Are Syrians Muslims?

Muslims make up about 90% of the Syrian population, including Sunnis and Shi'a Muslims, and encompass a wide variety of beliefs and practices, including varieties of Sufism. The Syrian Constitution requires that the President be Muslim, although there is no official religion of the Syrian state.

What is the main religion in Syria?

Though the majority of Syrians identify with some form of Sunni Islam, the country is home to a vast diversity of religious and ethnic groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Turkmen, Alawis, Twelver Shi'a Muslims, various Christian denominations including Greek Orthodox Christians and Druze, Yezidis, Baha'is, and Jews.

Are Syrians ethnically Arab?

Most modern-day Syrians are described as Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history. Genetically, Syrian Arabs are a variety of diverse Semitic-speaking groups indigenous to the region.

What religion is the Syrian conflict?

At its core, the civil war in Syria is not a religious conflict. The dividing line is one's loyalty to Assad's government. However, some religious communities tend to be more supportive of the regime than others, fueling mutual suspicion and religious intolerance in many parts of the country.

Are Syrian people Sunni or Shia?

There are different estimations regarding the ethnic and religious composition of the Syrian society; however, all sources observe that Sunnis constitute the majority of Syria's population (around 65 % - 75 %) [Targeting, 10.1]. Sunni Muslims reside throughout the country.

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What ethnicity are Syrian people?

Syrians (Arabic: سُورِيُّون, Sūriyyīn) are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots.

Do Syrians drink alcohol?

Observant Muslims will not eat food that contains traces of pork or alcohol. However, it is common for many secular Muslims to consume things that are typically prohibited by the Islamic script. For example, it is normal for some Syrian Muslims to drink alcohol. Bills at restaurants and cafes are never divided.

What are Syrian Christians called?

The Syrian Christians were also called Syriani, because their doctrine was associated with the Syriac language after it had died out among Greek-speaking people; the Greek Orthodox Syrians, on the other hand, were known as Rūmī (Arabic: “Roman”).

What was the religion of Syria before Islam?

The name “Syria” is derived from the Assyrian and Syriac Christian denominations, which constituted eighty percent of the country's population before Islam arrived in the seventh century.

What language do Syrians speak?

Arabic is the official language, but Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian, English and French are also spoken. In the wake of World War I and the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the region that became modern-day Syria was administered by the French. It gained independence as a republic in 1946.

What are Syrians known for?

Syria is a traditional society with a long cultural history. Importance is placed on family, religion, education and self-discipline and respect. The Syrian's taste for the traditional arts is expressed in dances such as the al-Samah, the Dabkeh in all their variations and the sword dance.

What does someone from Syria look like?

Syrians generally have olive skin, dark brown eyes, and black hair, but a wide variety of other physical characteristics exists as well: blond hair and pale skin; black hair and dark brown skin; blue eyes and brown hair; and even red hair and freckled, pinkish skin. The total population of Syria is nearly 19 million.

What is the main culture in Syria?

While most Syrians identify as Arab, the country also contains much ethnic diversity. Many Iraqis and Palestinians have immigrated and there are large ethnic minorities including Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Circassians, Mandeans and Turkomen. The largest are the Kurds of which there are roughly 2.5 million.

Do Syrians celebrate Christmas?

While only 10% of the Syrian population follows Christianity, most Syrian people celebrate Christmas and share greetings and good wishes with their neighbours and friends using the Arabic words Milad Majid for Merry Christmas.

Why did Christians leave Syria?

In the late Ottoman rule, a large percentage of Syrian Christians emigrated from Syria, especially after the bloody chain of events that targeted Christians in particular in 1840, the 1860 massacre, and the Assyrian genocide.

Who is Syria at war with?

There are many players in the Syrian conflict.

These groups include the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Kurdish Rebel Fighters, so-called Islamic State, Jabhat Fath al-Sham, Hezbollah and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

What happened to Christians in Syria?

Persecution of Christian minorities climaxed following the Syrian civil war and later by its spillover. mostly Assyrians, Arab Christians, Armenians, Copts, and other non-Muslims. Genocidal massacre, religious persecution, ethnic cleansing, human trafficking and forced conversions to Sunni Islam.

What language did Syria speak before Islam?

Historically, Aramaic was the lingua franca of the region before the advent of Arabic and is still spoken among Assyrians, and Classical Syriac is still used as the liturgical language of various Syriac Christian denominations.

Who lived in Syria before Arabs?

Prior to the Arab Islamic Conquest in the 7th century AD, the bulk of the population were Arameans, but Syria was also home to Greek and Roman ruling classes, Assyrians still dwelt in the north east, Phoenicians along the coasts, and Jewish and Armenian communities were also extant in major cities, with Nabateans and ...

Which Bible do Syrian Orthodox use?

Syriac Orthodox churches use the Peshitta (Syriac: simple, common) as its Bible. The New Testament books of this Bible are estimated to have been translated from Greek to Syriac between the late first century to the early third century AD.

How do Syrians eat?

Food practices Common foods: Fresh fruit and vegetables, legumes, meats including lamb (most popular), chicken and beef, white cheeses, yoghurt, cracked wheat and rice. Meal patterns: Three meals a day, with some snacking on sweet foods (e.g. baklava, sweet biscuits, fresh and dried fruit), especially by children.

What are Egyptian Christians called?

The terms Copt and Coptic are variously used to denote either the members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the largest Christian body in Egypt, or as generic terms for Egyptian Christians; this article focuses primarily on the former definition. Copts constitute up to 10 percent of the population of Egypt.

Do Syrians have more than one wife?

Polygamy as polygyny in most of Syria is restricted. After the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, the Kurdish Rojava inhabited regions outlawed polygamy in the northeastern parts of Syria that fell under their de facto control.

Is polygamy legal in Syria?

The Syrian Law of Personal Status permits Muslims to practice polygamy under certain conditions: «The judge may not allow a married man to marry another woman unless he has a legitimate justification for doing so and is able to financially afford supporting both wives.» Thus the legislator has left the matter of legal ...

Do Syrians have arranged marriages?

While some young men and women choose their partners, most Syrian marriages are arranged by their families and are preceded by a formal engagement. An engagement period allows people to get to know one another before marriage.