Lebanese Shi'a Muslims

Lebanese Shi'a Muslims

Shia Islam in Lebanon has a history of more than a millenia. The number of Islam Shia school followers constitutes 27% of Lebanon's population, forming the fastest growing population in Lebanon. A study done by the CIA in 1988 put their numbers at 41% of the population. Most of its adherents live in the northern and western area of the Beqaa Valley, Southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs. The great majority of Shi'a Muslims in Lebanon are Twelvers, with a hundreds-large community of Ismailis, and tens of thousands of Alawites in North Lebanon. Shias are the only sect eligible for the post of Speaker of Parliament. Within the Lebanese context, especially political, the group is seen as an ethnoreligious group.