Religious Groups’ Official Positions on Same-Sex Marriage
In recent years, same-sex marriage has been a contentious subject within many religious groups in the U.S. Here is an overview of where 16 religious groups stand on this issue.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Muslims number 1.6 billion, representing 23% of all people worldwide. There are two major branches of Islam – Sunni and Shia. The overwhelming majority (87-90%) of Muslims are Sunnis; about 10-13% are Shia Muslims.8 Muslims are concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, where six-in-ten (62%) of all Muslims reside. Many Muslims also live in the Middle […]
Three years ago the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life launched an effort to generate up-to-date and fully sourced estimates of the current size and projected growth of the world’s major religious groups. As part of this multi-phase project, the Pew Forum has assembled data on the size and geographic distribution of […]
Ahmadi or Ahmadiyya A religious movement that emerged in late 19th-century India around Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908), whose followers believe he was a mujaddid (reformer) who showed the way to revive and restore Islam. Alawite or Alawi A sect of Shia Islam centered in Syria that highly venerates Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, […]
Washington, D.C. – The world’s 1.6 billion Muslims are united in their belief in God and the Prophet Muhammad and are bound together by such religious practices as fasting during the holy month of Ramadan and almsgiving to assist people in need. But they have widely differing views about many other aspects of their faith, […]
In addition to probing opinions about different sects, the survey asked whether certain forms of worship – visiting shrines, reciting religious poetry and dancing devotionally – are acceptable under Islam. The survey also asked whether the teachings of Islam permit appeals to dead ancestors and jinn and the use of sorcery. In most of the […]
Who counts as a Muslim, and who does not? Which beliefs and practices are Islamic, and which are not? Many Muslims across the globe hold firm views on such questions. Asked, for example, whether there is only one true way to interpret Islam’s teachings or whether multiple interpretations are possible, half or more of the […]
The world’s Muslims are united in their belief in God and the Prophet Muhammad and are bound together by such religious practices as fasting during Ramadan and almsgiving to assist the needy. But they have widely differing views about other aspects of their faith, including how important religion is to their lives, who counts as a Muslim and what practices are acceptable in Islam.
American Muslims, like Muslims in other countries, overwhelmingly accept certain core religious beliefs, such as the conviction that there is one God and that Muhammad is His Prophet. However, U.S. Muslims tend to be less observant than Muslims in many countries surveyed when it comes to practices such as daily prayer and mosque attendance. Moreover, […]
Most of the world’s Muslims identify as Sunnis or Shias.8 However, many Muslims do not identify with either sect but rather see themselves as “just a Muslim.” At least one-in-five Muslims in 22 of the 38 countries where the question was asked identify themselves in this nonsectarian way.9 Other affiliations, such as membership in a […]