How does one define an Arab?

Question

I am curious as to why some Africans that clearly look black, eg President El-Bashir of Sudan, call themselves Arab and why that distinction means that they are prepared to kill others who look very much like them on the basis of race. What is that about?

Answer 1

Who is an Arab?
Islamic tradition: The Qur'an does not define who is an Arab but there is a verse in the Qur'an stating "there is no difference between an Arab or Ajam, only by their god-fearingness (meaning a non-Arab speaker)" [2]. The prophet Muhammed also noted that an Arab is anyone who speaks Arabic (reference from Hadith required)
Ethnic identity: someone who considers him or herself to be an Arab (regardless of racial or ethnic origin) and is recognized as such by others.
Linguistic: someone whose first language is Arabic (including any of its varieties); this definition covers more than 250 million people. Arabic belongs to the Semitic family of languages.
Genealogical: someone who can trace his or her ancestry back to the original inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula and the Syrian Desert.
Political: someone who is a resident or citizen of a country where Arabic is one of the official languages or the national language, or is a member of the Arab League or is part of the wider Arab world; this definition would cover more than 300 million people, but it is rather simplistic and rigid in that it excludes the entire Diaspora but includes indigenous or migrant minorities.
The relative importance of these factors is estimated differently by different groups. Most people who consider themselves Arabs do so on the basis of the overlap of the political and linguistic definitions. However, some members of groups which fulfill both criteria reject the identity on the basis of the genealogical definition; Lebanese Maronites, for example, may reject the Arab label in favor of a narrower Phoenician-Lebanese national identity (although Maronites originate from the Syriac-Aramaeans of northern Syria and Phoenicians lived on the coasts of Syria and Lebanon), as do many Coptic and Muslim Egyptians who embrace the continuation of their ancient heritage. Groups using a non-Arabic liturgical language are especially likely to consider themselves non-Arab. Not many people consider themselves Arab on the basis of the political definition without the linguistic one—thus, Kurds or Berbers do not usually identify themselves as Arab—but some do (for instance, some Berbers do consider themselves Arabs).

Ibn Asakir in his "Tarikh Dimashq" [3]: "Qurra Bin Isa Al-Wasiti narrated to us from Abu Bakr Az-Dzuhli narrated to us from Malik Bin Anas from Abu Salama Ibn Abdur-Rahman who said: Qays Bin Mattatiyya came to a circle in which were sitting Salman the Persian, Suhayb the Roman, and Bilal the Ethiopian, whereupon he said: People! The Lord is One and the Father [Adam] is one. Being an Arab is not, in any of you, inherited from father or mother but it is only the language that is spoken (Innama Hiya Al-lisan). So, whoever speaks Arabic then he is an Arab." Then Mu'adzh Bin Jabal stood - still holding the other's collar - and said: 'What do you order us to do with this hypocrite, O Messenger of Allah?' He replied, 'Leave him to the Fire.' And Qays was among those who committed apostasy during the Ridda, at which time he was killed." This however is not a sound Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, rather a statement of a religious hypocrite, Qays Ibn Matatiya.

According to Habib Hassan Touma [4], "An 'Arab', in the modern sense of the word, is one who is a national of an Arab state, has command of the Arabic language, and possesses a fundamental knowledge of Arabian tradition, that is, of the manners, customs, and political and social systems of the culture."

On its formation in 1946, the Arab League defined an "Arab" as follows:[citation needed]

"An Arab is a person whose language is Arabic, who lives in an Arabic speaking country, who is in sympathy with the aspirations of the Arabic speaking peoples."

A definition based on sociological variables is widely used since medieval times (Ibn Khaldun, for example, does not use the word Arab to refer to the Arab people as defined by any of those definition, but only to those who are still living a bedouin life;i.e. a nomadic life, which he -Ibn Khaldoun- contrasts with urbanized life at the cities), this definition is still used by many Arabs.

Answer 2

An Arab is someone whose penis size is the third largest in the world. The first is African and the second is Indian. The Arabs compete their size with the white race, that's why they're killing each others.

Answer 3

Arab is about language, norms and values rather than skin color.
In general, the west uses skin color as the main identification methodology, however there are several other less obvious or not as common methods such as Language

Answer 4

Today, Arab is a tongue
If you speak Arabic, you are arab

Answer 5

An arab, is an air headed numbskull who wears a long skirt to resemble a woman, a scarf on his head and uses a fan belt to secure it in place

Answer 6

I don't think anyone outside of that 'culture' can possibly understand that. I have given up even trying!

Answer 7

Arabs are Muslims are terrorists, who do not want peace but want to kill all infidels.