Believe it or not, there are small pockets of Christianity throughout Iraq. Some of these Christian groups are made up of Catholics. Other Christians are from Chaldean, Assyrian, Syrian, Armenian, and Jacobite people groups in Iraq.

A fraction of Iraq religion is made up of the Yezidis who are mistaken for Satan worshipers. There are also Sabaeans or Mandeans who follow the teachings of John the Baptist.

The prophet Mohammed supposedly started getting messages from his god, Allah in AD 610, when he was 40 years old.

After three years, Mohammed began to share these messages and soon had a steady following that continued to multiply. The poor people were especially drawn to Mohammed.

The main point of faith in the Iraq religion of Islam is for the believer to submit totally to Allah. The word "Islam" means "submission".

In AD 622, the important people in Mecca drove Mohammed away. He went north to Medina. His followers grew more rapidly there. In AD 630, he was in charge of an army of 10,000! He took this army back to Mecca and took control of the city.

Mohammed died in AD 632. His followers rapidly spread his teachings all across the Middle East. They spread to Africa and to Spain by AD 710.

Mohammed put his messages from Allah in a book called the Koran or Quran.

Islam has five main rules or pillars that all believers and Iraq religion must follow:

1. The profession of faith that says there is no God but Allah.

2. The obligation of prayer five times a day. The times are at sunrise, noon, mid afternoon, sunset, and night. It is okay for prayers to be anywhere except for Friday noon prayers. These must be performed in a mosque.

3. Muslims have to give 1/40th of their yearly income to the poor. This is conveniently done through a state tax collected by the ministry of religious affairs.

4. Ramadan in September marks the time of year when Mohammed received the Quran. During daylight hours for the whole month, Muslims cannot smoke, eat, or drink anything at all, including water. They cannot have sex until dark during this month as well.

5. Each Muslim should make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca. This trip results in having all past sins forgiven.