978-1-4222-3442-6

An Iraqi Muslim faces the holy city of Mecca to pray. About 97 percent of Iraq’s people are adherents of Islam, the majority belonging to the Shia branch of the faith.

I t is impossible to understand Iraq without understanding the country’s most important religion, Islam. The Islamic faith is a vital part of everything Iraqis do. Islam is the world’s second- largest religion; there are more than a billion Muslims, and many of them live in the Middle East and Asia. In Iraq, almost 97 percent of the people are Muslim. I SLAM The name of this monotheistic religion, Islam, comes from the Arabic verb aslama , which means “to surrender.” Muslims, or fol- lowers of Islam, are those who surrender to the will of Allah, who is considered the one true God. Muslims believe that in the seventh century CE , Allah spoke through the Angel Gabriel to Muhammad. Over a period of 22 years, the Prophet, as Muhammad is called, received Allah’s messages and taught them to his followers. At first Religion, Politics, and the Economy

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