Islam in Iraq

Islam in Iraq has a rich and complicated history dating back almost 1,400 years, since the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (c. 570 – 8 June 632 CE). As one of the first places in the world to accept Islam, Iraq is a mostly Muslim nation, with about 98% of the people identifying as Muslim. There are the two main branches of Islam in Iraq: Shia Islam, which is practiced by about 50-60% of Muslims and Sunni Islam, which is practiced by about 35-45%.

Iraq holds a prominent place in Islamic history and has been a hub of Islamic thought and government. Baghdad was once the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and a center of Islamic scholarship. The famous Sunni thinker Abu Hanifa taught in Kufa, and Ibn Hanbal taught in Baghdad. The tomb of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Shia Imam and the fourth caliph, is in Najaf, a major pilgrimage site. Karbala was the site of the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD, which had a significant impact on Shia beliefs and practices. The Kadhimiya neighborhood in Baghdad contains the shrines of the seventh and ninth Shia Imams Musa al-Kazim and Muhammad al-Jawad, while the Al-Askari Shrine in Samarra is the site of the tombs of the tenth and eleventh Shia Imams Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-Askari.

Throughout history, Iraq has also been the site of many fitnas, or religious splits, that have changed the way sects interact with each other. This makes it an important place to study Islamic history and the relationships between different sects.