Religion in Arsalania

Religion in Arsalania (2024 estimate)

  Twelver Shia Islam (76.5%)

  Sunni Islam (23.5%)

The State Religion of Arsalania is Islam, as enshrined by Article 2 of the 2019 Constitution and expanded upon in detail in Article 25 (a), and is practiced by 100% of the population. Arsalania officially espouses the Ja'fari Fiqh of Islamic Jurisprudence but recognizes the right of its citizens to follow other schools of thought and awards them equity in legal recognition and rights regardless of denomination.

Although the 2019 Constitution originally had a secular nature - opting for religious pluralism and universal legal protection for all religious groups (an element it still retains), after the 21 March Resolution, through the First Constitutional Amendment (adopted on 4 April 2022), Secularism was abolished and Islam was established as the state religion. Officially a People's Republic (reflecting the nature of the Arsalanian state as a left-leaning Socialistic state with its own unique ideology), there have been discussions of changing to an 'Islamic Republic' instead, since the Ideological tendencies, socio-political makeup of the nation do, in fact, support such as being a viable course of action.

Muslims in Arsalania comprise primarily two sects - Twelver Shi'a Islam which is followed by a majority (76.5%) of the population - most adhering to the Usuli school - whereas a significant portion of the population (23.5%) belongs to the Sunni denomination of Islam - with all following the Hanafi Jurisprudence (largely represented by a diverse set of followers associated with plain mainstream Hanafism - the Deobandi movement and even instances of followers of more Modernistic movements within Sunni Islam)

The Ideology of the People's Republic, Arsalanian Socialism aligns itself to be 'based on Islam' and can be described as a combination of different elements of a wide range of ideologies such as Islamic Socialism, Islamic Democracy, Democratic Socialism, Khomeinism among its own unique elements. Therefore, it can be said that religion and religious socio-economic philosophy as well as the political ideas of the Iranian Revolution have a significant influence on the development of Arsalania. Such an influence is only expected to magnify over the course of the years.

Demographics

In Arsalania, the population has, since its foundation, consisted of being entirely composed of Muslims. At its inception, 100% of the population of Arsalania consisted of adherents to the Twelver Shi'a School of Islam - gradually, beginning in late 2022 - a Sunni minority appeared (a particularly important event in this regard is the induction of the Province of 'Mesustan' into Arsalania which is the largest Sunni majority territory of Arsalania) which has gradually grown so much as to make up a relatively significant (and influential) portion of Arsalania's population.

Census Data (Religious affiliation)

At present, the Federal Government of Arsalania does not particularly conduct any sort of scheduled census activity - but relies upon its National Database and direct interactions with citizens to prepare statistics representing the demographic make-up of the People's Republic.

Two such sets of data, from 2022 and 2024 respectively, are presented as follows.

(2022 Data)

Religious denominations in Arsalania (September 2022 Statistics)
Denominations		Individuals	Percent
Twelver Shia Islam		11	78.57%
Sunnism (Hanafi)		3	21.42%

(2024 Data)

Religious denominations in Arsalania (June 2024 Statistics)
Denominations		Individuals	Percent
Twelver Shia Islam		13	76.5%
Sunnism (Hanafi)		4	23.5%

Distribution of Denominational Affiliations

It is worthy to note that Arsalania's population is, although largely concentrated within a few major territories to an extent, is still quite widely spread apart by geographic area (particularly due to the existence of a multitude of Autonomous exclaves associated with the State.

The Majority Denominational Affiliations (by territory) are given as followed:

Religious Denominations in Arsalania

Territory	Denominational Majority
Arsalania (proper)	Twelver Shi'ism
Mesustan	Sunnism
Nazgarh	Twelver Shi'ism
Awanestan	Twelver Shi'ism
Luddarabad	Mixed
Mirzapur	Sunnism
Saa'databad	Twelver Shi'ism

Among these, it is worthy to note, that Arsalania (proper) represents about 47.058% of the total population of the People's Republic and consists entirely of citizens adhering to the Twelver denomination. Similarly, in recent times, Arsalanian policy of establishing new territorial claims for every new citizen not presently a resident of an existing territory has been temporarily suspended - thus some citizens of the People's Republic are not represented by the statistics above.

Islamic Schools of Thought among Arsalanians

Among the Shi'ite citizenry of Arsalania - practically all are adherents of the Usuli school within Twelver Shi'ism and thus also accept the concept of Taqli'd (emulation) of a Marja' ('Model' i.e. in Usulism - a Marja' is a Senior, highly learned and pious Shi'i scholar whose knowledge of all matters of religion and character makes him sufficient to be an example for the common believer and his rulings on matters of jurisprudence - in light of the Qur'an and Sunnah - binding upon those who follow him).

Among the Sunni population, there exists a mixture of two particular varieties, however - all effectively consist of followers of the Hanafi Maddhab of Sunni Islam - whereas nearly half do not express explicit adherence to any sub-movement - the remaining portion consists of adherents to the Deobandi movement and a portion following a variety of more modernistic (yet also non-denominational) strains of Modern Sunni Islam.

Religious Rights in Arsalania

Ever since the foundation of the People's Republic, before and after the 21 March Resolution, Religious freedom for all citizens has been universally guaranteed under the 2019 Constitution.

Constitutional Guarantees of Religious Freedom

Whereas Article 2 officially declares Islam to be the State Religion - following the Ja'fari Fiqh (Twelverism), this is significantly expanded upon in Article 25 (a), whose first clause restates the very same, but in the second clause it is stated:

"All other Fuqaha shall be protected with special efforts to promote unity and the pursuit of knowledge among all people of faith" [Article 25 - a - (2) - 2019 Constitution]

Similarly, discrimination on the basis of religion is also shunned as per the next clause of Article 25 (a), wherein it states:

"The State shall not discriminate between any citizens on basis of faith or denomination." [Article 25 - a - (3) - 2019 Constitution]

These elements are further expanded upon in Article 25 (b), with the three clauses making up the content therein, being summarised or otherwise stated precisely as follows:

• All possess the right to choose and practice their faith, religion or creed
• "Everyone can refuse to receive religious instructions." [ 25 (b) - (3) ]
• "Everyone can, on the basis of conscience, refuse to serve in the armed forces." [25 (b) - (4)]

In practice, as well, the religious rights of all schools of thought are guaranteed in Arsalania and the role of the State, albeit it has taken on the role of a 'Shepherd' under the Islamic Socialist model of 'Shepherdly Politics' (سیاست), the model of action is that through ensuring the protection and peaceful co-existence of different religious outlooks in society, the right environment for peaceful discourse and intermingling can be created - through which fellow believers can come to the conclusions needed for a stable and prosperous society. The Socialist Party of Arsalania (SPA), in power since the foundation of the People's Republic in 2019, maintains that such values align closely with those of Islam - and that the rights of human beings are guaranteed so as long as they do not violate the laws governing all people without discriminative excess or exceptions in application.