10 Things You Should Know About Arabs
These days, the word “Arabs” might scare some people, and it’s a shame. Arabs have a rich history and culture and have contributed so much to this world over the years, from food to science! Let’s explore what Arabs are about.
- Not All Arabs are Muslims
Islam is the dominant religion of the Arab world, but most of the world’s Muslims are not Arabs. There’s a common misconception that an Arab is necessarily a Muslim. Well, that’s wrong. Although the majority of Arabs are Muslim, about 5% of Arabs are Christians living mainly in countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Palestine. In Lebanon, Arab Christians form about 40% of the population, and 10% in Syria and Palestine. There are also smaller Jewish populations living mainly in countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Yemen, Tunisia, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. However, most Arab Jews emigrated out of these Arab states to Palestine, on which the state of Israel was established in 1948. In addition, there are Arab Druze, who follow the Druze religion, a religion which incorporates elements of Islam’s Ismailism, Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Pythagoreanism, and Hinduism according to some.
2. There are 22 Arab countries:
There are 22 Arab countries that span over Western Asia, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. All of the 22 countries have Arabic as an official language, however, some of those share it with others, such as French, Kurdish, Somali, or Berber languages.
Among the most notable minorities that live in these Arab countries are Berbers (Amazighs), who mostly reside in Algeria, Morocco, and Libya. In addition, countries like Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait have significant non-Arab and non-Muslim minorities (10–20%) such as Hindus and Christians from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines.
Arab countries have been suffering from unrest for quite a long time, leading to large waves of emigration, and a deteriorating economic situation. The most known Middle-Eastern conflicts are the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in addition to civil wars in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and Somalia. While these conflicts have been ongoing for tens of years, other Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar have enjoyed the benefits of being among the top ten petroleum or gas exporters worldwide. These Arab countries hold large quantities of the oil and natural-gas reserves, and it is believed that the Arab world holds approximately 46% of the world’s oil reserves and 25% of the world’s natural-gas reserves.
3. One language, way too many dialects:
If you start learning Arabic, you will probably start with written formal Arabic, otherwise known as fus’ha, and not colloquial Arabic. Fus’ha, or Modern Standard Arabic, is the form of Arabic used in formal platforms, such as TV, newspapers, books and speeches. However, if you hear two people from any part of the Arab world speaking to each other, it would be very hard to catch what they are saying if you only know Modern Standard Arabic. This is due to the fact that each Arab country has its own dialect (and sub-dialects), which sometimes differ significantly from fus’ha (written Arabic). For example, Palestinians find it hard to understand the Moroccan dialect and therefore, both sides would usually adjust their dialects to be closer to Modern Standard Arabic in order to make it easier for them to understand each other.
Arabic is a Semetic language written with the Arabic alphabet from right-to-left, and has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. Some of the most influenced languages are Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Kurdish and more… In fact, even English has many Arabic loanwords, such as alchemy, alcohol, algebra, algorithm, assassin, tarrif, and many more.
4. No, not all Arabs ride camels:
While Arabs are perceived as desert people in mainstream media, that is only part of the story. Arab culture is divided into three main parts — urban culture, rural culture, and nomadic culture. Cities like Cairo, Dubai, and Doha are great examples of urban culture, while in large parts of the Gulf, you can find many nomadic clusters in the desert.
5. Not all Arabs wear the traditional robes:
If you were to type “Arabs” in Google, you would find images of people wearing traditional robes, however this type of dress-code is mostly prevalent in the Gulf Arab countries, which translates to roughly 25% of all Arabs.
People in the Levant (places like Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan) and North African countries (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) usually dress casually, like any other Western country. That being said, it is not unusual to see the bedouins (nomads) in these countries wearing the traditional Arab peninsula robe.
6. Arabs mathematicians invented algebra:
The word algebra is derived from the Arabic word meaning “reunion of broken parts”. This field flourished during the Islamic Golden Age (8th to 13th century), thanks to al-Khwarizmi, a Persian scholar in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. On the work done by him, J. J. O’Conner and Edmund F. Robertson, Professors of Mathematics at the University of St. Andrews, said:
“Perhaps one of the most significant advances made by Arabic mathematics began at this time with the work of al-Khwarizmi, namely the beginnings of algebra. It is important to understand just how significant this new idea was. It was a revolutionary move away from the Greek concept of mathematics which was essentially geometry. Algebra was a unifying theory which allowed rational numbers, irrational numbers, geometrical magnitudes, etc., to all be treated as “algebraic objects”. It gave mathematics a whole new development path so much broader in concept to that which had existed before, and provided a vehicle for future development of the subject. Another important aspect of the introduction of algebraic ideas was that it allowed mathematics to be applied to itself in a way which had not happened before.”
— MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
Certainly, the Islamic Empire had its fair share of impact on modern philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and even medicine. A good example of that is Ibn Sina, known in the west as Avicenna, an Islamic scholar who composed Kitab Al-Shifa’ (“Book of Healing”), a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopedia, as well as the Canon of Medicine, one of the most famous books in the history of medicine.
Fun fact: the word algorithm, which describes a mathematical way to solve a problem and is heavily used in Computer Science, is derived from the Arabic word “Al-Khawarizmiyya”, which is derived from Al-Khawarzimi’s name.
7. Arabs have a rich cuisine:
Arab culture is known for its hospitality and generosity. Meals are usually large family affairs, served with a great deal of warmth and are meant for sharing. Formal dinners and celebrations generally involve large quantities of lamb, and you wouldn’t miss Arabic tea or coffee in any occasion.
In the Gulf (Khaleej) Arab cultures, a visitor is greeted by a table of dried fruits, fresh fruits, and nuts with a great deal of Arabic coffee.
In North African (Maghreb) Arab cultures, a visitor might expect a table full of bread-like snacks and other stuffed breads, served with honey or olive oil. Arabic coffee and mint tea are often served with the food.
In Levant (Sham) Arab cultures, a visitor can expect a table full of mezze, breads topped with spices like zaa’tar and nuts, or stuffed with meat or cheese. Of course, the food and hospitality would be incomplete without Arabic coffee or tea.
8. Family is the center of Arab social activities
The traditional Arab family constitutes an economic and social unit as all members collaborate to ensure its continuation and improve its standing in society. Shops, factories, businesses, and fields are commonly owned and operated for the benefit of all family members. Family warmth in Arab culture provides support in times of individual and societal distress, as the success or failure of an individual becomes that of the family as a whole. Usually, in large parts of the Arab world, parents become known as “Abu”, meaning “father of” or “Um”, meaning “mother of”, one’s eldest son, or daughter (if there are no sons). For example, Um Ali is a name given to a lady that is the mother of an eldest son called Ali.
9. Millions of Arabs live in diaspora
Wars, colonialism, and economical crises have led to the immigration of millions of Arabs out of the Middle East, most notably Palestinians, Lebanese, Iraqis and Syrians.
According to Saudi Aramco World, the largest concentration of Arabs outside the Arab World is in Brazil, which has 9 millions Brazilians of Arab ancestry. Of these 9 million Arabs, seven million are of Lebanese ancestry, making Brazil’s population of Lebanese greater than that of Lebanon itself. Other large Arab communities include Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, and Chile. Palestinians cluster in Chile and Central America, particularly El Salvador and Honduras. In the United States, there are around 3.5 million people of Arab ancestry.
Millions of Arabs are also living in Europe, mostly in France.
Many mainstream public figures in the US and Europe are of Arab descent. Among those are:
- Carlos Slim Helu (Lebanese origin), who was listed as the richest man in the world by Forbes.
- Carlos Ghosn (Lebanese origin), Brazilian-French-Lebanese businessman, CEO of Renault-Nissan.
- Gigi Hadid (Palestinian origin), a well known American model.
- Salma Hayek (Lebanese origin), who is a Mexican actress.
- Khalil Gibran (Lebanese origin), a US writer and intellectual, Edward Said (Palestinian origin) a US intellectual and author of the the book Orientalism, Shakira (Lebanese origin), a Colombian singer, DJ Khaled (Palestinian origin), an American DJ, and many more.
10. Arabic Instruments Have Influenced Music Throughout Europe
In traditional Arabic music, the compositions and improvisations are based on the maqam system, which does not include a rhythmic component. Arabic music is different than Western music in that it contains microtones, which are notes that lie between notes in the Western chromatic scale. While notes in the chromatic scale are separated by semitones (or half steps), notes in Arabic music can be separated by quarter tones.
Islamic authors have written a lot about the theory of Arabic music, most notably Al-Kindi who added the fifth string to the oud (an Arabic musical string instrument) as well as published fifteen treatises on music theory. Additionally, Al-Farabi, another Islamic author, wrote a notable book on music titled The Great Book of Music, and his pure Arabian tone system is still used in Arabic music even today.
Arabic instruments have influenced music throughout Europe as a number of musical instruments used in classical music are believed to have been derived from Arabic musical instruments: the lute was derived from the oud, the rebec (ancestor of violin) from the rebab, and the guitar from qitara.
When it comes to Arabic classical music, you can find the virtuoso singers who sing long, ornamented, melismatic tunes and have the ability to drive the audiences into complete ecstasy.
This tradition goes back to pre-Islamic times, when female singing slaves entertained wealthy warriors in the battlefield with their poetry and performed at weddings.
Arabic music has also made its way to the international pop scene with songs such as “Habibi”, a track released by Amr Diab in 1996 (originally “Habibi Ya Nour El Ain”) which became a massive hit as it combined Spanish flamenco music, French accordion solo, and Arabic duff instrument. When it comes to classical Arabic music, the most notable classic Arabic singers are Umm Kulthum, Abdel Halim Hafez, and Mohamad Abd al-Wahab, who are admired in the entire Arab world.
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