Israeli Muslims More Devout Than Jews — but Less Than Others in Middle East
Israeli Arabs and Sheikh Raed Salah (front-L), the leader of the radical northern wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel, takes part in a prayer in support for the release of Mohammed al-Qiq, a Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike, outside the hospital where he is being treated in the northern Israeli town of Afula on February 12, 2016. Image by Getty Images
By Josefin Dolsten May 18, 2016
Israeli Muslims are more devout than the country’s Jews, Christians and Druze, but less so than other Muslims in the region, according to Pew research released Wednesday.
About 68% of Muslims living in the Jewish state say religion is “very important” in their lives, a figure that is lower than in all countries in the region, except Lebanon.
In contrast, a plurality of Israeli Jews, 44%, say religion is not important in their lives, according to another Pew study.
A smaller share of Israeli Muslims than the median in the Middle East practiced four of the five pillars of Islam — professing the Muslim proclamation of faith, praying five times a day, giving charity and fasting during Ramadan.
Muslims in Israel scored higher only on one of the religion’s principles, making a pilgrimage to Mecca, with 23% having made the trip, compared to a 17% median in the Middle East.
Nearly all Israeli Muslims, 97%, agree with Islam’s central tenet, that there is only one god and that Muhammad is his prophet — close to the almost 100% of Muslims in the Middle East and Africa who believed it to be true.
Pew conducted the survey on Israeli Muslims in October 2014- May 2015 and the survey on Muslims in the region in November 2011- January 2012.
Contact Josefin Dolsten at [email protected] or on Twitter, @JosefinDolsten
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
