Muslim =/=Arab=/=Muslim

All Muslims are not Arabs. All Arabs are not Muslims. Unfortunately, not everyone realizes this, including many Muslims. When I lived in Morocco, I discovered that it's not considered to be a "true" Arab country, and it took thirteen years for it to be admitted into the League of Arab States. Because half the population is Berber and has a different culture, and because Moroccan Arabic is so different from Classical and Modern Standard Arabic, it somehow lacks credentials within the Muslim world.

The problem lies with the fact that the prophet Mohammed was from Saudi Arabia. When a religion or philosophy is anchored in the time and place of its origin, it is certain that problems will arise as it's transplanted in time and space. It's fairly impossible for this not to occur, because nothing grows in a vacuum, and the culture in which an idea originates is bound to influence it. The choice lies in whether or not to adapt the idea to the time and place, or the time and place to the original idea. I generally think that the former works better than the latter, but the latter is a popular choice. Why do we have so many varieties of Christianity and Judaism if not for this very same conflict? Somewhere along the line, people had to choose. Do we follow Byzantium, or do we follow Rome? Do we follow the Pope or King Henry VII? What about following Luther? I don't know as much about Judaism, but I know that there are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform sects, which meant that schisms had to take place at some point over questions of how to believe and behave. Islam is ripe for schism right now. But Islam is supposed to be unified and uniform. Which means that schism will be difficult if not impossible (even though there are already different schools of thought and different sects--Shia, Sunni, Sufi...).

This blog post came about because of reading another blog post on a similar topic. http://www.racialicious.com/2009/04/17/searching-for-my-pakistani-identity/


The author is Pakistani, and observes that other Muslim South Asians are flattered if people mistake them for Arabs and try to display an Arab cultural identity rather than their own. But they are still Muslims, regardless of their culture or race. Likewise in Morocco. Or Indonesia. Or the US.