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Arab Cultural Traits

Generosity and Bravery were the prominent virtues of and to the Arabs. In Classical Arab Literature Generosity and Bravery were looked up to as the two main traits of the great Arab. Prophet Muhammad grew up into this culture and added Islamic traits that went well with the original Arab traits. So Islam was natural to the Arabs and other people who lived a life similar to the Arabs' (Berbers and Turks). Look up generosity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Bravery can mean: Courage, the human condition to confront pain and fear The Bravery, a rock band from the US The Bravery (album), the bands self-titled debut album This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Mythology

Main article: Arabian mythology

Arabian mythology comprises the ancient beliefs of the Arabs. Prior to the arrival and initial codification of Islam on the Arabian Peninsula in 622 CE, year one of the Islamic calendar, the physical centre of Islam, the Karabbnnoo of Mecca, did not hold only the single symbol of "the God" as it does now. The Kaaba was instead covered in symbols representing the myriad demons, djinn, demigods and other assorted creatures which represented the profoundly polytheistic environment of pre-Islamic Arabia. We can infer from this plurality an exceptionally broad context in which mythology could flourish. Arabian mythology is the ancient beliefs of the Arabs. ... Languages Arabic other minority languages Religions Predominantly Sunni Islam, as well as Shia Islam, Greek Orthodoxy, Greek Catholicism, Roman Catholicism, Alawite Islam, Druzism, Ibadi Islam, and Judaism Footnotes a Mainly in Antakya. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... The Arabian Peninsula Emirets towers in United Arab Emirates; the eastern part of Arabian Penisula The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية, or جزيرة العرب) is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia consisting mainly of desert. ... Events Hijra - Muhammad and his followers withdraw from Mecca to Medina - year one of the Islamic calendar. ... The term Year One can just mean the beginning of something, but in political history it usually refers to the institution of radical, revolutionary change. ... The Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar (Arabic: التقويم الهجري; at-taqwīm al-hijrī; Persian: تقویم هجري قمری ‎ taqwīm-e hejri-ye qamari; also called the Hijri calendar) is the calendar used to date events in many predominantly Muslim countries, and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... “Fiend” redirects here. ... Genie is the English term for the Arabic جني (jinnie). ... The term demigod, meaning half-god, is a modern distinction, often misapplied in Greek mythology. ... Polytheism is belief in, or worship of, multiple gods or divinities. ... Pre-Islamic Arabia is studied by Islamic scholars because it is the context in which Islam, as practiced today, was formed. ... A plurality, relative majority or simple majority is the largest share of something, which may or may not be considered a majority, i. ... The word mythology (from the Greek μυολογία mythología, from mythologein to relate myths, from mythos, meaning a narrative, and logos, meaning speech or argument) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use the supernatural to interpret natural events and...

Satiture

Main article: Arabic literature

Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by speakers of the Arabic language. It does not usually include works written using the Arabic alphabet but not in the Arabic language such as Persian literature and Urdu literature. The Arabic word used for literature is adab which is derived from a word meaning "to invite someone for a meal" and implies politeness, culture and enrichment. A stone tablet containing part of the Epic of Gilgamesh The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry which attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/hearer/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication... According to the mediæval poet Jean Bodel, the Matter of Rome was the literary cycle made up of Greek and Roman mythology, together with episodes from the history of classical antiquity, focusing on military heroes like Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. ... The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle is a body of legendary history that springs from the Old French medieval literature of the chansons de geste. ... ‹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ... Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (encompassing the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. ... Arabic literature (Arabic ,الأدب العربي ) Al-Adab Al-Arabi, is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by speakers of the Arabic language. ... See also: Pre 13th century in literature, other events of the 13th century, 14th century in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 13th century in literature, other events of the 14th century, 15th century in literature, list of years in literature. ... By region Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance French Renaissance German Renaissance English Renaissance Renaissance literature is European literature over an extended period, usually considered to be initiated by Petrarch at the beginning of the Italian Renaissance, and sometimes taken to continue to the English Renaissance, including Shakespeare and into the seventeenth... See also: 14th century in literature, other events of the 15th century, 16th century in literature, list of years in literature. ... Arabic literature (Arabic ,الأدب العربي ) Al-Adab Al-Arabi, is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by speakers of the Arabic language. ... Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of rhythm and its closer resemblance to the patterns of everyday speech. ... The Chinese poem Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain by Emperor Gaozong (Song Dynasty) Poetry (from the Greek , poiesis, a making or creating) is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing languages such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and others. ... Persian literature (in Persian: ‎ ) spans two and a half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. ... Urdu literature has a long and colorful history that is inextricably tied to the development of that very language, Urdu, in which it is written. ... The city of Adab (modern site Bismaya), between Telloh and Nippur (modern-day Iraq), was important in the Ur III period but declined afterwards. ...

Arabic literature emerged in the 6th century with only fragments of the written language appearing before then. It was the Qur'an in the 7th century which would have the greatest lasting effect on Arabic culture and its literature. The 6th century is the period from 501 - 600 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... The Qur’ān [1] (Arabic: ;, literally the recitation; also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Koran, or Alcoran) is the central religious text of Islam. ... The 7th century is the period from 601 - 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ...

The story of thousand fools

Main article: The Book of One Thousand and One Nights

The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , Arabic: كتاب ألف ليلة و ليلة Kitāb 'Alf Layla wa-Layla; also known as The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, One Thousand and One Nights, 1001 Arabian Nights, Arabian Nights, The Nightly Entertainments or simply The Nights) is a medieval Middle-Eastern literary epic which tells the story of Scheherazade, a Sassanid Queen, who must relate a series of stories to her malevolent husband, King Shahryar, to delay her execution. The stories are told over a period of one thousand and one nights, and every night she ends the story with a suspenseful situation, forcing the King to keep her alive for another day. The individual stories were created over many centuries, by many people and in many styles, and they have become famous in their own right. Notable examples include Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. Queen Scheherazade tells her stories to King Shahryar. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... The traditional Middle East and the G8s Greater Middle East. ... The epic is a broadly defined genre of narrative poetry, characterized by great length, multiple settings, large numbers of characters, or long span of time involved. ... Queen Scheherazade tells her stories to King Shahryar. ... Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate... The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (كتاب ألف ليلة و ليلة in Arabic or هزار و یک شب in Persian), also known as The book of a Thousand Nights and a Night... The adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves was added to the traditional collection of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights by its European transcriber, Antoine Galland, an 18th-century French orientalist who had heard it in oral form from a Maronite story-teller from Aleppo. ... Sindbad the Sailor (Arabic: السندباد البحري As-Sindi-baad Al-Bahri) is a. ...

Ruba'iyat

Main article: Ruba'iyat

Ruba'iyat or rubaiyat (Arabic: رباعیات) (a plural word derived from the root meaning 'four') means "quatrains" in the Arabic language. Singular: ruba'i (rubai, ruba'ee, rubayi, rubayee). The rhyme scheme is AABA, i.e., lines 1, 2 and 4 rhyme. Rubaiyat or rubaiyat (Arabic: رباعیات) (a plural word derived from the root meaning four) means quatrains in the Persian language. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... A quatrain is a poem or a stanza within a poem that consists of four lines. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... A rhyme scheme is like the pattern of rhyming like lines in a poem or in like lyrics for music. ...

This verse form was popularized in the West by Edward Fitzgerald's translation of the collection of Persian verses known as the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. In fact, Rubaiyat is a common shorthand name for this collection. Edward FitzGerald, 1873 For other uses see Edward Fitzgerald (disambiguation) Edward Marlborough FitzGerald (31 March 1809 – 14 June 1883) was an English writer, best known as the poet of the first and most famous English translation of Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. ... Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... This image is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

VII
Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring
Your Winter-garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To flutter--and the Bird is on the Wing.

In longer poems built in rubaiyat rhyme scheme, the convention is sometimes extended so that the unrhymed line of the current stanza becomes the rhyme for the following stanza. I.e., the scheme is extended to AABA BBCB CCDC, etc.. This is sometimes called, naturally, "interlocking rubaiyat". The structure can be made cyclical by linking the unrhymed line of the final stanza back to the first stanza: ZZAZ. These more stringent systems were not, however, used by Fitzgerald in his Rubaiyat; it would have been particularly difficult for him to achieve this effect since the order and number of stanzas in his translation were not stable.

A prime use of the interlocking rubaiyat in modern English poetry is "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost. Many regard William Shakespeare as the greatest English poet. ... Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening was written in 1923 by Robert Frost, in his New Hampshire volume. ... Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. ...

The Qur'an and Islam

The Qur'an was the first major work of Arabic literature and the most influential.

Main article: Qur'an

The Qur'an had a significant influence of the Arabic language. The language used in the Qur'an is called classical Arabic and while modern Arabic has diverged slightly, the classical is still the style to be admired. Not only is the Qur'an the first work of any significant length written in the language it also has a far more complicated structure than the earlier literary works with its 114 suras (chapters) which contain 6,236 ayat (verses). It contains injunctions, narratives, homilies, parables, direct addresses from God, instructions and even comments on itself on how it will be received and understood. It is also, paradoxically, admired for its layers of metaphor as well as its clarity, a feature it mentions itself in sura 16:103. File links The following pages link to this file: Quran User:Dsmdgold/Sandbox Gallery of illuminated manuscript images ... File links The following pages link to this file: Quran User:Dsmdgold/Sandbox Gallery of illuminated manuscript images ... The Qur’ān [1] (Arabic: ;, literally the recitation; also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Koran, or Alcoran) is the central religious text of Islam. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Sura (sometimes spelt Surah , plural Suwar ) is an Arabic term literally meaning something enclosed or surrounded by a fence or wall. ... Ayah is the Arabic word for sign or miracle. ... Look up Injunction in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In the Roman Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox Church, a homily is usually given during Mass (or Divine Liturgy for Orthodox) at the end of the Liturgy of the Word. ... // For a comparison of parable with other kinds of stories, see Myth, legend, fairy tale, and fable. ... Look up instruction in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Although it contains elements of both prose and poetry, and therefore is closest to saj' or rhymed prose, the Qur'an is regarded as entirely apart from these classifications. The text is believed to be divine revelation and is seen as being eternal or 'uncreated'. This leads to the doctrine of i'jaz or inimitability of the Qur'an which implies that nobody can copy the work's style nor should anybody try. For information on the last book of the New Testament see the entry on the Book of Revelation. ...

This doctrine of i'jaz possibly had a slight limiting effect on Arabic literature; proscribing exactly what could be written. The Qur'an itself criticises poets in the 26th sura, actually called Ash-Shu'ara or The Poets:

And as to the poets, those who go astray follow them.

16:224

This may have exerted dominance over the pre-Islamic poets of the 6th century whose popularity may have vied with the Qur'an amongst the people. There were a marked lack of significant poets until the 8th century. One notable exception was Hassan ibn Thabit who wrote poems in praise of Muhammed and was known as the "prophet's poet". Just as the Bible has held an important place in the literature of other languages, The Qur'an is important to Arabic. It is the source of many ideas, allusions and quotes and its moral message informs many works. The 6th century is the period from 501 - 600 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ... Hassan Ibn Thabit (died 674), Arabian poet, was born in Yathrib (Medina), a member of the tribe Khazraj. ... For other people named Muhammad, see Muhammad (disambiguation). ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ...

Aside from the Qur'an the hadith or tradition of what Muhammed is supposed to have said and done are important literature. The entire body of these acts and words are called sunnah or way and the ones regarded as sahih or genuine of them are collected into hadith. Some of the most significant collections of hadith include those by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj and Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This is a sub-article of hadith. ... Abul Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj Qushayri al-Nisaburi (Arabic: أبو الحسين مسلم بن الحجاج القشيري النيسابوري) (lived 810-70), Muslim Author of the second most widely recognized collection of Hadith in Sunni Islam, Sahih Muslim, Muslims authentic (collection). He is largely known as simply Al-Muslim. ... Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Mughirah Ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhari محمد بن اسماعيل بن ابراهيم بن المغيرة بن بردزبه البخاري (born (AD 810) - died (AD 870)), author of the most generally accepted collection of traditions (Hadith) from Muhammad, was born at Bokhara (Bukharä), of an Iranian family, in AH 194 (AD 810). ...

The other important genre of work in Qur'anic study is the tafsir or commentaries on the Qur'an. Arab writings relating to religion also includes many sermons and devotional pieces as well as the sayings of Ali which were collected in the 10th century as Nahj al-Balaghah or The Road to Eloquence. A tafsir ( (Arabic: تفسير) tafsÄ«r, Arabic explanation) is Quranic exegesis or commentary. ... In literary criticism, close reading describes the careful, sustained interpretation of a brief passage of text. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      A sermon is an oration by... ‘AlÄ« ibn AbÄ« Tālib (Arabic: )‎ Approximately: March 17, 599 - February 28, 661[1] was an early Islamic leader, the fourth and last Sunni caliph, and the first Shia Imam. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... The Nahj al Balagha (Peak of Eloquence) is the most famous collection of speeches (sermons) and letters by Ali ibn Abi Talib, accepted as the fourth of the Caliphs by Sunni Muslims and the first of the Imams by Shia Muslims. ...

Language

Main article: Arabic language

The Arabic language (Arabic: اللغة العربية transliteration: al-lughah al-‘Arabīyyah), or simply Arabic (Arabic: عربي transliteration: ‘Arabī), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. It is spoken throughout the Arab world and is widely studied and known throughout the Islamic world. Arabic has been a literary language since at least the 6th century and is the liturgical language of Islam. Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing languages such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and others. ... Due to the fact that the Arabic language has a number of phonemes that have no equivalent in English or other European languages, a number of different transliteration methods have been invented to represent certain Arabic characters, due to various conflicting goals. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing languages such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and others. ... Due to the fact that the Arabic language has a number of phonemes that have no equivalent in English or other European languages, a number of different transliteration methods have been invented to represent certain Arabic characters, due to various conflicting goals. ... In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical Shem, Hebrew: שם, translated as name, Arabic: سام) was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages. ... The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a language family (Languages of Africa) with about 375 languages (SIL estimate) and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, and Southwest Asia (including some 200 million speakers of Arabic). ... Current distribution of Human Language Families A language family is a group of related languages said to have descended from a common proto-language. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Aramaic is a group of Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. ... Map of Arab League states in dark green with non-Arab areas in light green and Mauritania, Somalia and Djibouti in striped green due to their Arab League membership but non-Arab population. ... The Islamic world is the world-wide community of those who identify with Islam, known as Muslims, and who number approximately one-and-a-half billion people. ... A literary language is a register of a language that is used in writing, and which often differs in lexicon and syntax from the language used in speech. ... The 6th century is the period from 501 - 600 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... A sacred language is a language, frequently a dead language, that is cultivated for religious reasons by people who speak another language in their daily life. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ...

The Arabic language also has various dialects from the numerous countries and traditions. The Eastern Orthodox dialect of Arabic is extremely different than the normal every day spoken Arabic. Also, spoken Arabic differs greatly in speech than written Arabic, which is much more colloquial and formal.

Quite a few English words are ultimately derived from Arabic, often through other European languages, especially Spanish, among them every-day vocabulary like "sugar" (sukkar), "cotton" (quṭn) or "magazine" (maḫāzin). More recognizable are words like "algebra", "alcohol" and "zenith" (see list of English words of Arabic origin). The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... Magnification of grains of sugar, showing their monoclinic hemihedral crystalline structure. ... Cotton ready for harvest. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Makhzen (Arabic: ‎) is a Moroccan Arabic term for the governing elite in Morocco, centered around the king and consisting of royal notables, businessmen, wealthy landowners, tribal leaders, top-ranking military personnel, security service bosses, and other well-connected members of the establishment. ... Algebra is a branch of mathematics concerning the study of structure, relation and quantity. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In broad terms, the zenith is the direction pointing directly above a particular location (perpendicular, orthogonal). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Arabic and Islam

It is sometimes difficult to translate Islamic concepts, and concepts specific to Arab culture, without using the original Arabic terminology. The Qur'an is expressed in Arabic and traditionally Muslims deem it impossible to translate in a way that would adequately reflect its exact meaning—indeed, until recently, some schools of thought maintained that it should not be translated at all. A list of Islamic terms in Arabic covers those terms which are too specific to translate in one phrase. While Arabic is strongly associated with Islam (and is the language of salah), it is also spoken by Arab Christians, Oriental Mizrahi Jews, and smaller sects such as Iraqi Mandaeans. For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... The Qur’ān [1] (Arabic: ;, literally the recitation; also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Koran, or Alcoran) is the central religious text of Islam. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... The following list consists of concepts that are derived from both Islamic and Arab tradition, which are expressed as words in the Arabic language. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... Salat redirects here. ... Arab Christians are people who are ethnically Arab or culturally and linguistically Arabized and who follow the religion of Christianity. ... Mizrachi is also an organisation of the Religious Zionist Movement Mizrahi Jews or Oriental Jews (מזרחי eastern, Standard Hebrew Mizraḥi, Tiberian Hebrew Mizrāḥî; plural מזרחים easterners, Standard Hebrew Mizraḥim, Tiberian Hebrew Mizrāḥîm... Mandaeanism is a pre-Christian religion which has been classified by scholars as Gnostic. ...

A majority of the world's Muslims do not speak Arabic, but only know some fixed phrases of the language, such as those used in Islamic prayer. However, learning Arabic is an essential part of the curriculum for anyone attempting to become an Islamic religious scholar. A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ...

Religions

Before the coming of Islam, most Arabs followed a religion featuring the worship of a number of deities, including Hubal, Wadd, Al-Lat, Manat, and Uzza, while some tribes had converted to Christianity or Judaism, and a few individuals, the hanifs, had apparently rejected polytheism in favor of a vague monotheism. The most prominent Arab Christian kingdoms were the Ghassanid and Lakhmid kingdoms. With the expansion of Islam, the majority of Arabs were rapidly conquered and became Muslims, and the pre-Islamic polytheistic traditions disappeared. For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... Hubal (هبل) was a god worshipped in pagan Arabia, notably at Mecca before the arrival of Islam. ... Wadd was the Minaean moon god. ... Mentioned in the Quran (Sura 53:20), Allāt (a contraction of pre-Arabic *al-ilāhat the Goddess) was a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. ... Manat is: The currency unit of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan; see Manat (Azerbaijan) and Manat (Turkmenistan). ... Mentioned in the Quran (Sura 53:20), al-ʕuzzā the Mightiest One (derived from the root ʕzy) was a pre-Islamic Arabian fertility goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. ... St Francis Xavier converting the Paravas: a 19th-century image of the docile heathen The historical phenomenon of Christianization, the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once, also includes the practice of converting pagan practices, pagan religious imagery, pagan sites and the pagan calendar... (Arabic , plural حنفاء) is an Arabic term that refers to pre-Islamic non-Jewish nor Christian Arabian monotheists. ... Polytheism is belief in or worship of multiple gods or deities. ... For the Celtic Frost album, see Monotheist (album) In theology, monotheism (from Greek one and god) is the belief in the existence of one deity or God, or in the oneness of God. ... The Ghassanids were Arab Christians that emigrated in 250 CE from Yemen to the Hauran, in southern Syria. ... The Lakhmids (Arabic: ) or Muntherids (Arabic: ) were Arab Christians that lived in Iraq,al-Hirah became their capital in (266 AD). ...

At present, most Arabs are Muslims. Sunni Islam dominates in most areas, overwhelmingly so in North Africa; Shia Islam is prevalent in Bahrain, Iran (though Iranians are not Arab), southern Iraq and adjacent parts of Saudi Arabia, southern Lebanon, parts of Syria, and northern Yemen. The tiny Druze community, belonging to a secretive offshoot of Islam, is usually considered Arab, but sometimes considered an ethnicity in its own right. There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Religions Druzism Scriptures Rasail al-hikmah (Epistles of Wisdom) Languages Arabic, Hebrew The Druze (Arabic: درزي, derzī or durzī, plural دروز, durūz; ‎, Druzim; also transliterated Druz or Druse) are a Middle Eastern religious community whose traditional religion began as an offshoot of the Ismaili sect of Islam, but is unique...

Reliable estimates of the number of Arab Christians, which in any case depends on the definition of "Arab" used, vary. According to Fargues 1998, "Today Christians only make up 9.2% of the population of the Near East". In Lebanon they now number about 39% of the population [1], in Syria they make up about 10 to 15%, in the Palestinian territories the figure is 3.8%, and in Israel Arab Christians constitute 2.1% (or roughly 10% of the Israeli Arab population). In Egypt, they constitute 5.9% of the population, and in Iraq they presumably comprise 2.9% of the populace. Most North and South American and Australian Arabs (about two-thirds) are Arab Christians, particularly from Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      A Christian () is a person who... This article is about the Palestinian territories as a geopolitical phenomenon. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Arab Christians are people who are ethnically Arab or culturally and linguistically Arabized and who follow the religion of Christianity. ... Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ...

Jews from Arab countries - mainly Mizrahi Jews and Yemenite Jews - are today usually not categorised as Arab. Sociologist Philip Mendes asserts that before the anti-Jewish actions of the 1930s and 1940s, overall Iraqi Jews "viewed themselves as Arabs of the Jewish faith, rather than as a separate race or nationality". [2] Prior to the emergence of the term Mizrahi, the term "Arab Jews" (Yehudim ‘Áravim, יהודים ערבים) was sometimes used to describe Jews of the Arab world. The term is rarely used today. The few remaining Jews in the Arab countries reside mostly in Morocco and Tunisia. Between the late 1940s and early 1960s, following the creation of the state of Israel, most of these Jews left or were expelled from their countries of birth and are now mostly concentrated in Israel. Some also immigrated to France (where they form the largest Jewish community, outnumbering European Jews), but relatively few to the United States. (see Jewish exodus from Arab lands). Languages Hebrew, Dzhidi, Judæo-Arabic, Gruzinic, Bukhori, Judeo-Berber, Juhuri and Judæo-Aramaic Religions Judaism Related ethnic groups Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews, other Jewish ethnic divisions and Arabs. ... Yemenite Jews (Hebrew: תֵּימָנִים, Standard Temanim Tiberian ; singular תֵּימָנִי, Standard Temani Tiberian ) are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen (תֵּימָן, Standard Teman Tiberian ; far south), on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... Iraqi Jews constitute one of the worlds oldest, and historically most important Jewish communities. ... This article deals with those Jewish communities indigenous to the Middle East. ... Map of Arab League states in dark green with non-Arab areas in light green and Mauritania, Somalia and Djibouti in striped green due to their Arab League membership but non-Arab population. ... A kehilla or kehillah (קהלה, Hebrew: community) is a Jewish community. ... Languages Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, English Religions Judaism Related ethnic groups Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, and other Jewish ethnic divisions Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (Standard Hebrew: sing. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Islam

Main article: Islam

Islam (Arabic: الإسلام; al-islām (help· info)) is a monotheistic religion based upon the Qur'an, which Muslims believe was sent by God through Muhammad, as well as teachings of Muhammad recorded in the Hadith. Followers of Islam, known as Muslims (Arabic: مسلم), believe Muhammad to have been God's (Arabic: Allāh) final prophet. For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... Image File history File links Ar-al islam. ... For the Celtic Frost album, see Monotheist (album) In theology, monotheism (from Greek one and god) is the belief in the existence of one deity or God, or in the oneness of God. ... The Qur’ān [1] (Arabic: ;, literally the recitation; also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Koran, or Alcoran) is the central religious text of Islam. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Muhammad in a new genre of Islamic calligraphy started in the 17th century by Hafiz Osman. ... Muhammad in a new genre of Islamic calligraphy started in the 17th century by Hafiz Osman. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Allah is the Arabic language word for God. ... The Quran identifies a number of men as prophets of Islam. ...

With a total of approximately 1.2–1.3 billion adherents,^[1][2] Islam is the second-largest religion in the world, and is the planet's fastest growing religion.^[3] Like both Judaism and Christianity, Islam is considered to be an Abrahamic faith.^[4] Major religious groups as a percentage of the world population in 2005. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Christianity percentage by country, purple is highest, orange is lowest Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Islam began in Arabia in the 7th Century. Under the leadership of Muhammad and his successors, Islam rapidly spread by religious conversion and military conquest.^[5] Today followers of Islam may be found throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... The 7th century is the period from 601 - 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... North Africa is the Mediterranean, northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. ... Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir). ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ...

Music

Fresco from Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbî,Syria,Ummayad caliphs Palace, built in the early 7th century

Main article: Arabic music

Arabic music is the music of Arabic-speaking people or countries, especially those centered around the Arabian Peninsula. The world of Arab music has long been dominated by Cairo, a cultural center, though musical innovation and regional styles abound from Morocco to Saudi Arabia. Beirut has, in recent years, also become a major center of Arabic music. Classical Arab music is extremely popular across the population, especially a small number of superstars known throughout the Arab world. Regional styles of popular music include Algerian raï, Moroccan gnawa, Kuwaiti sawt, Egyptian el gil and Turkish Arabesque-pop music. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 547 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2024 × 2219 pixel, file size: 513 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 547 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2024 × 2219 pixel, file size: 513 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Fresco by Dionisius representing Saint Nicholas. ... The Umayyad Dynasty (Arabic الأمويون / بنو أمية umawiyy; in Turkish, Emevi) was the first dynasty of caliphs of the Prophet Muhammad who were not closely related to Muhammad himself, though they were of the same Meccan tribe, the... Anglicized/Latinized version of the Arabic word خليفة or Khalifah, is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... Arabic music includes several genres and styles of music ranging from Arab classical to Arabic pop music and from secular to sacred music. ... Arabic music includes several genres and styles of music ranging from Arab classical to Arabic pop music and from secular to sacred music. ... // Music is an art form consisting of sound and silence expressed through time. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... Nickname: Egypt: Site of Cairo (top center) Coordinates: , Government  - Governor Dr. Abdul Azim Wazir Area  - City 214 km²  (82. ... For other uses, see Beirut (disambiguation). ... Arab music is the music of Arabic-speaking people or countries, especially those centered around the Arabian Peninsula, though Peter van der Merwe (1989, p. ... Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more of the mass media. ... Raï (Arabic: راي) is a form of folk music, originated in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, African-American and Arabic musical forms, which dates back to the 1930s and has been primarily evolved by women in the culture. ... Gnawas around 1920s Gnawa or Gnaoua (in Arabic چنّاوة) is a group of musicians who might be descendants of former slaves originating from Sub-Saharan Africa or came freely to Morocco with Caravans during the Trans-Saharan trade trade, or both. ... Sawt (Arabic,صوت = voice)(also spelled sout or sowt) is a kind of popular music found in the Arabian states of the Persian Gulf area, especially in Kuwait and Bahrain. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... History (Timeline and Samples) Genres: Alternative - Classical - Dance - Folk - Hip hop - Jazz - Military - Ottoman - Pop - Religious - Rock Music awards Kral - MÃœ-YAP - MGD Charts Powerturk 40 - Kral 20 Annual festivals Istanbul International Music Festival - Istanbul International Jazz Festival - Ankara IMF - Izmir European Jazz Festival Media Bant magazine - Mix! - Adante - BlueJean...

"The common style that developed is usually called 'Islamic' or 'Arab', though in fact it transcends religious, ethnic, geographical, and linguistic boundaries" and it is suggested that it be called the Near East (from Morocco to India) style (van der Merwe 1989, p.9). The Near East is a term commonly used by archaeologists, geographers and historians, less commonly by journalists and commentators, to refer to the region encompassing Anatolia (the Asian portion of modern Turkey), the Levant (modern Israel/Palestine, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon), Georgia, Armenia, and...

Habib Hassan Touma (1996, p.xix-xx) lists "five components" which "characterize the music of the Arabs:

1. The Arab tone system (a musical tuning system) with specific interval structures, invented by al-Farabi in the tenth century (p.170).
2. Rhythmic-temporal structures that produce a rich variety of rhythmic patterns, awzan, used to accompany the metered vocal and instrumental genres and give them form.
3. Musical instruments that are found throughout the Arabian world and that represent a standardized tone system, are played with standardized performance techniques, and exhibit similar details in construction and design.
4. Specific social contexts for the making of music, whereby musical genres can be classified as urban (music of the city inhabitants), rural (music of the country inhabitants), or Bedouin (music of the desert inhabitants)....
5. A musical mentality that is responsible for the aesthetic homogeneity of the tonal-spatial and rhythmic-temporal structures in Arabian music, whether composed or improvised, instrumental or vocal, secular or sacred. The Arab's musical mentality is defined by:
   1. The maqām phenomenon....
   2. The predominance of vocal music...
   3. The predilection for small instrumental ensembles...
   4. The mosaiclike stringing together of musical form elements, that is, the arrangement in a sequence of small and smallest melodic elements, and their repetition, combination, and permutation within the framework of the tonal-spatial model.
   5. The absence of polyphony, polyrhythm, and motivic development. Arabian music is, however, very familiar with the ostinato, as well as with a more instinctive heterophonic way of making music.
   6. The alternation between a free rhythmic-temporal and fixed tonal-spatial organization on the one hand and a fixed rhythmic-temporal and free tonal-spatial structure on the other. This alternation...results in exciting contrasts."

Much Arab music is characterized by an emphasis on melody and rhythm rather than harmony. Thus much Arabic music is homophonic in nature. Some genres of Arab music are polyphonic—as the instrument Kanoun is based upon the idea of playing two-note chords—but quintessentially, Arabic music is melodic. The modern Arab tone system, or system of musical tuning, is based upon the theoretical division of the octave into twenty-four equal divisions or 24-tone equal temperament, the distance between each successive note being a quarter tone (50 cents). ... In music, there are two common meanings for tuning: Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice. ... Al Farabi (870-950) was born of a Turkish family and educated by a Christian physician in Baghdad, and was himself later considered a teacher on par with Aristotle. ... Rhythm (Greek = flow, or in Modern Greek, style) is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events. ... In Arab music a wazn (plural, awzān) is a rhythmic pattern or cycle, literally translated as measure (also called darb, mizan, and usul). ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... This page is about musical systems of tuning, for the musical process of tuning see tuning. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A Bedouin man on a hillside at Mount Sinai Bedouin, derived from the Arabic ( ), a name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Arab nomadic pastoralist groups, who are found throughout most of the desert belt extending from the Atlantic coast of the Sahara via the Western... Compose is a key found on computer keyboards that allows entry of characters with diacritical marks. ... Improvisation is the act of making something up as you go along. ... An instrumental is, in contrast to a song, a musical composition or recording without lyrics or any other sort of vocal music; all of the music is produced by musical instruments. ... In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who sings, i. ... This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ... In various religions, sacred (from Latin, sacrum, sacrifice) or holy, objects, places or concepts are believed by followers to be intimately connected with the supernatural, or divinity, and are thus greatly revered. ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Rhythm (Greek = flow, or in Modern Greek, style) is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events. ... Harmony is the use and study of pitch simultaneity, and therefore chords, actual or implied, in music. ... Homophony is a musical term that describes the texture of two or more instruments or parts moving together and using the same rhythm. ... In music, the word texture is often used in a rather vague way in reference to the overall sound of a piece of music. ... Kanun can refer to any of the following: Kanun, a Middle Eastern string musical instrument Short for Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit, the traditional tribal law of Albania An alternative spelling for Qanun, Islamic law. ... Typical fingering for a second inversion C major chord on a guitar. ...

It would be incorrect though to call it modal, for the Arabic system is more complex than that of the Greek modes. The basis of the Arabic music is the maqam (pl. maqamat), which looks like the mode, but is not quite the same. The maqam has a "tonal" note on which the piece must end (unless modulation occurs). In music, a scale is an ordered series of musical intervals, which, along with the key or tonic, define the pitches. ... In Arabic music a maqaam (Arabic: ‎, Hebrew: ) is, a technique of improvisation that defines the pitches, patterns, and development of a piece of music and which is unique to Arabian art music. ... Tonality is a system of writing music according to certain hierarchical pitch relationships around a key center or tonic. ...

The maqam consists of at least two jins, or scale segments. "Jins" in Arabic comes from the ancient Greek word "genus," meaning type. In practice, a jins (pl. ajnas) is either a trichord, a tetrachord, or a pentachord. The trichord is three notes, the tetrachord four, and the pentachord five. The maqam usually covers only one octave (two jins), but sometimes it covers more than one octave. Like the melodic minor scale and Indian ragas, some maqamat have different ajnas, and thus notes, while descending or ascending. Because of the continuous innovation of jins and because most music scholars don't agree on the existing number anyway, it's hard to give an accurate number of the jins. Nonetheless, in practice most musicians would agree on the 8 most frequently used ajnas: Rast, Bayat, Sikah, Hijaz, Saba, Kurd, Nahawand, and Ajam--and a few of the most commonly used variants of those: Nakriz, Athar Kurd, Sikah Beladi, Saba Zamzama. Mukhalif is a rare jins used exclusively in Iraq, and it does not occur in combination with other ajnas. In music, especially in musical set theory, a trichord is a collection of three pitch classes, often one of the four ordered trichords in a tone row or set form. ... The tetrachord is a concept of music theory borrowed from ancient Greece. ... A pentachord is a perfect fifth divided into four subintervals by five tones. ... In music, an octave (sometimes abbreviated 8ve or P8) is the interval between one musical note and another with half or double its frequency. ... A minor scale in musical theory is a diatonic scale whose third scale degree is an interval of a minor third above the tonic. ...

The main difference between the western chromatic scale and the Arabic scales is the existence of many in-between notes, which are sometimes referred to as quarter tones for the sake of practicality. However, while in some treatments of theory the quarter tone scale or all twenty four tones should exist, according to Yūsuf Shawqī (1969) in practice there are many fewer tones (Touma 1996, p.170). The chromatic scale is a scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone or half step apart. ... A quarter tone is an interval half as wide (aurally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which is half a whole tone. ...

In fact, the situation is much more complicated than that. In 1932, at International Convention on Arabic music held in Cairo, Egypt (attended by such Western luminaries as Béla Bartók and Henry George Farmer), experiments were done which determined conclusively that the notes in actual use differ substantially from an even-tempered 24-tone scale, and furthermore that the intonation of many of those notes differ slightly from region to region (Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Iraq). The commission's recommendation is as follows: "The tempered scale and the natural scale should be rejected. In Egypt, the Egyptian scale is to be kept with the values, which were measured with all possible precision. The Turkish, Syrian, and Iraqi scales should remain what they are..." (translated in Maalouf 2002, p. 220). Both in modern practice, and based on the evidence from recorded music over the course of the last century, there are several differently-tuned "E"s in between the E-flat and E-natural of the Western Chromatic scale, depending on the maqam or jins in use, and depending on the region. Béla Bartók in 1927 Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and collector of Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music. ...

Musicians and teachers refer to these in-between notes as "quarter-tones" ("half-flat" or "half-sharp") for ease of nomenclature, put perform and teach the exact values of intonation in each jins or maqam by ear. It should also be added, in reference to Touma's comment above, that these "quarter-tones" are not used everywhere in the maqamat: in practice, Arabic music does not modulate to 12 different tonic areas like the Well-Tempered Klavier, and so the most commonly used "quarter tones" are on E (between E-flat and E-natural), A, B, D, F (between F-natural and F-sharp) and C. Title-page of Das wohltemperirte Clavier A flat major (As-dur) fugue from the second part of Das wohltemperirte Clavier (manuscript) The Well-Tempered Clavier (in the original German: Das wohltemperierte Clavier[1]) is a collection of solo keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. ...

The prototypical Arab ensemble in Egypt and Syria is known as the takht, which includes, (or included at different time periods) instruments such as the 'oud, qanún, rabab, nay, violin (which was introduced in the 1840s or 50s), riq and dumbek. In Iraq, the traditional ensemble, known as the chalghi, includes only two melodic instruments--the jowza (similar to the rabab but with four strings) and santur--with riq and dumbek. Takht (bed, seat, or podium) is the representative musical ensemble, the orchestra, of Arab music. ... Front and rear views of an oud. ... The qanún or kanun is a musical string instrument used in Middle-Eastern music. ... The rebab is a musical string instrument which was heavily used in old Arabic music its considered as part of the Lute familiy (Oud in Arabic). ... The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ... Egyptian riq The riq (also spelled riqq or rik) is a type of tambourine used as a traditional instrument in Arabic music. ... The goblet drum (also chalice drum) is a goblet shaped hand drum used in Arabic music, Persian music, Balkan music, Armenian music, Azeri music and Turkish music. ... Santur Woman playing the santur in a painting from the Hasht-Behesht Palace in Isfahan Iran, 1669 The santur (سنتور – also santÅ«r, santour, santoor) is a hammered dulcimer of Iran. ... Egyptian riq The riq (also spelled riqq or rik) is a type of tambourine used as a traditional instrument in Arabic music. ... The Goblet drum is a goblet or hour-glass shaped hand drum used in Arab music, Persian music, Balkan music and Turkish music. ...

Cuisine

Main article: Arab cuisine