Christianity in the United Arab Emirates
Encyclopedia
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
is Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, 9 percent is Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, and 15 percent is "other."
There is no official recognition of Christian denomination
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
s. However, Christians are free to worship and wear religious clothing, if applicable. The importation and sale of religious material is allowed, however, attempts to spread Christianity among Muslims are not permitted. The country has Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches along with Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. The schools in public ownership have no Christian religious education
Religious education
In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion and its varied aspects —its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles...
.
Christian men are not allowed to marry Muslim women. Conversion from Islam to Christianity is not permitted.
All activities of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
are banned in the UAE.
See also
- Christianity by countryChristianity by countryAs of the early 21st century, Christianity has around 2.1 billion adherents. The faith represents nearly one-third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world, with approximately 38,000 Christian denominations. Christians have composed about 33 percent of the world's...
- Human rights in the United Arab EmiratesHuman rights in the United Arab EmiratesHuman rights are legally protected by the Constitution of the United Arab Emirates, which confers equality, liberty, rule of law, presumption of innocence in legal procedures, inviolability of the home, freedom of movement, freedom of opinion and speech, freedom of communication, freedom of...
- Freedom of religion in the United Arab EmiratesFreedom of religion in the United Arab EmiratesThe Constitution of the United Arab Emirates provides for freedom of religion in accordance with established customs, and the government generally respects this right in practice; however, there were some restrictions. The federal Constitution declares that Islam is the official religion of the...
- Roman Catholicism in the United Arab EmiratesRoman Catholicism in the United Arab EmiratesThe Roman Catholic Church in the United Arab Emirates is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome....
- Religion in the United Arab EmiratesReligion in the United Arab EmiratesIslam is the majority religion in the United Arab Emirates. Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and Sikhism are also practiced in the country, mostly by non-nationals.- Islam :...
- Protestantism in the United Arab EmiratesProtestantism in the United Arab EmiratesProtestantism is a minority in the United Arab Emirates.Among the Protestant denominations in the country are the Christian Brethren, theCoptic Evangelical Church and the Evangelical Alliance Church....