Secularism in Iraq
[1] Islam is the official state religion of Iraq, but the constitution, guarantees freedom of religious belief and practices for Muslims, Christians, Yazidis and Sabean-Mandaeans.[2] The secular Iraqi Communist Party was the country's largest movement between the 1940s and 1960s, and was founded by activists from different backgrounds.[3] Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Iraqi society has experienced crises in its transition from a strong centralized state under the secular Baʿth Party to a state dominated by Shia Islamist parties.[5] In 2006, OpenDemocracy reported that the regime change had damaged the secularism of Ba'athist Iraq.[6] The emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq presented a challenge to secularism.