Israel: Study Reveals Muslims More Devout Than Christians or Jews
- Veronica Neffinger iBelieve Contributor
- Published May 19, 2016
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A new study has found that Muslims in Israel are more religious than Jews or Christians, but still not as religious as Muslims from surrounding countries.
According to ChristianToday.com, the study was done by the Pew Research Center. The study measured the religious commitment of Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Druze in the Middle East.
The study found that 68 percent of Muslim in Israel said religion was a very important part of their lives. Only 30 percent of Jews, 57 percent of Christians, and 49 percent of Druze said the same thing.
However, in the neighboring regions of Palestine and Jordan, Muslims were found to be even more committed to their religion than the Muslims in Israel.
Eighty-five percent of Muslims in Palestine and Jordan said religion was an important part of their lives. In Morocco, that number was as high as 89 percent. Lebanon was the only surrounding country where Muslims were found to be less religious (59 percent).
The study gathered data based on a few important tenets of Islam. Just over half of Israeli Muslims said they performed the salat, the five daily prayers of Islam. Sixty-three percent of Muslims in neighboring countries said they did the same.
Eighty-three percent of Israeli Muslims said they kept the fast of Ramadan, compared to 96 percent in Morocco, for example.
Numbers were much higher on the shahada, the central tenet of Islamic faith which states that there is no God except Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. Ninety-seven percent of Israeli Muslims affirmed this, while 100 percent was the standard in surrounding countries.
Publication date: May 19, 2016