overview of minorities

If you ask me about minorities in general i would tell you that i figure they behave in on of two ways: 1- they try to blend in with majority letting go – at surface at least – of most of their unique heritage, even mocking what makes them different in the process, all as an effort so that the majority would accept them.  2- they cling to each and every detail that set them apart from the group, creating their own inner circles of alike people, and they begin to develop an attitude towards the others, mostly victimizing themselves and demonizing the majority – specially if there is a reason whether strong or weak for that feeling – and that becomes their cause and their case.

but the world doesn’t revolve around it!! (part one)

once I had the pleasure of meeting a german professor of medicine, and we had very interesting conversation, it was like two different worlds getting to know each other.

he used to be a catholic and now he’s atheist – immediately after he mentioned that my first question was “and how did your family handle that?”

he told me that it wasn’t easy but they accepted it and now he shares the religious holidays and events with them as some sort of family union, then he explained “well, in Europe our world doesn’t revolve around religion”.

“Wow, i just can’t begin to imagine such a world of tolerance” this was one of my thoughts, but the main voice that kept buzzing me for days after this enriching conversation was “well, our world does”

in the arab region in general and mainly in gulf there are certain aspects that governs our life:

• religion
• family
• social order and acceptance
• heritage and habits

Religion is the main motive for most of our actions, whether out of conviction or social hypocrisy, and it’s always integrated and sometimes confused with cultural heritage, you can go and ask a muslim woman “why are wearing this burqa?” the answer will be “because i should “or must” obey the Fatwa, because Allah told us to”…. whether this girl/woman is doing it out of conviction of hypocrisy is one issue, but the other issue is “is this practice really a religious command or social/tribal heritage dressed up as religious command promoted by radical sheiks is always a debate”.

you have to put in mind that all religions “Islam included” with holy scriptures are and will always be a matter of interpretation, how i understand the Bible or the Quraan and how seriously I take them is variable, and this is why when you speak about the terrorist attacks conducted by muslims out of faith, you’ll always be faced with people defending the “religion” itself and saying:

this doesn’t represent the Islam or muslim, those are Extremists

this is simply because the person who is speaking has a different interpretation of the holy scripture the than one who actually committed the attack.

but since the arab world revolves around religion, you’ll always have many different and sometimes contradictory interpretations, some of which are both harmful for arabs themselves and to other, and other interpretations which are peaceful and deeply spiritual and meditative in nature.

in the next part, we will talk about an important aspect of the arab muslims attitude towards religion (our world central axis) (simplest vs  safest)

to be continued…

who are arabs

So, who the bleep are arabs?

well, The simple understanding of average arab about who are the Arabs is simply the arabic speaking folks, sometimes there is a mixup between “arabs” and “muslims”… while the fact remains that most arabs are muslims but the other side of the coin is that not all arabs are muslims.

Arabs are located mainly in two large connected regions, the arabian gulf (arabian peninsula) – the oil rich part –  and North Africa, each region is comprised of several countries, each with its unique cultural and social values, but to large extent the gulf share same values, you can safely say that the arabian peninsula share the same moral code.

No man is an island

– “No man is an island” John Donne

The middle part of the world, the part where we hear about all that is mysterious in nature and bizarre, and sometimes cruel also.

the land of those radical muslims where the beheading and women oppression is a daily practice. the land of ignorant naive folks following the most extreme religious Shiekhs telling them to go commit siucide pomping killing hunderds if not thousands of inocents in the process to spread the word of Allah and win the 72 virgins in heaven as gift of gratitude to the noble act.

those Arabs, what can i say !

Well, you are right.

but, this is not it, this is one part of a long story

surprised?

did you think this is another attempt to make things look pretty and justify them.

well, this blog is not for that at all

it’s here to tell you the Complete Story of  the arab world.

told by one of them, I was born an Arab Muslim, struggled to get out of the mold of cliches and norms which control most of our daily life and thinking, to reach one goal, objective truth as far as i can possible go for it

and after years of hard thinking i thought i had something to offer, a deep understanding of the arab culture told from inside… not form some observer who didn’t live what he’s telling

hope you’ll enjoy the tale

we are going to go through facts and figures, history, theology, politics and economics, cultural and moral values, social hierarchy, foreign affairs and interactions, and more to get to know them better

remember,

“No man is an island”

seek a better understanding.