Facts about Arabs and the Arab World
Who is an Arab?
“Arab” is a cultural and linguistic term. It refers to those who speak Arabic as their first language. Arabs are united by culture and by history. Arabs are not a race. Some have blue eyes and red hair; others are dark skinned; most are somewhere in between. Most Arabs are Muslims but there are also millions of Christian Arabs and thousands of Jewish Arabs, just as there are Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Americans.
Learn more
Arab Contributions to Civilization
Much like America today, the Arab world of the seventh to the thirteenth centuries was a great cosmopolitan civilization. I was an enormous unifying enterprise, one which joined the peoples of Spain and North Africa in the west with the peoples of the ancient lands of Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia in the east.
Learn more
The True, Peaceful Face Of Islam
BY KAREN ARMSTRONG
TIME Magazine
October 1, 2001 Vol. 158 No. 15
There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, and Islam is the world’s fastest-growing religion. If the evil carnage we witnessed on Sept. 11 were typical of the faith, and Islam truly inspired and justified such violence, its growth and the increasing presence of Muslims in both Europe and the U.S. would be a terrifying prospect. Fortunately, this is not the case.
Learn more
Facts about Islam
Islam is an Arabic word meaning submission to God. As a religion Islam calls for complete acceptance of and submission to the teachings and guidance of God. The word has connotations of peace and wholeness. It has the same root as “salam” – peace.
Learn more
Banipal
Magazine of Modern Arab Literature