Islam in Lebanon is divided between four
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
sects; Shiites, Sunnis,
AlawiteThe Alawis or Alawites are a prominent minority religious group in Syria who describe themselves as a sect of Shī‘ah Islam...
s, and Ismailis including the
DruzeThe Druze are a religious community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, whose traditional religion is said to have begun as an offshoot of Islam, but is unique in its incorporation of Gnostic, neo-Platonic and other philosophies, similar to other followers of Ismaili Shi'a...
. All but Ismailis enjoy proportional representation in
parliamentFor the current list of Parliamentarians see Members of the 2009-2013 Lebanese ParliamentThe Parliament of Lebanon is the Lebanese national legislature. It is elected to a four-year term by universal adult suffrage in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and...
.
Muslims (including Druze) account for 59.7% of the total population of Lebanon, where 39% are Christians. About 25% of the
LebaneseLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
population is Sunni, concentrated largely in coastal cities. Shi'is - about 35% of the total population of Lebanon - live mostly in the northern area of the
Beqaa ValleyBeqaa is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. The Romans considered the Beqaa Valley to be a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region.-Geography:The Beqaa is a fertile valley in Lebanon, located about 30 km east of Beirut...
and southern Lebanon.
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Islam in Lebanon is divided between four
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
sects; Shiites, Sunnis,
AlawiteThe Alawis or Alawites are a prominent minority religious group in Syria who describe themselves as a sect of Shī‘ah Islam...
s, and Ismailis including the
DruzeThe Druze are a religious community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, whose traditional religion is said to have begun as an offshoot of Islam, but is unique in its incorporation of Gnostic, neo-Platonic and other philosophies, similar to other followers of Ismaili Shi'a...
. All but Ismailis enjoy proportional representation in
parliamentFor the current list of Parliamentarians see Members of the 2009-2013 Lebanese ParliamentThe Parliament of Lebanon is the Lebanese national legislature. It is elected to a four-year term by universal adult suffrage in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and...
.
Muslims (including Druze) account for 59.7% of the total population of Lebanon, where 39% are Christians. About 25% of the
LebaneseLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
population is Sunni, concentrated largely in coastal cities. Shi'is - about 35% of the total population of Lebanon - live mostly in the northern area of the
Beqaa ValleyBeqaa is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. The Romans considered the Beqaa Valley to be a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region.-Geography:The Beqaa is a fertile valley in Lebanon, located about 30 km east of Beirut...
and southern Lebanon. A religious data in 1985 suggests that the number of Muslims has risen, with 75% compared with Christians at 25%.. By the 1980s Shi'is became a large confessional group in
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
, leading to demands for better educational and employment opportunities and redistribution of power based on actual numbers.
DruzeThe Druze are a religious community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, whose traditional religion is said to have begun as an offshoot of Islam, but is unique in its incorporation of Gnostic, neo-Platonic and other philosophies, similar to other followers of Ismaili Shi'a...
constitute about 5 percent of the population. Alawis are numerically insignificant but have risen in importance since the
Gulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , known also as the Gulf War, the First Gulf War,or often as the Second Gulf War and by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as The Mother of all Battles, or commonly as Desert Storm, for the military response...
of 1990-1991 due to the growing influence of
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
, where Alawis dominate the government. Ismailis number only a few hundred and play no significant political role. Religious officials of each sect maintain jurisdiction over personal status law. The distribution of political power is based on religious affiliation: the president must be Maronite Catholic Christian, the speaker of the parliament must be Shiite Muslim and the prime minister must be Sunni Muslim.
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