Buddhism in the Middle East

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Buddhism has been present in the Middle East and influenced some Middle Eastern religions such as Manichaeism.^[1] Buddhism, per some estimates by early medieval Muslim scholars such as Al-Biruni, was present from Eastern ancient Persia up to the frontier of Syria before the advent of Islam.^[2]

Al-Biruni has the following detailed account to offer: “Another circumstance which increased the already existing antagonism between Hindus and foreigners is that the so-called Shamaniyya [commonly understood as Buddhists], though they cordially hate the Brahmans, still are nearer akin to them than to others. In former times, Khorasan [understood as Eastern Persia], Fars [Ancient province of Fars in Persia], Iraq, Mosul, the country up to the frontier of Syria, was Buddhist”. ^[3]

There still remains a tiny community of Middle Eastern followers of Buddhism, though unrecognized by the state governments in the region, including in Lebanon and Iran.^[4]

It is estimated that in the Middle East, over 900,000 people profess Buddhism as their religion. Buddhist adherents make up just over 0.3% of the Middle East total population. Many of these Buddhists are workers who have migrated from other parts of Asia to the Middle East since the late 1990s, many of them come from countries that have large Buddhist populations, such as South Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Japan, and Nepal.