Is religious indentity or ethnic identity more salient in the Middle East?

Question

While I'm interested in your personal opinion, I would also like your opinion BACKED by an expert opinion (i.e. a professor or a dissertation/scholarly journal article).

Answer 1

I would say ethnic identity. Most of the population there is Muslim and they share that with no problems. However, there are many power struggles over which is the better ethnicity. Most Middle Easterners tend to say they are Sunni Muslim, or Shi'ite Muslim, but not that they are just Muslim. In places like Iraq and Turkey, they majority ethnicities want to wipe out the Kurds, and the Kurds want their own nation-state.
While Middle Easterners tend to be proud of their religion, they associate themselves more with their ethnicity.
So, I think that people are more proud of their ethnicity rather then their religion.

Answer 2

Sorry I cannot cite you chapter and verse. If you read modern newspapers and magazines, I think you will find that tribal and clan identity is the most important characteristic. Judaism is uppermost in Israel, but that is one country, an exception. An ethnic exception is the Kurds. In all countries shia or sunni religious identity is important, witness newspaper reports of the slaughter of the ones by the others in Iraq. Otherwise, Islam is dominant over all other religions, so in that sense, religious identity is irrelevant: We're all Muslims, the rest don't matter.

Answer 3

I would say ethnic identitity, because there are so many different people groups in that region and you could have a totally different background from someone else. Many people there also tend to judge each other by ethnicity. This has been going on for thousands of years.

Answer 4

The Shi'tes vs the Sunni. Same ethnic background, slightly different religious beliefs with a shared belief that if you don't believe what I do, I must kill you.