Lebanon+-+religious+groups+2013-4

à Followers of Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin ALI à Believed to be the successor of the caliphate (an Islamic state led by supreme religious or political leader) à Based on the Quran à In contrast to other Muslims à Shi’a believe only God has the right to choose a representative to safeguard Islam, the Quran and Sharia (moral and religious law) à They Believe Ali is divinely appointed Modern Shi’a Islam has been divided into three main groups: Twelvers, Ismailis and Zaidis à Iraq is their theological center à Lebanon is Shi’a strong hold à Shi’a Muslims are in the majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan and according to some estimates Yemen à The battle of Karbala is one of the most significant events in Shi’a history from which Shi’a Islam draws its strong theme of martyrdom.
 * Shi'a **

à Small group supporters and relatives of Muhammad’s grandson Hussein and a much larger military detachment from Umayyad Caliph à who Hussein refused to recognize à All soldiers and Hussein were killed à including his six-month old son, and all women and children were taken prisoner à the people who died are seen as martyrs à this event is commemorated during an annual 10-day period held every Muharram (first month in the Islamic calendar) by the Shi’a
 * The Battle of Karbala:**

Sorry, stupid Mac says the photo is normal, until Wikispaces puts it in sideways...:(
 * Sunni **


 * Druze **




 * Maronite **

· Nature o Unchanged from the first churches founded after Jesus' resurrection o One of the tasks of the early Church was defin­ing, and defending, orthodox theology against the battering waves of heresies o Built on the foundation of Christ and His Apostles, nothing has been added to our faith, and nothing can be added. It is complete. · Orthodox in Lebanon o Christian Orthodox, second largest Christian denomination after Maronites. o Greek Orthodox, denomination of Christianity, 6% total population o Armenian Orthodox o Syriac Orthodox · Ethnic composition, Armenian 6.8% of pop. o Religious composition Greek Orthodox 6%​
 * Orthodox Christian **


 * Catholic **

Christianity in Lebanon
 * Small community called the Maronites, located along the coast of Lebanon, separated from the rest of the country by mountains
 * Tight knit community
 * Good at defending themselves
 * Sea-men and merchants, retained ties with other parts of the Christian world
 * With colonization, were seen as allies by the French
 * Given French posts and education
 * Slowly gained more and more political power
 * In 1932, a consensus was past detailing the ratio of Christians to Muslims to be 6:5, allowing them to justify their over representation in politics
 * Opposed the protection of Palestinians
 * Gained even more power in 1943, where it was made so that only a Maronite could be president


 * The Christian Community in Lebanon was revived by the arrival of the Europeans as they were regarded as natural allies
 * Biblical scriptures tell stories of Jesus healing people in Lebanon
 * Pope John Paul II presented a 41,000 word document dedicated to Lebanon to “ponder reconstruction in the wake of the country’s civil war”
 * The Christian Groups came together to form the Lebanese Front
 * Christian Militia à South Lebanon Army
 * o Mainly under control of Israel


 * Revived when the Europeans came because the regarded them as a natural ally.
 * They believe in the
 * Pope
 * Apostles
 * 7 Sacraments
 * Bible
 * Ten commandments
 * Jesus cured a lot of people on his trip to Lebanon
 * The holy trinity – god father. God the son, god the holy spirit
 * People born with the original sin
 * Catholics make up around one-quarter of the national population of four million in Lebanon
 * The word catholic means “universal”. throughout the Middle Ages, if you were a Christian, you belonged to the Catholic Church