Islam in Qatar explained ahead of FIFA World Cup 2022
A big question for Qatar about the FIFA World Cup 2022: What Islam is allowed?
The country, which hosts the World Cup in 2022, is a monarchy and is ruled by the ruling Al Thani family. The Qatari government and the Al Thani family maintain cordial relations and are friends.
But the Al-Thani family is a hot mess, and Qatar is the only Arab state that does not recognise its royal family. For example, Qatar does not recognise the crown of the crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, who is being groomed to rule the country.
In December 2017, Qatar signed a friendly agreement with Iran on the use of the Iranian language on Qatari radio, TV and in school curricula, but this does not mean that the government of Iran endorses, or will endorse, the regime. The agreement was signed after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for greater support for the royal family.
Qatar is seeking to become a leading global player in the sports industry. The country’s sports minister said this week that the 2022 World Cup is the highest priority for Qatar’s government.
It’s a tough question for Qatar to answer.
The country’s constitution says: “Islam is the religion of the State and is the source of its law and jurisprudence. Islam is its divine law and the spirit of life, which is above all the laws.”
According to the Pew Research Center, most Muslims in the world are Sunni, with a minority being Shi’ites. In 2015, Pew estimated there were 5.4 million Muslims living in Qatar, compared to 3.5 million in the United States, 882,000 in India, 1.9 million in Brazil, 1.5 million in the United Arab Emirates, and 714,000 in Germany.
Qatar, which is located in the Persian Gulf, claims to be a Muslim-majority country and a bridge between Sunni and Shi’ites, which is why the government has been criticised for not supporting the Al-Thani family in its battles with the government of Iran.
The government has been criticised for not supporting the Al-Th