Qatar
POPULATION 793,341
MUSLIM (PREDOMINANTLY SUNNI WITH SOME SHIITE) 92 to 95 percent
OTHER (CHRISTIAN, HINDU, BAHAI) 5 to 8 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The State of Qatar, located on a small peninsula in the Persian Gulf, shares a border with two countries to the south: Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, and the United Arab Emirates. About 26 percent of Qatar's total population are citizens. The rest are foreign workers (mostly Sunni Muslims, with a minority of Shiite Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and Bahais). No official census data exists concerning numbers of believers.
Most of Qatar's indigenous population professes Wahhabism, a form of the literalist Hanbali school of Sunni Islam (modeled after the teachings of the eighteenth-century reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab). Qatari's religious preference has historically been shaped by their Saudi neighbors, who are Wahhabi Muslims. Within Qatar's indigenous population is also a small Shiite minority, originating from southern Iran. The Christian community, comprising Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant denominations, is a blend of Filipinos, Arabs, Indians, Europeans, and Americans. The Hindu community is primarily Indian, while the Bahai community is mostly Iranian.
Religious Tolerance
Islam is the official state religion of Qatar. As in Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism not only constitutes Qatar's social fabric but also dictates its form of government.
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