Commonly Asked Questions About Arab Culture

Hello, I hope you’re having a wonderful day! I thought for quite a while about what I wanted the first article published on this site to be, and I zig-zagged between a variety of topics in the process of deciding. At one point I even considered making a dart board with topics and just throwing a dart at it to see where it lands! But I figured that, for people who aren’t familiar with this culture at all, just starting off with a random topic would be a bit confusing. Unlike what Tony Stark says, no, learning how to run before you know how to walk is never a really good idea (but then again, he’s a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist and I’m just an Internet blogger, so what do I know). Instead, I decided to compile a short list of common questions that I often hear about the Arab world and culture. Ready? Let’s dive right into it!

So, does the term “Arab World” only refer to Saudi Arabia?

Nope! Just because a lot of the countries in the Arab world don’t have the word “Arab” in their names, that doesn’t mean they’re not part of it! There’s numerous countries across North Africa and Asia which are part of the Arab World, such as Morocco, Somalia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and many more. There are a total of 22 Arab countries and areas, with the characteristics that bind them together being that Islam is the dominant religion and Arabic is the dominant language.

Does that mean that everyone in the Arab World speaks the same religion and worships the same god?

Again, that’s a misconception. While it is true that, as I said above, the Arabic language and Muslim faith are dominant, just like with any other nation, the ones which are part of the Arab World experience a certain amount of diversity. Several languages are spoken on the territories of the 22 countries, such as, for example, Darija – a language spoken in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia which, while sharing certain similarities with Arabic, is ultimately its own thing. The same goes for religion. While some countries have more religious diversity than others, it is important to note that it certainly exists within the Arab World. Lebanon, for example, has a huge Christian population.

But wait, can you still be an Arab if you’re a Christian? I thought all Arabs were Muslims!

That’s yet another misconception. To be an Arab is not bound to race or religion – as I stated above, many Christians, as well as Jews, identify as Arabs. It is a cultural identity more than anything. I suppose that, at least on a certain level, Arabs aren’t that different from Americans – they are both huge congregations of people of various creeds and backgrounds who have been brought together by their culture.

How can you compare the Arab World to America? In America everyone’s free, while in the Arab World all men are terrorists and all women need to be veiled!

Well, sadly, there is a grain of truth to that… But only a grain. The Arab World spans 22 different countries! And yes, unfortunately, in some of them women need to be veiled, otherwise they risk being attacked and even killed by fanatics. In addition, in certain regions certain freedoms have been stripped from the people (such as free speech and religious freedom), which does lead to very easy radicalization. But unlike what you hear on the news, things are getting better! The process is slow, but reforms are happening. In recent polls, 75% of the citizens of the Arab World agree with more Western points of view and condemn the actions of terrorists. In addition, in numerous regions wearing a hijab (or a Muslim veil for women) is entirely optional and left to a woman’s personal discretion.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this article!