Middle East and North Africa in the Eyes of the World Community - Essay Example

Middle East and North Africa Introduction Rich tradition of the Muslim peoples grips about fourteen centuries of turbulent history. In the Islamic history great empires emerged and contributed significant artistic and literary works for people. From the seventh century onwards Islam has spread across south-eastern Europe, Northern and western Africa, southern and central Asia, Indonesia and China. Islamic faith has been enriched among 800 million people in the modern world. The followers of Islam majorly reside in the Arabic countries located in the Western Asia and North Africa. Arabic culture refers to the culture that is practiced by people in Arabic countries. The Arab world has been divided into distinct regions including the Fertile Crescent, Arabian Peninsula, Nile Valley and the Al-Maghrib Al-Arabi. The culture of Arab is mainly divided into three main parts i.e. the Rural Culture, the Urban Culture and the Nomad Culture. The cities of Arab fall in the category of urban culture such as Jerusalem, Cairo etc. The countryside falls under the category of rural culture including Palestine, Algeria, Syria and Lebanon. Arabic literature is a combination of both poetry and prose. Significant works in art and literature has been evident in the culture of Arab. One of the pivotal aspects of Arab’s culture is the family. The people of Arab are completely devoted towards family and domestic relations. Arab has been greatly influenced by the cultures of South Asia, Persia and North Africa due to extensive trade links. This essay supports the thesis statement and illustrates information about the nationalism and cultures of the Arab world. Thesis Statement “The nationalism, education, literature, religion and cultural values of Arab have been facing several controversies in the modern world despite the outstanding historical developments”. Discussion This part of the essay will discuss about several aspects of the culture of Arab World. Nationalism The culture of Eastern Arabia has been oriented towards the sea due to its location. Arabism initially arose in the nineteenth century as a critique of the Ottoman Empire. The Arabic speakers reconciled their role in the Ottoman Empire completely for about four hundred years. Most of the Muslims spoke Arabic and they retained their pride in the language. The society of Arab enjoyed their culture and the people had generated a feeling of nationalism until the nineteenth century. During the nineteenth century the Ottoman Empire faced serious challenges for existence against the rise of the power of the European countries. The Ottomans lost their control swiftly from the Caucasus, North Africa, Egypt and the Balkans. Since the European powers spread across the Middle-East, the minority of the Arab population experienced some benefits. Some of the Arabic-Christians suffered in the society regarding their identity (Dawisha, 2009). The emergence of the European power over the Arab countries allowed the minorities to join the Europeans and establish a parallel society for themselves. The tendency of nationalism occurred initially in the nineteenth century against the European powers. The supporters of the Ottoman Empire were majorly the Arab speaking people and they wanted to enjoy their dominating power the Arab society. These factors lead to the rise of revolutions in Arab. The Ottoman Empire entered the European war with the support of Germany during the World War I. In the year 1919, the Arabic-speaking people of Asia recognized themselves as independent sovereign. By 1920, a United Syria was formed under the leadership of Emir Faysal King. The nationalism of the Arab society got strengthened due to immense support by the local people of the Arab countries. Several scholars stated that “the Turkish nationalism contributed greatly towards the evolution of the nationalism of Arab” (Landau, 2005). Recent researches on Arab-Turkish relationships prove that the emergence of the three parliaments of the Ottoman Empire distinguished between the local law of Turkish and the imperial law. Therefore, the emergence of nationalism movement in Arab was greatly regulated by the local law as well as the imperial law. The political community of the Fertile Crescent gained validity with the support of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Iraq and Transjordan. Literature as Cultural Identity The Arabic literature emerged during the fifth century and it focused highly on culture, politeness and enrichment. The Quran was regarded as one of the finest literary works in the Arabic language by the Muslims. The works of Qur’an contained early literary works in its 114 suras. The ‘suras’ were the different chapters of the holy Qur’an which contained 6,236 ayats (Hammond, 2005). The verses mentioned in the Qur’an were complex forms of narratives, homilies, parables and injunctions that were regarded as the direct addresses made by God for the Islam followers. Apart from the works of holy Qur’an there were several other literary works that enriched the cultural and moral values of the Arab society. Before the 20th century a large work of Arabic literature was developed in the form of poetry. The themes of the poetry had wide variety of subjects including the information about the historical wars, personal attacks and mystical ideas on wine and sex. The Qur’an has been regarded as the enlightenment for the followers of Islam in Arabic countries. The poetries that were developed time to time detailed the changes in the civilization under different empires. Since the Ottoman Empire ruled the Arabic countries for a prolonged period of time several literary works were developed on the favour of the Empire and the society. Despite the scholarly works and poetries several criticisms were made against the literary works and religious texts. Ibn al-Mu Tazz, criticized some Arabian literatures and poetries that were developed in the late 9th century. He stated that “the Arabic writings of some poets focused majorly on women of the society and the works were against the religious perspectives” (Brians, 2003). The poetries that were developed by the poets in the period were focused on the position of women and social awareness. These works were equally important for the society as they enhanced the values of the culture and religion. Ibn al-Mu Tazz’s comments on the literary works were not evident because the Arabic literature guided the people for betterment and towards enrichment of social and cultural values. Religion as Cultural Identity The religion of Arabic society was majorly Islam and the cultural values of the religion spread all over the world due to its strong influence. A religion is an organized compilation of cultural systems, beliefs and world views that speak about humanity and explains the order of existence for humans. The role of urbanization, military, economic justice, demands of civil and political liberties have shaped the culture, values, religion and the society of Arab. The Arabian countries have been experiencing tremendous changes since the establishment of the civilization. The emergence of the Islamic religion did-not occur from the beginning. There were several religious practices in Arab before 7th century however the religious perspectives got centralized gradually towards the Muslim community (Alnasrawi, 2001). There were various populations in the countries of Arab with distinct difference in systems of writings and languages. The entire population of Arab made settlement near the oases that developed religious and civil institutions. In the Arabic culture the religious practices were almost similar among the people of different countries. Initially the societies were distinguished on the basis of the settlements that the people developed for themselves. However, in the modern world the Arab society is classified by the different countries that constitute the people. The Sufis and the Sunnis are the two major group of Islamic Arab population. There are some classifications between the two groups related to their religious practices. The positions of the men and women in the society are almost similar because they follow same beliefs under the roof of traditional Islamic religion. Some of the rituals that are practiced in the Arabic countries are almost similar to the Christian society. The rituals performed during burial of dead people might look different but the process of conducting the ceremonies is almost same. The dead are buried under the Earth, with the belief that the human body is made of Earth and it will mix with the soil that would enable purification of the soul. There are some traditions followed by the Muslim community of Arabic countries such as circumcision ceremonials. The circumcision ceremony is regarded as one of the most important event in the life of a Muslim. The circumcision ceremony is performed on the male child of a Muslim community after some years of his birth. There are several scientific explanations behind the conduction of such event however the Muslims have a ritualistic faith behind the conduction of such event. There are some contradictions between the Sufis and the Sunnis regarding the existence of the other group of people. The Sufis believe that the Sunnis should be abolished from the world because they are inferior race. The Sunnis have similar thought against the other groups. It is essential for both groups to understand their purpose in the society. All the groups that exist in the Arabian society initially emerged under the roof of Islamic culture. Therefore, both groups obtain their cultural values from the holy Qur’an i.e. the direct word of God. In the past decade sue to occurrence of some violent incidents the Arabic society and the Islamic followers have been blamed. According to researchers and scholars “the Islamic followers are generally responsible for the terrorist activities and the wars” (Davidson, 2014). This kind of statement is not correct because war or anti-social activities are conducted by a group of people not by the entire community. The religious and cultural values stated in the Qur’an for people states no war which is an essential part of the Arabic culture. Education and Cultural Studies The Arab world has attained a sustainable GDP in the 21st century. There are many educational institutes as well as employment opportunities for students. The Middle East countries still suffer from highest unemployment for youths in the world. There are some important traditional factors that has impacted the Middle East countries and restricted the growth opportunities. It is known that the Arabic countries are majorly male-dominating societies (Casey, 2007). There is a standard belief that the male population of the country has the authority to work and earn the source of revenue for their family. The contribution of women is limited to child birth, child rearing and household activities. This factor has resulted in high unemployment rates. The traditional culture of the Arabic countries has diminished in the 21st century but some populations of the Arabic society still stick to the old methods that were adopted for welfare of family members. Apart from the women unemployment, there are several other factors in the cultural values that have resulted in low economic development of the countries. The standard of quality assurance in the industry level is low and the sustainable funding of organizations is also low. “The economic growth of Arab has been limited due to fewer innovations by people due to their traditional beliefs and nomadic nature” (Green, 2008) The statement is partially correct however the Arab population does not lead a nomadic lifestyle. The traditional ideologies such as participation in family business and lack of population control motive have great influence over the economy of the country. It has been observed that the government and the political factions disregard people from participating actively in the political decisions. This factor has resulted in low motivation among the people regarding growth opportunities. The educational system also motivates the youths towards entrepreneurship programs. On the other hand the rise in the population has become a major concern for the Arab society (Shearer, 2010). The government is unable to generate sufficient employment opportunities for every person. Some systematic steps are required to be incorporated in the Arab society in order to overcome the challenges associated with unemployment. Women should be allowed to work in the organizations along with men because it would enhance the economic growth and bring more opportunities for people for generation of employment. The Arab society has been experiencing some limitations with respect to employment from the past few decades hence significant strategies should be induced in the culture in order to change the belief of people. Cultural and Ethnic Values Arabians are very generous and they value generosity in other people from other communities. In Arab culture hospitality towards guests is a profound factor because it signifies good reputation. The cultural values in modern Arabic countries have a traditional touch with respect to dressing for both men and women. Arabs prefer to wear conservative dress in public places. The women of the Arabic countries are expected to cover their body completely including their face. This kind of traditional belief for women is known as the ‘Pardah’ system (Kennedy, 2008). Women in the Arabic countries are not allowed to meet with unknown males during any kind of occasions. The people of Arab believe that dressing of an individual should be formal and complete because it reduces the changes of bad motives. In Arabic culture shorts are not preferred. There are several controversies that have emerged against the culture of Arab due to their dressing style. Several scholars have stated that “Arabs rely on faith rather than evidence during public and personal concerns” (Harris, 2005). These types of comments have been very common against the Arabic culture because of the difference that the Arabs have maintained from the rest part of the world. The dressing style and conservative tradition of Arabic culture represents their faith and belief towards their religion. Domestic violence is believed to be high due to the orthodox nature of the Arabic people however it is not appropriate because the Arabs have significant responsibility towards their family. It has been observed that the Arab males dominate their family members such as their wife and children but they also care for them and fight for their rights. The guide of the Islamic religion i.e. the holy Qur’an itself suggests that the Islamic society should have male dominance in order to develop a strong image in front of the world. Conclusion Based on the evidences acquired from the above discussion, it is possible to state that the Arab society has a rich traditional culture that has influenced people worldwide. The Arab world is culturally diverse, rich and complex. There are some studies about Arab culture that show that the Arab world is cosmopolitan; it is not an insulted or isolated society. From the beginning of the Arabic society it has been the crossroads of the world that has been enriched by the contribution of several cultures. The society of Arab has been influenced by the Arab speaking Muslims and the traditional culture has emerged from the enlightenment of Qur’an. The entire Middle-East has been an international hub for trade and colonialism. There literary works of the Arabic culture depicts the lifestyle of the people and the religious beliefs that has helped the society to sustain in the world. Despite the rich culture and pivotal historical implications Arab has been a part of many controversies due to the orthodox nature of people. The Arabic countries have been criticized immensely by the Western world and historical researchers due to the conservative nature of the people. The literatures and the arts of Arab have contributed significant works to the world through the poetries and the prose. Therefore, it can be stated that the conservative nature of the Arab population and the narrow religious beliefs have resulted in the emergence of controversies against the Arab culture despite the outstanding historical development of the society. References Alnasrawi, A. (2001). Arab Nationalism. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Brians, P. (2003). Common Errors in English. London: Routledge. Casey, M. (2007). The History of Kuwait. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Davidson, L. (2014). Islamic Fundamentalism. London: Sage. Dawisha, A. (2009). Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century. London: Rowman & Littlefield. Green, D. (2008). From poverty to Power. New York: Springer. Hammond, A. (2005). Arab World. London: Routledge. Harris, S. (2005). The End of faith. New Jersey: Pearson. Kennedy, D. (2008). Culturgrams. London: Kogan Page. Landau, J. (2005). Pan-Arabia. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Shearer, I. (2010). Oman, UAE and Arabian Peninsula. London: Kogan Page. Read More