachings recorded. In addition, fire is used as a form of purification and there is even a fire temple in London.
Yazidi
Yazidis in the Middle East are usually found in Iraq, Syria and Iran but, there are roughly a million of them. Yazidis do not view themselves as descendants from Adam and Eve rather, just Adam. The main divinity that is worshiped by Yazidis is the peacock angel known as Malak Ta'us. He is believed to be the chief being that God, called Yasdan, commanded to take care of the world. One cannot convert to this religion, the requirement is to be born into it. The Yazidis are being targeted by ISIS especially, being killed in their thousands in order to eradicate them.
Druze
Those of the Druze faith take up as many as 2 million of the Middle Eastern population, mostly residing in Syria, Lebanon and Israel although the religion was found in Egypt. Despite being an Abrahamic religion, followers believe in reincarnation. ISIS are also targeting those of the Druze faith to cleanse the Middle East of any non-Islamic influences. A famous follower of the Druze faith is Amal Clooney.
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