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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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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

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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

Behold, I stand at the door and?knock.?If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,?I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
readRevelation 3:20

Pray that those who have not opened their hearts to Jesus will hear His knock and invite Him in as their Savior and Lord.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
readMatthew 11:28-29

Please pray for them to lift their eyes to Jesus and find rest for their souls, lasting peace, and hope in Him.

And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
readLuke 9:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will meditate on the stories of Jesus' miracles, be in awe of Him, and trust Him for everything they need.

And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readLuke 10:2

Ask God to send out laborers into His harvest field, raising up believers from around the world to go and proclaim the kingdom of God with those who need to hear it.

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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