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Sunni Islam in Iraq
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Sunni Islam in Iraq
Sunni Islam in Iraq (Arabic: الإسلام السني في العراق) is the second-largest sect of Islam in Iraq after Shia Islam. The majority of Iraqi Sunni Muslims are Arabs with the second largest being Kurds. Iraqi Sunni Muslims mainly inhabit the western and northern half of Iraq. Sunni Arabs primarily inhabit the Sunni Triangle, Upper Mesopotamia and the desert areas, such as Al-Anbar Governorate in the Arabian Desert and Syrian Desert. The Sunni Kurds inhabit the mountainous Iraqi Kurdistan region.
In 2003, the United States-based Institute of Peace estimated that around 95% of the total population of Iraq were Muslim, of which Sunnis made up around 40%. A CIA World Factbook report from 2015 estimates that 29–34% of the population of Iraq is Sunni Muslim. According to a 2011 survey by Pew Research, 42% of Iraqi Muslims are Sunni. There were about 9 million Sunni Arabs, 4 million Sunni Kurds and approximately 1.5 million Sunni Turkmens in Iraq (approximately 39%), according to a report published in 2015.
Iraqi Sunni Arabs (Arabic: العرب السنة العراقيين), historically referred to as the Arabs of Al-Jazira (Arabic: عرب الجزيرة), are an Iraqi Arab ethnoreligious group. Iraqi Sunni Arabs mainly inhabit the provinces of Al-Anbar, Salah al-Din, Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, and areas of Baghdad with Sunni Bedouin inhabiting the desert regions of the south, the border with Kuwait and the Jordanian steppe. In the modern era, Iraqi Sunni Arabs are often mistaken by outsiders as simply Iraqi Arabs who follow Sunni Islam rather than Shia but constitute a distinct Arab people with a unique history and origin tied to the region they inhabit.
Iraqi Sunni Arabs have traditionally been organized into large, indigenous tribal confederations, including Dulaim of Al-Anbar, al-Bu Nasir of Tikrit, al-Bu Nimr of Ramadi, and al-Ubaid of northern Salah al-Din and Kirkuk. These tribes have long functioned as key social, political, and economic structures within Sunni society.
In addition, several Bedouin tribes of Najdi and northern Arabian origin, notably the Shammar, Mutayr, Otaibah, and Banu Tamim, historically ranged across the western steppe and southern desert fringes of the Ottoman Empire's Baghdad Vilayet, covering what is now central and southwestern Iraq. Over the course of the 20th century, many members of these tribes integrated into mainstream Jazira-influenced Sunni Iraqi society, gradually transitioning from semi-nomadic livelihoods to urban residence in major centers such as Baghdad, Mosul, and Ramadi, in line with Iraq's broader processes of modernization, sedentarization, and urban expansion.
Iraqi Sunni Arabs largely originated as a mixture of Arab Muslims who settled in Iraq after the Islamic conquest of Iran, as well as natives who were Arabized.[citation needed] In the early Islamic period, Iraq was a key center of the Abbasid Caliphate, with the city of Baghdad serving as its capital from the 8th to the 13th century. Sunni Arabs played a significant role in the administration (including the ruling Abbasid dynasty) and cultural life of the caliphate, and many important figures of Islamic scholarship and literature emerged from Iraq during this time and during the Islamic Golden Age. Before the creation of nation states, Iraqi Sunni Arabs identified with the wider neighboring Sunni Arab populations. After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, King Faisal I was installed as ruler of Iraq. Iraqi Sunni Arab identity consolidated after the independence of Iraq, where Iraqi Sunni Arabs inhabited the provinces of Al-Anbar, Salah al-Din, Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, and parts of Baghdad.
Sectarian identities in Iraq were deeply tied to regional and tribal affiliation, with Sunnis and Shias historically[when?] inhabiting segregated regions —with a degree of overlap and coexistence— each with their own historical narrative. The regions inhabited by Iraqi Sunni Arabs were the historic regions of Al-Jazira and Upper Mesopotamia while the Shia stronghold has historically been southern Iraq, known as Babylonia or Sawad (the latter of which is also called Lower Mesopotamia), which, while remaining strongly Arab, has had more Persianate influence compared to Sunni areas (most recently contributed by the rule of the Safavid dynasty). Sunni identity in Al-Jazira also reflects Arabian tribal traditions, following the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia and newer Ottoman-era connections to Levantine, Eastern European and Balkan cultures, contributing to a cultural background with different influences to that of the Shia-majority regions of the south.
Sunni Iraqi Arab culture, particularly in cities such as Tikrit, Fallujah, Samarra, and Mosul, is characterized by a combination of tribal traditions and conservative Sunni Islamic practices. Common clothing includes the white dishdasha and red-and-white keffiyeh with a black agal, shared with other Arab groups. Regional food traditions vary, Mosul is known for Ottoman-influenced dishes such as baked sambusak with spiced lamb, dolma prepared with pomegranate molasses, and ćevapi (known locally as kebab hindi), a grilled minced meat dish of Balkan origin uncommon in other parts of Iraq. In Samarra, cuisine reflects Bedouin and tribal influences, including pacha with stuffed intestines and tripe, fried sambusak with heavier spices, and dishes like tashreeb (Bread Stew) and timman bil-tamatim (Spiced Tomato Rice) served during communal gatherings.
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Sunni Islam in Iraq
Sunni Islam in Iraq (Arabic: الإسلام السني في العراق) is the second-largest sect of Islam in Iraq after Shia Islam. The majority of Iraqi Sunni Muslims are Arabs with the second largest being Kurds. Iraqi Sunni Muslims mainly inhabit the western and northern half of Iraq. Sunni Arabs primarily inhabit the Sunni Triangle, Upper Mesopotamia and the desert areas, such as Al-Anbar Governorate in the Arabian Desert and Syrian Desert. The Sunni Kurds inhabit the mountainous Iraqi Kurdistan region.
In 2003, the United States-based Institute of Peace estimated that around 95% of the total population of Iraq were Muslim, of which Sunnis made up around 40%. A CIA World Factbook report from 2015 estimates that 29–34% of the population of Iraq is Sunni Muslim. According to a 2011 survey by Pew Research, 42% of Iraqi Muslims are Sunni. There were about 9 million Sunni Arabs, 4 million Sunni Kurds and approximately 1.5 million Sunni Turkmens in Iraq (approximately 39%), according to a report published in 2015.
Iraqi Sunni Arabs (Arabic: العرب السنة العراقيين), historically referred to as the Arabs of Al-Jazira (Arabic: عرب الجزيرة), are an Iraqi Arab ethnoreligious group. Iraqi Sunni Arabs mainly inhabit the provinces of Al-Anbar, Salah al-Din, Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, and areas of Baghdad with Sunni Bedouin inhabiting the desert regions of the south, the border with Kuwait and the Jordanian steppe. In the modern era, Iraqi Sunni Arabs are often mistaken by outsiders as simply Iraqi Arabs who follow Sunni Islam rather than Shia but constitute a distinct Arab people with a unique history and origin tied to the region they inhabit.
Iraqi Sunni Arabs have traditionally been organized into large, indigenous tribal confederations, including Dulaim of Al-Anbar, al-Bu Nasir of Tikrit, al-Bu Nimr of Ramadi, and al-Ubaid of northern Salah al-Din and Kirkuk. These tribes have long functioned as key social, political, and economic structures within Sunni society.
In addition, several Bedouin tribes of Najdi and northern Arabian origin, notably the Shammar, Mutayr, Otaibah, and Banu Tamim, historically ranged across the western steppe and southern desert fringes of the Ottoman Empire's Baghdad Vilayet, covering what is now central and southwestern Iraq. Over the course of the 20th century, many members of these tribes integrated into mainstream Jazira-influenced Sunni Iraqi society, gradually transitioning from semi-nomadic livelihoods to urban residence in major centers such as Baghdad, Mosul, and Ramadi, in line with Iraq's broader processes of modernization, sedentarization, and urban expansion.
Iraqi Sunni Arabs largely originated as a mixture of Arab Muslims who settled in Iraq after the Islamic conquest of Iran, as well as natives who were Arabized.[citation needed] In the early Islamic period, Iraq was a key center of the Abbasid Caliphate, with the city of Baghdad serving as its capital from the 8th to the 13th century. Sunni Arabs played a significant role in the administration (including the ruling Abbasid dynasty) and cultural life of the caliphate, and many important figures of Islamic scholarship and literature emerged from Iraq during this time and during the Islamic Golden Age. Before the creation of nation states, Iraqi Sunni Arabs identified with the wider neighboring Sunni Arab populations. After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, King Faisal I was installed as ruler of Iraq. Iraqi Sunni Arab identity consolidated after the independence of Iraq, where Iraqi Sunni Arabs inhabited the provinces of Al-Anbar, Salah al-Din, Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, and parts of Baghdad.
Sectarian identities in Iraq were deeply tied to regional and tribal affiliation, with Sunnis and Shias historically[when?] inhabiting segregated regions —with a degree of overlap and coexistence— each with their own historical narrative. The regions inhabited by Iraqi Sunni Arabs were the historic regions of Al-Jazira and Upper Mesopotamia while the Shia stronghold has historically been southern Iraq, known as Babylonia or Sawad (the latter of which is also called Lower Mesopotamia), which, while remaining strongly Arab, has had more Persianate influence compared to Sunni areas (most recently contributed by the rule of the Safavid dynasty). Sunni identity in Al-Jazira also reflects Arabian tribal traditions, following the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia and newer Ottoman-era connections to Levantine, Eastern European and Balkan cultures, contributing to a cultural background with different influences to that of the Shia-majority regions of the south.
Sunni Iraqi Arab culture, particularly in cities such as Tikrit, Fallujah, Samarra, and Mosul, is characterized by a combination of tribal traditions and conservative Sunni Islamic practices. Common clothing includes the white dishdasha and red-and-white keffiyeh with a black agal, shared with other Arab groups. Regional food traditions vary, Mosul is known for Ottoman-influenced dishes such as baked sambusak with spiced lamb, dolma prepared with pomegranate molasses, and ćevapi (known locally as kebab hindi), a grilled minced meat dish of Balkan origin uncommon in other parts of Iraq. In Samarra, cuisine reflects Bedouin and tribal influences, including pacha with stuffed intestines and tripe, fried sambusak with heavier spices, and dishes like tashreeb (Bread Stew) and timman bil-tamatim (Spiced Tomato Rice) served during communal gatherings.
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