Modern Israel is a multi-racial, multi-ethic and multi-religious society. The main two official languages of Israel are Arabic and Hebrew. It is home to more than 6 million people. Approximately 80% of the Israeli population is Jewish while the remaining non-Jewish are Arab Muslims, Bedouin Arabs, Arab Christians and Circassians. The Israeli law for freedom of religious expression allows the communities in Israel to follow any religion freely.
The Muslim community in Israel belongs to the main faith in the Middle East which begun with the arrival of prophet Mohammad in Arabia during the 17th century. He introduced five pillars of Islam including oneness of God, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, prayer five times a day, pilgrimage to Mecca and giving alms. In the early history, Islam was divided into two main streams: Sunni and Shia. The majority of Muslims living in Israel are Sunni Muslims.
Most of the Israeli Muslims live in Haifa and Galilee mountains. According to an estimate, about 20% Muslims who are live in Israel are settled in and around Jerusalem, and about 11% live in Negev. Recent estimates show that more than 1.2 million Muslims are living in different areas of Israel. Most of the Muslim arrived to Israel during the early days of Islam in 18th century. Other Muslims arrived to the country during the 19th and 20th century from Egypt and the island of Ottoman which is the Turkish Empire.
Central bureau of statics reveals that the Muslim population in Israel is growing at a faster rate than the Jewish and other communities. Population of Muslim communities in Israel is expected to reach 2 million by 2015. Israel leading newspaper ”Yedioth Ahronoth” reported that in the year 2005, the Muslim population in Israel was 1.142009 which constitutes 16% population of Israel while it is expected that in the year 2025, it will make up more than 22% of the Israeli population.
The number of Muslim children under the age of 15 currently stands at 475000, which is almost quarter of kids in the country. The report of the newspaper also reveals that about 40% of the Israeli Muslims are resided in northern Israel while just 21% are resided in Jerusalem district. Central bureau of statics reveals that the fertility rate of Muslim women between ages 25 to 35 dropped over four years from 4.75 in 2000 to 4.35 in 2004.
In Israel, there are various school systems catering the different communities’ populations. In Israel, there is Arabic school system where Arabic is the language of instruction. After completing the school study, the students of all communities living in Israel serve 2 to 3 years of compulsory service in Israel defense force.
As I mentioned earlier, the population of Muslims is growing rapidly than the population of Jewish. The editor of Al-Ahram’s Arab Strategic Report, Wahid Abd Al-Magid has predicted that Arab Muslim may become a majority in Israel in 2035, and will certainly be the majority till 2048.
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