Arab American - Religious Background

Religious Background

While the majority of the population of the Arab World is composed of people of the Muslim faith, most Arab Americans, in contrast, are Christian.

According to the Arab American Institute, the breakdown of religious affiliation among Arab Americans is as follows:

• 63% Christian
  • 35% Catholic (Roman Rite Catholics & Eastern Catholics — Maronites and Melkites)
  • 18% Orthodox (Eastern Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox)
  • 10% Protestant
• 24% Muslim
• 13% Other; Jewish, No Affiliation

The percentage of Arab Americans who are Muslim has increased in recent years, because most new Arab immigrants tend to be Muslim; this stands in contrast to the first wave of Arab immigration to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during which almost all immigrants were Christians. Most Maronite Catholics tend to be of Lebanese or Syrian extraction; those Christians of Palestinian background are often Eastern Orthodox. A small number are Protestants, either having joined a Protestant denomination after immigrating to the U.S. or being from a family that converted to Protestantism while still living in the Middle East (European and American Protestant missionaries were fairly commonplace in the Levant in the late 19th and early 20th centuries).

There are substantial numbers of American Jews originating from the Arab World, notably of Mizrahi Jewish extraction. Most migrated from their respective countries of origin to the United States during the late 20th century. The number of Arab Jewish-Americans is difficult to determine. Overlapping identification as Jewish Americans (along with other American Jews of various backgrounds) and Arab Americans (along with other American Arabs of various religious traditions) seldom occurs for political reasons.

Arab Christians continue to immigrate into the U.S. in the 2000s and continue to form new enclaves and communities across the country.