96% of United Arab Emirates population are muslims, of them are 94% are Sunni Muslims and the remainder 2% are Shia, while the other 4% of the population are of other religions who are concentrated in the Emirates of Dubai and Sharjah.
Shia Muslims are granted freedom to worship, and maintain their mosques. Shias may also pursue family law cases through a special Shia council. Most Shias are concentrated in the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
The constitution designates Islam as the official religion, with over 90% of the Emirati population are Sunni Islam. The vast majority of the remainder 5-10% are Shia Muslims, who are concentrated in the Emirates of Dubai and Sharjah.
Shia Muslims are a numerical majority in Iraq and Bahrain. Approximately 35% of the population in Yemen and half of the Muslims in Lebanon are Shia Muslims. There is also a very large population of Shia Muslims living in the Persian Gulf countries especially in Saudi Arabia.
Shias comprise a majority in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain, and a plurality in Lebanon, while Sunnis make up the majority of more than forty countries from Morocco to Indonesia.
Shiites cannot serve as judges in ordinary court, and are banned from gaining admission to military academies, and from high-ranking government or security posts, including becoming pilots in Saudi Airlines.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar is a Muslim nation, with laws, customs and practices rooted in Islam. The country is neither as liberal as Dubai in the United Arab Emirates nor as conservative as parts of Saudi Arabia. Most of its citizens are Sunni Muslim.
Iran has 66 million to 70 million Shias, or 37-40% of the world's total Shia population.
96% of United Arab Emirates population are muslims, of them are 94% are Sunni Muslims and the remainder 2% are Shia, while the other 4% of the population are of other religions who are concentrated in the Emirates of Dubai and Sharjah.
In a poll conducted by Sabancı University in 2006, 98.3% of Turks revealed they were Muslim. Most Muslims in Turkey are Sunni Muslims forming about 90%, and Shia-Aleviler (Alevis, Ja'faris and Alawites) denominations in total form up to 10% of the Muslim population.
Islam is the main religion of the citizens of Kuwait and the majority of Kuwaiti citizens are Muslim; it is estimated that 70%–75% are Sunni and 25%–30% are Shias. In 2001, there were an estimated 525,000 Sunni Kuwaiti citizens and 300,000 Shia Kuwaiti citizens.
About 97% of Pakistanis are Muslims. Pakistan has the second largest number of Muslims in the world after Indonesia. The majority are Sunni (85-90%) while Shias make up between 10% to 15%. However, the Hanbali school is gaining popularity recently due to Wahhabi influence from the Middle East.
Approximately 11 percent of the population are citizens, of whom more than 85 percent are Sunni Muslims, according to media reports. The vast majority of the remainder are Shia Muslims, who are concentrated in the Emirates of Dubai and Sharjah.
While Medina is an important, if optional, stop for pilgrims on the hajj, it is a pilgrimage destination for the Shia.
Both Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims agree on the three holiest sites in Islam being, respectively, the Masjid al-Haram (including the Kaaba), in Mecca; the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, in Medina; and the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, in Jerusalem.
Shiites comprise around 10% of Qatar's Muslim population. Several of Qatar's most notable merchant families have historically been Shia. Qatari Shiites are granted religious liberty and some have held government positions.
Shīʿa Muslims form a majority of the population in various regions of the Muslim world, including Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iran, and Iraq, as well as a plurality in Lebanon. Shīʿa Muslims constitute 36.3% of the entire population (and 38.6% of the Muslim population) of the Middle East.
According to Pew, 99% of Muslims in Morocco are Sunni predominantly of the Sunni Maliki madhab, or school of thought, whilst the remaining 1% adhere to other sects such as Shia, Quranism, ibadism etc.
Shia Islam
The Lebanese Shia Muslims are around 27%–29% of the total population. Twelvers are the predominant Shia group, followed by Alawites and Ismailis. The Speaker of Parliament is always a Shi'a Muslim, as it is the only high post that Shi'as are eligible for.
Although more than half of Bahrain's population consists of Shia Muslims (estimated at over 75 percent), the Sunni royal family, Al Khalifa, governs the country.
The Shia Jafari community estimates its members make up 4 percent of the population. Non-Muslim religious groups are mostly concentrated in Istanbul and other large cities, as well as in the southeast.
Shia Islam
The 1931 census counted 4,100 Metawalis in Palestine. Since 1979, due to Iran's influence, some Palestinian Sunnis have converted to Shia Islam.
Morocco is home to 32,987,206 persons. Of the total population, 98.6% are Sunni Muslims while Shia Muslims compose less than . 1% of the population. Christians account for 1.1% and Jews .
Islam is the state-religion in Oman. The country is 95% Muslim. Both Sunni Islam and Ibadi Islam have a following of about 45%, while 5% identify as Shia Muslims.
Unofficial sources, such as the Library of Congress Country Studies, and The New York Times, estimate sectarian identification to be approximately 45% Sunni and 55% Shia.