Bangladesh and religion.docx

Religion and Bangladesh Religion in Bangladesh is a sensitive issue, mostly because Bangladesh is officially a secular state but recognizes Islam as an official, state religion. Historically and doctrinally, Islamic scholars don’t accept nations that are secular because they think that religion, society and private life are all part of the great community they like to call ‘umma’.<br> <br> The main religion in Bangladesh is Islam because it is practiced by almost 90 percent of the country’s population. The rest of 10 percent adhere to Hinduism. The type of Islam that is practiced in Bangladesh is Sunni Islam with a lot of Sufi influences. Sunni is the most numerous branch of Islam in the world. Countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia have Sunni majority populations. The Sufi practices that influence the Islamic religion in Bangladesh are commonly known as mysticism. Sufi followers are poor men that don’t eat, don’t drink and spend their days in deep prayer in order to achieve spiritual connection with God.<br> <br> Bangladesh has the fourth largest Muslim population in the world, with over 130 million followers, right after Indonesia, Pakistan and India. In its constitution, Bangladesh is recognized as a secular state. For a short period of time, when Bangladesh was under Pakistani rule, Islam was made the state’s official religion. But the Supreme Court or High Court of Bangladesh ruled that Bangladesh must return to the principles of the 1972 constitution, meaning that it mustn’t have an official religion.<br> <br> The problem with Islam gaining too much power in Bangladesh is that it unbalances the genders issues. Islamic edicts or fatwas have been issued mostly against women by religious courts as punishments for their nonreligious behavior. Global NGO’s are fighting such edicts in order to maintain a fair judgment when it comes to men and women. Bangladesh is a country where gender issues, as well as religious issues are very sensitive subjects.

孟加拉国的宗教状况
孟加拉国的宗教问题向来敏感，究其原因，该国虽在官方层面为世俗国家，却将伊斯兰教定为官方国教。从历史与教义层面而言，伊斯兰学者并不认可世俗国家——他们认为宗教、社会与私人生活均属于他们所称的"乌玛（umma）"共同体的一部分。

孟加拉国的第一大宗教为伊斯兰教，全国近九成人口信奉该宗教，剩余一成民众则信仰印度教。孟加拉国的伊斯兰教属于深受苏菲主义影响的逊尼派伊斯兰教。逊尼派是全球信徒规模最大的伊斯兰教分支，埃及、沙特阿拉伯等国均以逊尼派信徒为主体。对孟加拉国伊斯兰教产生影响的苏菲修行方式，通常被称为神秘主义。苏菲派信徒多为清贫之士，他们通过禁食、禁欲与终日潜心祈祷，以求与上帝达成精神联结。

孟加拉国拥有全球第四多的穆斯林人口，信徒规模超过1.3亿，仅次于印度尼西亚、巴基斯坦与印度。孟加拉国宪法明确其为世俗国家。在孟加拉国受巴基斯坦统治的短暂时期内，伊斯兰教曾被定为官方国教，但孟加拉国最高法院或高等法院随后裁定，该国必须回归1972年宪法的基本原则，即不得设立官方国教。

孟加拉国伊斯兰教势力过度扩张所引发的问题之一，是两性平等议题出现严重失衡。宗教法庭曾多次发布伊斯兰教法裁决（fatwas），主要针对女性信徒，以惩罚其所谓的非宗教行为。全球非政府组织（NGO）正针对此类裁决发起抗争，以求在两性审判中实现公平公正。孟加拉国的宗教与性别议题均属于高度敏感的话题。