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.

Theravada Buddhism is the predominant religion of workers from Thailand and Sri Lanka. Mahayana Buddhism is the predominant religion of workers from East Asia and Vietnam, although Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto are also represented among these people. In Dubai (the United Arab Emirates)^[5] and Qatar,^[6] the workers from Sri Lanka were allowed to celebrate Vesak (the most important holiday in Buddhism) in those Islamic countries.

It is estimated that there are 13.49 million foreign residents living and working in Saudi Arabia.^[7]

In addition to 400,000 Sri Lankans, there are a few thousand Buddhist workers from East Asia, the majority of whom are Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai. A number of Tibetan-Nepalese immigrants may also be among the foreign population of Saudi Arabia. According to a 2020 report by the Association of Religion Data Archives, Buddhists make up about 0.33% of the Saudi population with comprehensive data on foreigners being unavailable.^[8]

Buddhist percentages in the Middle East

   Saudi Arabia (45.9%)

   United Arab Emirates (24.6%)

   Kuwait (11.1%)

   Turkey (7.9%)

   Qatar (5%)

   Oman (3.6%)

   Bahrain (0.8%)

   Israel (0.7%)

   Lebanon (0.4%)

Buddhism by country in the Middle East

Country	Population (2022)	% of Buddhists	Buddhist total
United Arab Emirates	9,441,129	2.40%[11]	210,000
Qatar	2,695,122	3.80%[12]	90,000
Kuwait	4,268,873	5.40%[13]	180,000
Saudi Arabia	36,408,820	.40%[14]	130,000
Bahrain	1,472,233	3.10%[15]	50,000
Oman	3,204,897	.70%[16]	20,000
Israel	9,038,309	.30%[17]	20,000
Lebanon	5,489,739	.20%[18]	10,000
Turkey	85,341,241	.09%[19]	40,000
Total	157,360,363	1.82%	750,000

• Buddhism in the West
• Hinduism in Arab states
• Index of Buddhism-related articles

• Buddhist pagodas or temples in Middle East
• The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2006
• CIA FactBook Archived 2013-05-10 at the Wayback Machine
• Religious Freedom page
• Religious Intelligence