What religion are the majority of Arab-Americans?
494737
The majority may be Muslim, but I've met plenty of Christians, too, particularly among the Lebanese-American community. And the Christians I've met among them don't take too kindly to ignorant people constantly assuming that they're Muslim. They're Christian, and have been so for generations.
625730
I am Muslim, a convert from christianity. I understand fully, I have had the same problem. My mom is a christian and very pro-Israel. She knows that I am Muslim but she forbids me to wear a Hijab or openly practice my religion. She had threatened to kick me out of the house other times for how I vote in elections so, I don't debate my religion with her. I agree with what the others said here that it is those radicals that give us a bad name. But I also think it is because of just pure ignorance of the truth mostly this ignorance is spread by the media.  It even extends to just being Arab or supporting the Arabs. I am originally American but I think of myself as an Arabist. I was in 10th grade english and the teacher announced to the whole class that I was with the Arabs. I didn't expect that but maybe it was because the teacher was Jewish but the whole class looked at me and I thought that I was going to be beaten up by how some of the kids were looking at me. This was shortly after 9/11 too. But above it all, I found happiness, I am happily married to an Egyptian Muslim, and will be making the Hajj in November, Inshallah. Those cartoons were overly offensive and shows why there is still the whole rift between East and West. Regardless of what those people say or do, keep your head up high and never allow them to get to you. Their fate like everything else is in Allah's hands.
474209
there Muslim Arabs Christan Arabs Jewish Arabs so which one are you talking about??\ni really can't get what you mean\nif you mean Muslims then Muslims pray 5 times a day
935666
one thing you dont want to call them is arabs.. they are very adament about "NOT" being arab... I get this a lot from them... I am american-arab myself. and my american family thinks anyone from the middle east is arab.. but so not true.. Israelis are not arab, Turkish folks are not arab, Iranians are not arab etc etc.. they have their own language and their own culture.. even though these groups share the historic like culture of desert dwelings, dark skin, olive complected, etc etc of the past.. Iranians are muslims.. majority are shiite muslims which have a bit of somedifferent viewpoints from other muslims, like Saudi's for example which are mainly sunni muslims..
585514
I would suggest that average Americans don't consider the 'average' Arab as an enemy but rather that there are a proportion of Arabs that seem hell bent (no theology intended) on destroying any civil link between the societies.  I also think that there is an ignorance amongst many Americans re the difference between an Arab and a Muslim.\n\nIt is difficult to criticise this as a large amount of the Arab/Muslim media do seem to be very keen to show large and very aggressive protests against something as benal as a cartoon.  Also crowds dancing and cheering around the mulilated remains of murdered western contractors hardly gives a good impression and will have a disproportionate effect from the numbers actually involved.\n\nI really feel for the moderate Arabs/Islamists who genuinely believe that Islam/the nature of the Arab world has been corrupted; I also don't agree with many of the Western countries dealings with the Middle East at the moment.\n\nBridging the gap will be difficult as there will always be groups (probably on both 'sides') intent on fueling any resentment.  I do think that the Islamic hierarchy (as well as the Arab media) could do a lot to take a more moderate view of world events and be quicker to condem terrorism.  \n\nThe example of the reaction to the Dutch cartoons noted above shocked so many people that I know - not because of the offence but the amazing over-reaction and double standards being shown (bearing in mind the lack of sensitivity to the Jews shown in the Arab media).  Why would people kill because of this sort of trivia? - if your religion and faith is strong then accept that sometimes others will criticise or even lampoon it ... I don't see book stores on fire due to the Da Vinci Code or any newspaper staff being killed due to the regular cartoons mocking religeous personalities in the UK.\n\nThe central theme is that folks can't understand what drives the fundamentaists to the sort of extremes we see every day ... even anger doesn't seem to explain it.\n\nPeace (hopefuly) out.
668094
The United States is overwhelmingly Christian with Protestant denominations making up the majority at 52%, followed by Roman Catholics (24%), Mormon (1%), Jewish (1%), Muslim (1%), other (10%), and none (variously estimated at from 10% to 15%).[47] The country is also noteworthy for its relatively high level of religiosity among developed nations. About 38% of Americans say they attend religious services at least once a week,[58] and 53% of Americans consider religion to be very important in their lives, as compared to 16% in Britain, 14% in France, and 13% in Germany.[59]
605440
Islam.\n\nFastest-growing religion\n\nkneeling\n\nThe second-largest religion in the world after Christianity, Islam is also the fastest-growing religion. In the United States, for example, nearly 80 percent of the more than 1,200 mosques have been built in the past 12 years.\n\nSome scholars see an emerging Muslim renaissance as Islam takes root in many traditionally Christian communities.\n\nIslam has drawn converts from all walks of life, most notably African-Americans. Former NAACP President Benjamin Chavis, who joined the Nation of Islam recently, personifies the trend.\n\n"In societies where you have minorities that are discriminated against, I think they may find an appeal in Islam," said Waleed Kazziha of American University in Cairo.\n\nMany moderate Islamic countries such as Turkey and Egypt are becoming more conservative.\n\nTwo decades ago, few middle-class Egyptian women wore scarves or veils on their heads. Now they crowd into special emporiums that advertise Islamic clothing.
1028038
only shiites believe in the 12 imams. shiites make up a small minority of muslims. the majority, sunnis, do not believe in this.
852316
You need to make a distinction between the growth of Islam (the religion followed by Muslim Arabs) and the growth of the Arab population.  The Arab population is growing faster than other groups of people simply because they have very large families.  Not all Arabs are Muslims; some of them are Christians.  Although, one could conclude, due to their expanding population and that the majority of them follow Islam, that Islam is a growing religion compared to other religions.
17411
No, of course they don't hate arab people. They just disagree on some issues. You see: Arabs don't like freedom and liberty America has (which gives them liberty to invade other countries for oil), and Americans think that's just wrong. \n\nWhen grown-ups disagree on issues they declare war on each other. So that's what America did. Hopefully when the war ends the Arab people will agree to what the Americans want, and they will love them once again.\n\nOh by the way, most of the Americans disagree with the war and they sure did a lot to stop it from happening. They walked on the streets once or twice.  They published some books calling people liars. That didn't solve the probem, and they did the right thing: they started nagging about it among themselves (preferably over a cup of coffee). \n\nBut since the Arab people can't hear them they assume that Americans all hate Arabs, which is, of course wrong. \n\nIf only they weren't this judgemental. America is made out of many people, races, and cultures. They don't all hate Arabs, they just let it seem that way.
766298
I do not know what language is spoken there, and what their word for G-d is.  Arab Christians call G-d Allah.  The word Allah is Arabic.
711121
They aren't.\nThe religion break down is: \nMuslim 45%-50%, Ethiopian Orthodox 35%-40%, animist 12%, other 3%-8%
503572
Israel is the only country in the middle east that has a Judeo-Christian ethic and belief system.  Many Christians and Jews in the US support them because of that.  Also, they are of strategic importance to us militarily.
150215
It was largely pagan.Before the coming of Islam, most Arabs followed a religion featuring the worship of a number of deities, including Hubal, Wadd, Al-Lat, Manat, and Uzza, while some tribes had converted to Christianity or Judaism, and a few individuals, the hanifs, had apparently rejected polytheism in favor of a vague monotheism.\n\nBy the fourth century AD, the Arab kingdoms of the Lakhmids in southern Iraq and Ghassanids in southern Syria had emerged just south of the Fertile Crescent and ended up allying respectively with the Sassanid and Byzantine Empires. Thus they were constantly at war with each other on behalf of their imperial patrons. However, their courts were responsible for some notable examples of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, and for some of the few surviving pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions in the Arabic alphabet. The Lakhmid kingdom was dissolved by the Sassanids in 602, while the Ghassanids would hold out until engulfed by the expansion of Islam. Mecca was conquered by the Quraysh around 500CE and was already a religious centre.\n\nThere was a split between the Arabs who lived in towns near oasis growing dates and supplying trade caravans and the Bedouin who lived as nomadic pastoralists. This split still exists in Arab culture today.
565925
I'm not so sure Americans are that religious. However, there are loads of folks very vocal about their religious beliefs which creates the illusion that most Americans are religious.\n\nI wonder, for example, what is the annual income of all religious institutions vs. the annual income of the porn industry? Which is higher?\n\nCatch my drift?
648939
No, all Arabs are camel riders and terrorists and all Americans are glorious defenders of "freedom" and democracy with fantastic moral values.\n\nIsn't this the answer you are looking for? I hope this will make you happy.
236285
Islam had nothing to do with the sept.11 issue.\n\nIslam is a world religion founded by the Prophet Muhammad. Founded in the 7th cent., Islam is the youngest of the three monotheistic world religions (with Judaism and Christianity). An adherent to Islam is a Muslim [Arab.,=one who submits].\n\nBelievers Worldwide\n\nThere are more than 1 billion Muslims worldwide, fewer than one fifth of whom are Arab. Islam is the principal religion of much of Asia, including Indonesia (which has the world's largest Muslim population), Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, the Arabian Peninsula states, and Turkey. India also has one of the world's largest Muslim populations, although Islam is not the principal religion there. In Africa, Islam is the principal religion in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, and Sudan, with sizable populations also in Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania (where the island of Zanzibar is predominantly Muslim), and Nigeria.\n\nIn Europe, Albania is predominantly Muslim, and, historically, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Georgia have had Muslim populations. Elsewhere in Europe, immigrant communities of Muslims from N Africa, Turkey, and Asia exist in France, Germany, and Great Britain. In the Americas the Islamic population has substantially increased in recent years, both from conversions and the immigration of adherents from other parts of the world. In the United States, the number of Muslims has been variably estimated at 2—6 million; 20% of the population of Suriname is Muslim.\n\nIslamic Beliefs\n\nAt the core of Islam is the Qur'an, believed to be the final revelation by a transcendent Allah [Arab.,=the God] to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam; since the Divine Word was revealed in Arabic, this language is used in Islamic religious practice worldwide. Muslims believe in final reward and punishment, and the unity of the umma, the "nation" of Islam. Muslims submit to Allah through arkan ad-din, the five basic requirements or "pillars" : shahadah, the affirmation that "there is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God" ; salah, the five daily ritual prayers (see liturgy, Islamic); zakat, the giving of alms, also known as a religious tax; Sawm, the dawn-to-sunset fast during the lunar month of Ramadan; and hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The importance of the hajj can hardly be overestimated: this great annual pilgrimage unites Islam and its believers from around the world.\n\nThe ethos of Islam is in its attitude toward Allah: to His will Muslims submit; Him they praise and glorify; and in Him alone they hope. However, in popular or folk forms of Islam, Muslims ask intercession of the saints, prophets, and angels, while preserving the distinction between Creator and creature. Islam views the Message of Muhammad as the continuation and the fulfillment of a lineage of Prophecy that includes figures from the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, notably Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus. Islamic law reserves a communal entity status for the ahl al-kitab, People of the Book, i.e., those with revealed religions, including Jews and Christians. Islam also recognizes a number of extra-biblical prophets, such as Hud, Salih, Shuayb, and others of more obscure origin. The chief angels are Gabriel and Michael; devils are the evil jinn.\n\nOther Islamic obligations include the duty to "commend good and reprimand evil," injunctions against usury and gambling, and prohibitions of alcohol and pork. Meat is permitted if the animal was ritually slaughtered; it is then called halal. Jihad, the exertion of efforts for the cause of God, is a duty satisfied at the communal and the individual level. At the individual level, it denotes the personal struggle to be righteous a