What is an Arab?

for example you can find my family name, in Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt and Saudi Arabia... there is lots of researches about Arab world sadly most are not true. there are other ethics live in the Arab world yes, for example Qataris from Persian roots. Saudi from African roots etc etc, and in some countries like Iraq and Syria the Kurds living in their home land.

as for Israel its not an arab state, it occupied Palestine in 1948 though Palestine was not a country same as most arab states back then. Jews were living in Palestine and they are Arab jews and they still living in west bank and speak arabic most refused the state of israel. the arabs paid for what the nazis did for them.

israels came from eourpe and russia on boats in 1930s 1920s, they are also occupying the Syrian Golan and a saudi island near alaqaba. if eroupe, russian, american jew have the right to be in Palestine then all Christians should join them and have the right to be in Saudi.

Iran is not an arab country in fact iran and arabs are becoming enemies + iran occupying three emirati islands

one thing on why Arabs loved Saddam is that cuz he got onto war against iran for 9 years

there are 5 Mill arabs in iran and this dose not make an arab country and there are arabs in india

anyone can tell you their point of view on this area cuz they lived on a very small piece of land of the Arab world where 80% are expats but you have to get facts and do researches and read history

hapy--I totally agree that Persia is its own place, but often times the Western media groups it, and I have even heard Arab commentators grouping Iran within the Arab world within the context of relations with Bahrain and Iraq.

frienchie, no one calls Turks or Iranians Arabs, they are at times referred to part of middle east. Same for Israel, its part of middle east but not arab.

There are native arabs who were inhabitants of arabian peninsula and then there are arabized arabs who became arabs by spread of Islamic empire like the north africans.

You'll find the answer extensively in Ibn Khaldoun's Muqqadimah

http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ik/Muqaddimah/

A man once visited the Prophet's mosque in Madinah. There he saw a group of people sitting and discussing their faith together. Among them were Salman (who came from Persia), Suhayb who grew up in the Eastern Roman empire and was regarded as a Greek, and Bilal who was an African. The man then said:

"If the (Madinan) tribes of Aws and Khazraj support Muhammad, they are his people (that is, Arabs like him). But what are these people doing here?"

The Prophet became very angry when this was reported to him. Straightaway, he went to the mosque and summoned people to a Salat. He then addressed them saying:

"O people, know that the Lord and Sustainer is One. Your ancestor is one, your faith is one. The Arabism of anyone of you is not from your mother or father. It is no more than a tongue (language). Whoever speaks Arabic is an Arab." (As quoted in Islam The Natural Way by Abdul Wahid Hamid p. 125)

2. Statement of the universal brotherhood in the last Sermon:

O people, Remember that your Lord is One. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a black has no superiority over white, nor a white has any superiority over black, except by piety and good action (Taqwa). Indeed the best among you is the one with the best character (Taqwa). Listen to me. Did I convey this to you properly? People responded, Yes. O messenger of God, The Prophet then said, then each one of you who is there must convey this to everyone not present. (Excerpt from the Prophet's Last Sermon as in Baihiqi)

3. Don't take pride in ancestry:

The Prophet said: Let people stop boasting about their ancestors. One is only a pious believer or a miserable sinner. All men are sons of Adam, and Adam came from dust (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi).

4. Looking down upon other people will stop you from entering the Jannah:

The Prophet said: Whoever has pride in his heart equal to the weight of an atom shall not enter Paradise. A man inquired about a person who likes to wear beautiful clothes and fine shoes, and he answered: God is beautiful and likes beauty. Then he explained pride means rejecting the truth because of self-esteem and looking down on other people (Muslim).

I hate politics and politicians and i do not play political games here, I see the reality and circumstances surrounding us all,

we should not take what we believe and what we have learned and what we were told only, but we must listen to the other side of the case, perhaps he wants to say something we close our ears about it, and take what we want to hear only.

We must look at what is happening now because it shows us a lot of things that we do not know or do not want to know.

Zahi Hawass is only one person of about 85 million Egyptians and i do not think if you asked him whether if he is an Arab or not will ignore it.

end of comments

Jerv, is that a 'Rod'in pic ur using, the thinking man..guy seems ready to get off...

Arab Jews in yemen are Arabic descend..don't forget that the Arabian peninsula was Jewish, Christian and Pagan before Islam. They are Arabs even if they follows the Jewish religion.

I do agree with your summary and to highlight this...during the Doha debates about Dubai, the prominent Dubai businessman Mishal Kanoo when asked whether Dubai was losing its Arab character because of the development and expatriates, he answer was "Which Arab culture r u talking about..Egyptian, Syrian, Palestinian..."

PreZ--Yes, Ishmael rather than Isaac, but what about the Arab Jews in places like Yemen, etc.? The consider themselves Arabs, speak Arabic, etc.

It all sound very fuzzy to me, and in Alikhalid case, very political and presumptive. There were people in all of these places before the Arab conquests and the Arabs that came and converted some of them blended with the locals; when they retreated out of the Iberian peninsula, they blended again. There is no such thing as a "purely" Arab person outside of Arabia, and even that is dubious considering historically how many peoples from the ME, Europe and North Africa moved here. Look at Qatar, for example, whose citizen population has many people who have ancestors from Eastern Africa, Iran, etc. A genetic case for an Arab is impossible to make. Language doesn't work, because too many people speak Arabic, and geography is fuzzy too.

After reading the posts here, it seems to me it is a mindset or mentality more than anything, which combines cultural elements of location, tradition, history and language, but there is no clear definition.

The original Arabs descended from Abrahams son Ishmael..so the Jews occasionally call Arabs as Ishmaelites.

Current polictical contect takes in Arab speaking people i.e whose mothertongue is Arabic.

The Arab world is not a single race or origin. The north africans Arabs also descend from Berbers and Egyptians, the Somali and Mautitanian is African, the Palestinians and Syrians (levant) descend from a variety of nationalities and ethinicities that have lived there for centuries before the Arab-Islamic invasion.

e.g. Zahi Hawass the foremost Egyptian archeologists considers himself 'Egyptian'..not 'Arab'.

Real Arab would..to me..means the chaps from GCC especially whose families originate from the Najd / Hejaz of Saudi Arabia.

Hope this sheds some light..although there is no universally accepted definition...till date the only real connection is liguistics and common thread of Islam.

deleted

whether if the whole world like it or not, even though there are some Arabs believe in something called Israel but in the deep heart of those people they do not and wish this to end, not just Arabs even other Muslim countries.

I do not mean here that language is the only link between the Arabs, there is a common history and common culture and religions that they believe in.

They were one nation and not bounded by borders, and the only thing differentiate between them was the foreign colonization whether in the past or now. but I assure you that in every Arab heart they are still one and will return as they were one day.

Iran is Persian, Yes it is a Muslim country, but their origins are Persian.

All the inhabitants of North Africa are descendants of Arab purely origins, and no one who knows the Arab history can deny that.and its up to you if you like it or not.!

Turkey is not Arab because they are Turk and they do not speak Arabic, and they do not use Arabic as an official language.

Alikhalid--whether we like it or not Arabs do 'believe in a country called Israel'. Or at least some do. Hence plenty of nations in the regions, rightly or wrongly, recognize it as a nation and sign treaties with it.

But from what you wrote, it seems you would consider it part of the Arab world, but a part occupied and run by usurpers. So would you consider Iran part of the Arab world? You don't list it, but on you definition it sort of fits, but sort of doesn't. Personally, I would say no, on the same grounds I would not include Turkey. But then I would hesitate to include much of North Africa.

meanz desert

Sorry I've forgotten about Yemen, and will ignore the rest of what you said, because I have said previously that there are a lot of different races have been intermingled with the Arabs because of the expansion of the land that is used by Arabs and because of the succession of generations and civilizations.

Israel is completely different issue than Arab world, the Arab do not believe in a country called Israel because they think it was built on an Arabic land called Palestine.

By the way, Arabs believe in the three religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Israel has some Arabs and a lot of ethnicities, especially from Eastern Europe.

Alikhalid--thank you for your comprehensive definition. Would you include Turkey, Iran or Israel in you description? They sometimes get lumped in, but (like North Africa and Iraq) it seems a bit fuzzy. I've sometimes heard them included and excluded by various media outlets. But then I have also heard someone on the BBC also include Pakistan!

If we are using a genetic definition, as suggested by another poster above, Lebanon has been shown to have very different markers than Saudi Arabia.

I can assure you that gonna be very soon, sooner than you can imagine.

Arabs R Like "JEWS" Bcoz If U Wanna Be One U Have To Be Born Again

I'm Arab by nature,my life in general has been Nomadic.

Alikhalid, thank you, finally a post that has actual information and makes sense.

The Arab world is a piece of land that spread from Asia in the Middle East to the Far North Africa, the countries that lie in the Asian part are the States of the Arabian Gulf (Oman, UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait) and the countries of the Levant are(Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon) and Iraq. The countries located in the African part are (Arab Republic of Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Mauritania).

Ties between the people of this region too many, for example, that those people come out of one. And that does not deny that there are a lot of races have been intermingled with them, as they have the same affiliation and a common history, language and religion. And feel all the Arabs of various religions and the current affiliation that they are part and parcel of each other and what happens in any Arab country means all Arabs. And they are very committed to the idea that the Arabs will be back as they were in the past, one nation, not separated by anything.

It's better to get an Arab friend to know more about them

That was the best translation from Arabic to English by Google translate

is something I always associated with language.

Back home 'The Arab World' was purely those countries that speak arabic and Arabs are those that speak Arabic.

Of course,there is a certain amount of stereotype; an Aussie national who learned arabic would not be an 'arab'.

But devoid of any malice or judgement, I figured it just described people in the arab world; the arabic speaking countries.

Too simple?

Bachus--happens every so often. I haven't seen it in person, but some locals complain privately about it (citizenship is exclusive here, and trading on it is a perk). On QL it is endemic. I suppose people do it for the same reason unempowered people try to "pass" as the ethnic group in control in every culture. I am white, male, from a Western country and financially prosperous by anyone's standard, which by default makes me part of the privileged group, so I am just speculating. I am sure the bitter baazigar can offer first-person testimony.

Yup, I meant genetics. Christian, Jewish - those are religions.

simplecomplex

By ethnicity do you mean genetics? There are also lots of Christians, Jews, etc. who have been described as Arabs. This what confuses me.

Frenchieman

I don't get why someone like your pal would try and pass as Qatari. Is that really an issue here?

To answer your question, it's their ethnicity. It has nothing to do with geography, language, or religion.

Geography - a lot of Asians & Westerners inhabit the area.

Language - some non-arabs can learn and speak arabic.

Religion - there are non-arab people who practice Islam.

edifis--Straight Greek men regularly kiss as a greeting. French men not so much.

Arab can be a very broad term. Well-to-do natives of Arabian Peninsula often select a narrower view when speaking culturally, generally reserving it for people on the Peninsula. With the language especially, there is a great deal of snobbery (not unlike the Queens English vs Americans speaking English). The exception is in politics, when locals speak of an Arab world.

There are also those people on the fringes who choose the broadest definition possible so as to include them. As you spend time in Qatar and QL you'll notice a number of people trying to pass for Qatari who are really South Asian. These are the people with Land Cruiser envy (like Baazigar and co.) who struggle financially and yearn for what they see is a better life.

OK

The men who kiss other men when they meet, if they are not French are called Arabs.

I thought 'French Kissing' was something different :-/

Edifis, then French men are really Arabs?

Them men who kiss other men when they meet are Arabs.

IMHO all the Arab speaking people and their countries would constitute The Arab world.There are parts of Western Asia and North Africa in it. Israel is not a part of Arabs as though they have both Arabic and Hebrew as their official languages,The Jew part of Israel is considered as Non Arabic owing to their original Hebrew-Jewish decent.

from where Lulu, you still play with toys Qhris bieber

While you have multiple I.D's, I have multiple cars!

Sorry to burst your bubble there.

cant buy one

Read this.Interesting information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_people

is 'Owner of Land Cruiser'.