It is correct that prior to the Arab conquest, North Africa was not Arab. However, the conquest of North Africa included the spread of Arabs all the way across the continent, and up into Spain. So it is correct to say that the northern tier of African countries are Arab.
As I understand it, 7th century Arabia was not heavily populated due to the expanse and harsh climate. At Mohameds death and the whole of Arabia under Islam consisted of many nomadic and a few densley populated towns for the period. When Islam went beyond Arabia, the Arab fighters conqured the lands but generally left only an administrative force to collect the tax from the dhimmis and taught the new converts. The army either moved on or returned to Arabia. New converts made the new armies. Saladin was a Kurd which is more Persian than Arab.
In the Muslim world, and especially where the religion is concerned, national identity doesn’t mean very much. However, in the past Arabs have looked down on some other races, especially black Africans. One has only to read 1001 Nights (one of the real translations, like Sir Richard Burton’s) to see Arab racism at its worst. You can find it on the web, but I’m not going to link to it; the language and the sentiments expressed are just too vile.
I suppose that is my point. Pre-Islam Arabia saw the Arabs in clans where family/local deity loyalty was paramount- hence all the blood fued battles and payments. Mohamed broke that tradition of family loyalty and made being Muslim paramount. Divisons were clear from the start when the first Mecca converts were preferred to the Medina Helpers until Mekka was retaken. When everyone was Moslem, with a few rare exceptions, the Arab tradition of family loyalty returned, but Islam remained paramount. Islam is pure Mohamedism, and Mohamed is Arab.
In the conqured lands the same thing took place making family loyalty take a backseat to being a Moslem…until the majority were Moslem. When those people accepted Islam they had to learn Arabic to know the unadulterated Quran, and through that mimiced Islams founder adopting an Arab persona that washed away the old culture.
As Isa Almisry noted above:
The vast majority of Christians in Egypt are not Arabs, but Copts, the Ancient Egyptians.
The other ancient Egyptians were converted to Islam or killed. Similarly the Persians and those inhabiting the lands of Syria, Babylon, and Palestine.
I watched a program the other night that quoted UBL in a tape in 2005 or so (conventional wisdom says that he is in Pakistan) that allah was in support of all muslim Arabs participating in hs jihad. Why would he say Arabs when he is being kept by non-Arab Moslems in a non-Arab country?
Iraq shows that the Shia/Sunni split is significant enough to cause a war within Islam. Christianity does not seem to have wiped out the host culture like Islam. A Greek is still a Greek, and a Swede is still a Swede if Christian or not.
I’m sure my bias is in there somewhere but when dominate in a society, Islam seems to replace the ‘natural’ culture with that of an Arab one because it is a combined social/political/religious force that insists only the Arab way of it is the correct way.
Muslim Arab investor needed for Arabic Halal restaurant in Malaysia
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search for Arab governments results:
**Algeria **@(110)
Bahrain @(57)
Comoros @(4)
Djibouti @(13)
**Egypt **@(274)
Emirates @(221)
**Iraq **@(32)
**Jordan **@(162)
Kuwait @(74)
Lebanon @(108)
Libya @(61)
Mauritania @(6)
Morocco @(123)
Oman @(81)
Palestine @(64)
Qatar @(32)
Saudi Arabia @(227)
Somalia @(0)
**Sudan **@(57)
**Syria **@(74)
Tunisia @(76)
Yemen @(74)
I would not have thought of the bolded countries as Arab.
If Egyptians are not Arabs, I think that it is news to them so speak softly.