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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Iraqi Shia Arabs of Iraq

The Iraqi Shia Arabs of Iraq, numbering approximately 19,330,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an indigenous community of Arabs in Iraq. They are an Indigenous people, in the Arab, Levant people cluster of the Arab World affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Shia. They primarily speak Arabic, Mesopotamian.

Iraqi Arabs in Netherlands photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Christiaan Briggs - Wikimedia Christiaan Briggs - Wikimedia Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: North Africa and Middle East Peoples
Country: Iraq
People Cluster: Arab, Levant
Primary Language(s): Arabic, Mesopotamian (acm)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Shia
Population: 19,330,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046790

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Pray for the Iraqi Shia Arabs of Iraq

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Shia
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Shia Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Arabic, Mesopotamian
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

%
Arabic, Mesopotamian Speakers

Media Resources in Arabic, Mesopotamian:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Arabic, Mesopotamian:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Arabic, Mesopotamian bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Iraqi Shia Arabs

The Iraqi Shia Arabs are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Iraqi Shia Arabs

The Iraqi Shia Arabs are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Iraqi Shia Arabs

The Iraqi Shia Arabs are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Iraqi Shia Arabs of Iraq

The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
readPsalm 6:9

Pray that lost people will hear the gospel and place their faith in Christ, knowing that He hears their plea and accepts their prayer.

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him!
readPsalm 68:4

Pray that many will come to faith in Christ and share the gospel with others so that His salvation will be known among all nations.

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
readPsalm 127:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will build their homes in the Lord and raise their children to know and honor Him.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
readJohn 1:5

Pray that when discouraging days come, those who cross cultures for the sake of the gospel will be comforted as they remember that the light of Christ is stronger than the darkness that surrounds them.

Arab, Iraqi reported in the following countries (ROP3):

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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