More Commonly Asked Questions About Arab Culture

Hello once again! I’m happy to see that you’ve stuck around for so long – that means I’m able to keep your interest, which isn’t something I was confident I would be able to do when I started this blog! Unless this is the first article you read here, in which case… Welcome to the blog! I recently wrote an article where I cleared up some of the more common misconceptions regarding Arab culture, such as whether every Arab is a Muslim and whether all women had to be veiled. I’m incredibly proud of that article, and I highly recommend that you go and check it out first before continuing with this one! In any case, are you ready to continue clearing up the misconceptions, dear reader? Let’s get started!

So, how are the Arab world countries governed, exactly? Are they caliphates?

Actually, as far as I know, the only state out there currently calling itself a caliphate is ISIS, so… No, not really, and thank God for that – caliphates were never exactly the most effective forms of rule. I might write a separate article about them sometime in the future because the topic really is fascinating, but suffice to say, there was no such thing as a separation of faith and state there. Today, most Arab world countries are parliamentary republics (Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen), traditional monarchies (Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia) or constitutional monarchies (Jordan and Morocco). The last big caliphates ended almost a century ago, so don’t worry – the Arab world is well on its way to a democracy… At least on paper.

You mentioned before that not all women had to wear a burqa, but what options do they have?

Well, that depends mostly on where they live. Some countries, such as Egypt, are very liberal when it comes to what people can wear, while in others women’s options are a bit more limited. Worst case scenarios, both women AND men need to dress traditionally, or risk being attacked by radicals. Still, in the more liberal countries, even in some of those that require women to wear traditional clothing, they’re still given a choice on what they want to wear based on their own personal beliefs. Some could go with a more revealing hijab or shayla, while the more conservative ladies (or those unfortunate enough to be born in conservative families) could wear niqabs or burkas. Feel free to check out this link for an excellent visual representation of the various traditional garbs of Arab women.

Speaking of women, is it true that they’re treated differently even in more liberal countries?

I haven’t lived in every country in the Arab world, so I can’t say for sure, but from what I’ve seen… Yeah, there’s definitely a lot of differences when it comes to how women are treated in many places, and it’s highly noticeable. It’s almost like women are an entirely different species – they feed and socialize in different rooms from men, they almost never talk to men outside of their family unless it’s strictly business, a man can’t approach a woman unless he has been formally introduced to her, eye contact is highly discouraged… In addition, male children are highly preferred within a family, with the belief that a son can bring honor to his family while a daughter can only bring shame. From a Western point of view it seems crazy, but that’s the way it is. Personally, I don’t believe that this kind of segregation and treatment is helping anyone, but I also believe in tradition and personal choice.

Wow, two articles already and I haven’t even scratched the surface! I think there’s material here for at least 5-6 more lists of this sort, but for the sake of variety I’ll try to write something else next time. What would you like to see? Let me know by clicking that Contact button at the top!