What every American should know...

[BlindPatriot]

about the Middle East.

What Every American Should Know About the Middle East

By Daniel Miessler on March 30th, 2008: Tagged as America | Civilization | Education | Politics

Most in the United States don't know much about the Middle East or the people that live there. This lack of knowledge hurts our ability to understand world events and, consequently, our ability to hold intelligent opinions about those events.
For example, frighteningly few know the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims, and most think the words "Arab" and "Muslim" are pretty much interchangeable. They aren't. So here's a very brief primer aimed at raising the level of knowledge about the region to an absolute minimum.

Basics

1. Arabs are part of an ethnic group, not a religion. Arabs were around long before Islam, and there have been (and still are) Arab Christians and Arab Jews. In general, you're an Arab if you 1) are of Arab descent (blood), or 2) speak the main Arab language (Arabic).
2. Not all Arabs are Muslim. There are significant populations of Arab Christians throughout the world, including in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Northern Africa and Palestine/Israel.
3. Islam is a religion. A Muslim (roughly pronounced MOOSE-lihm) is someone who follows the religion. So you wouldn't say someone follows Muslim or is an Islam, just as you wouldn't say someone follows Christian or is a Christianity.
4. Shia Muslims are similar to Roman Catholics in Christianity. They have a strong clerical presence via Imams and promote the idea of going through them to practice the religion correctly. Sunni Muslims are more like Protestant Christians. They don't really focus on Imams and believe in maintaining a more direct line to God than the Shia.
5. People from Iran are also known as Persians, and they are not Arabs.
6. Arabs are Semites. We've all heard the term anti-Semitism being used - often to describe Arabs. While antisemitism does specifically indicate hatred for Jews, the word "Semite" comes from the Bible and referred originally to anyone who spoke one of the Semitic Languages.
7. According to the Bible, Jews and Arabs are related [Genesis 25]. Jews descended from Abraham's son Isaac, and Arabs descended from Abraham's son Ishmael. So not only are both groups Semitic, but they're also family.
8. Sunni Muslims make up most of the Muslim world (roughly 90%). 1
9. The country with the world's largest Muslim population is Indonesia. 2
10. The rift between the Shia and Sunni started right after Muhammad's death and originally reduced to a power struggle regarding who was going to become the authoritative group for continuing the faith.

The Shia believed Muhammad's second cousin Ali should have taken over (the family/cleric model). The Sunni believed that the best person for the job should be chosen by the followers (the merit model) and that's how the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, was appointed.

Although the conflict began as a political struggle it now mostly considered a religious and class conflict, with political conflict emanating from those rifts.

Sunni vs. Shia | Arab vs. Non-Arab

Here's how the various Middle Eastern countries break down in terms of Sunni vs. Shia and whether or not they are predominantly Arab. Keep in mind that these are generalizations; significant diversity exists in many of the countries listed.

* Iraq Mostly Shia (roughly 60%), but under Saddam the Shia were oppressed and the Sunni were in power despite being only 20% of the population. Arab.
* Iran Shia. NOT Arab.
* Palestine Sunni. Arab.
* Egypt Sunni. Arab.
* Saudi Arabia Sunni. Arab.
* Syria Sunni. Arab.
* Jordan Sunni. Arab.
* Gulf States Sunni. Arab.

Conclusion

What's depressing is the fact that this only took me 30 minutes to write, and you 2 minutes to read. Yet most people in the United States, including those in the media, the house of representatives, and probably even the Pentagon, lack even this cursory level of knowledge about the region.:
References

1The CIA World Fact Book | Field Listing - Religions
2The CIA World Fact Book | Field Listing - Indonesia
Wikipedia | Sunni Muslims
Wikipedia | Shia Muslims
Wikipedia | Arabs

It may not hurt to mention that AQ is Sunni.

[Ravariel]

Wow... a post where I actually learned something.

Congratulations! Now prepare your flame shield.

[DingoTheDog]

At 5/10/08 03:47 AM, BlindPatriot wrote:
5. People from Iran are also known as Persians, and they are not Arabs.

Thats not really true.

[Centurion-Ryan]

At 5/10/08 05:35 AM, Ravariel wrote: Wow... a post where I actually learned something.

Congratulations! Now prepare your flame shield.

I don't really see why he would get flamed.

He made an informative post and cited his sources.

[BlindPatriot]

It is entirely true.

[Christopherr]

At 5/10/08 05:41 AM, DingoTheDog wrote:

At 5/10/08 03:47 AM, BlindPatriot wrote:
5. People from Iran are also known as Persians, and they are not Arabs.

Thats not really true.

Actually, it is.

Iran has a population of 71,208,000, of which 40 to 50 million are Persians.

Would it really kill just make sure what you're saying is true?

[lapis]

At 5/10/08 03:47 AM, BlindPatriot wrote: * Gulf States Sunni. Arab.

Meh, unofficial tallies estimate that the majority in Bahrain is comprised of Shi'ites and whether Oman qualifies as a Guilf State depends on your definition but they're Ibadites. Oman is not really a big player on the world stage though so it's not something people 'should' know. Then again, the Biblical origins of the word Semite are also little more than a fun fact.

The Shia believed Muhammad's second cousin Ali should have taken over (the family/cleric model). The Sunni believed that the best person for the job should be chosen by the followers (the merit model) and that's how the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, was appointed.

Yes, Ali ibn Abi Talib became the fourth caliph eventually, but he was a poor ruler and a revolt broke out led by the governor of Syria, Mu'awiyya, who eventually ousted him and founded the Umayyad dynasty. The Shi'ites on the other hand believe that the title of Imâm (which the Shi'ites also use to refer to the leader of the 'umma, the global community of believers) then went to his sun Hasan who didn't take any effort in trying to claim the title, but after his death the Shi'ites believe that the title went to Hasan's borther Hussain who did try to seize the caliphate but who died in battle near Karbala, which is still a holy place for the Shi'ites.

After Hussain a fourth Imâm was chosen, and then a dispute broke out about which brother was supposed to inherit the title. One of the brothers (Zayd) left no living heirs as far as I know and the people who supported him believe that the line of Imâms ended with him. Since they believe that there were a total of five Imâms they're called the Fivers or Zaydites after their fifth Imam. The other brother left heirs and this line continued until a similar dispute broke out when the seventh Imâm has to picked between two brothers. Once again, one of the two brothers left no living heirs and his supporters are therefore called the Ismailites after this seventh Imâm and originally the seveners, although most Ismailis today believe that the Fatimid caliphs also had a legitimate claim to the Imâmate which would make the line of Imâms longer than seven.

The group that did not acknowledge Ismail's claim to the Imâmate believe that the line continued until the twelfth Imâm who went missing without leaving heirs. The Twelvers believe that he went into a period of hiding called the occultation, which his split up into a minor occultation during which the Imâm still communicated with his followers through subordinates and a major occultation during which no one was to see him again. The Twelvers believe that he will return as the Mehdi (related to the Messiah) on the day of judgement where he will found a paradise on earth. Until then they believe that no one can have a valid claim to the Imâmate. The nation of Iran and most if not all of Iraq's Shi'ites are twelvers.

Groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir openly support the foundation of a worldwide Caliphate under Sharia law but it's always fun to remember that all Shi'ites would have to stop being Shi'ites in order to accept a Caliph before the return of the Mehdi. It's also fun to remember that even within the Sunni world there are four dominant schools of Sharia which is fine as long as the Islamic world is splintered but when a single political Islamic entity under Sharia law has to be founded this would pose a serious problem since the four schools have failed to reach consensus for the past centuries and there's a snowball's chance in Hell that they ever will. Whenever these groups present their grandiose plans one should never forget how poorly elaborated they are and that a giant war would have to be fought out in order to get all Muslims to adhere to the same theolological/judicial school.

[TheMason]

At 5/10/08 03:47 AM, BlindPatriot wrote: What's depressing is the fact that this only took me 30 minutes to write, and you 2 minutes to read. Yet most people in the United States, including those in the media, the house of representatives, and probably even the Pentagon, lack even this cursory level of knowledge about the region.:
References

Did you write this or copy and paste? If you wrote it, good job. If you didn't, could you please provide a link?

As for ppl in the Pentagon, I think this is biased conjecture. There are Foreign Area Officers that go in-depth into their region of specialty. In fact the USAF reading list includes Bernard Shaw's The Crisis of Islam which is actually more sympathetic towards Islam than the title suggests. The author discusses the division w/in these countries between traditionalism and modernization.

But I digress.

The DoD does have cultural training for servicemembers that cover what you posted.

[lapis]

Original source. "The Crisis of Islam" was written by Bernard Lewis, by the way, I don't know why you had Shaw in your head.

[SouthAsian]

Americans definitely need this kind of clarification on the matter at hand and the situation in the middle east.

[TheMason]

At 5/10/08 12:55 PM, lapis wrote: Original source. "The Crisis of Islam" was written by Bernard Lewis, by the way, I don't know why you had Shaw in your head.

Thanks for the link Lapis! As for the Lewis mistake...well everyone makes mistakes!

[DingoTheDog]

At 5/10/08 10:23 AM, Christopherr wrote:

At 5/10/08 05:41 AM, DingoTheDog wrote:

At 5/10/08 03:47 AM, BlindPatriot wrote:
5. People from Iran are also known as Persians, and they are not Arabs.

Thats not really true.

Actually, it is.

Iran has a population of 71,208,000, of which 40 to 50 million are Persians.

It states "Iranians are Persians" racially this is not necessarily true. The "Original Persians" emigrated to India.

Would it really kill just make sure what you're saying is true?

No need to be an arrogant cunt about things. Especially when your basing your knowledge entirely on what you read in the past 5 minutes from Wikipedia.

[TR00PER]

Very intresting

[BlindPatriot]

http://www.persiansarenotarabs.com/

I'm just sayin'

[mrhardrock]

good post for the stuiped people to help them but i already knew all that

[DingoTheDog]

At 5/10/08 08:12 PM, BlindPatriot wrote: http://www.persiansarenotarabs.com/

I'm just sayin'

I found this part interesting:

"How can we clarify the appropriate use of the term "Persian"? Shall it only be used when referring to the times of the great ancient Persian Empire? Does it really define a nation? Persia is now thought to be synonymous with Iran, but do either of those terms define the myriad of ethnic groups within the country, such as the Kurds or Turks, those who neither identify themselves as Persian nor speak the Persian language of Farsi? Or should it simply be used to identify goods and wares we have all become familiar with like the Persian cat or Persian rug?"

[thefellid]

The difference between Iranian Persians and Arabs is quite visible... just spend time looking at them

[Idiot-Finder]

At 5/10/08 05:41 AM, DingoTheDog wrote:

At 5/10/08 03:47 AM, BlindPatriot wrote:
5. People from Iran are also known as Persians, and they are not Arabs.

Thats not really true.

You're the source, am I right?

[Professor-D-Weed]

Thank you, this really needs to be said. If someone here knows a news anchor on CBS or somewhere, get them to air this list.

[n64kid]

At 5/11/08 01:43 PM, Idiot-Finder wrote:

You're the source, am I right?

It's implied that you should please yourself, dipshit.

[Christopherr]

At 5/10/08 02:18 PM, DingoTheDog wrote: It states "Iranians are Persians" racially this is not necessarily true. The "Original Persians" emigrated to India.

According to the Wiki article, which is soundly sourced, the Iranians are belong to the Persian ethnolinguistic group.

All he stated was that Iranians are Persians and said nothing of the "Original Persians." I honestly don't care what happened to the older Persians, because the sources are not in you favor.

No need to be an arrogant cunt about things. Especially when your basing your knowledge entirely on what you read in the past 5 minutes from Wikipedia.

Wiki is a very sound source, seeing as how it has just about as many errors as the Encyclopedia Britannica. You posted neither a sound nor unsound source, if I might add.

[DingoTheDog]

At 5/11/08 03:11 PM, Christopherr wrote:

At 5/10/08 02:18 PM, DingoTheDog wrote:

According to the Wiki article, which is soundly sourced, the Iranians are belong to the Persian ethnolinguistic group.

All your Iranians are belong to Persia?

All he stated was that Iranians are Persians and said nothing of the "Original Persians." I honestly don't care what happened to the older Persians, because the sources are not in you favor.

Right, and that statement is not strictly correct. If you delve further into wiki you might catch on to why this is not necessarily true.

Wiki is a very sound source, seeing as how it has just about as many errors as the Encyclopedia Britannica. You posted neither a sound nor unsound source, if I might add.

Yes, its a sound source, but use of a sound source shouldnt give you the arrogance to be a cunt about it. Savvy?

[Gunter45]

At 5/10/08 03:47 AM, BlindPatriot wrote: It may not hurt to mention that AQ is Sunni.

A brief addendum: the Sunni sect tends to be the more militant one. When you hear of extremist Muslims, a vast majority of them are going to be Sunnis.

[The-evil-bucket]

At 5/12/08 05:05 PM, Gunter45 wrote:

At 5/10/08 03:47 AM, BlindPatriot wrote: It may not hurt to mention that AQ is Sunni.

A brief addendum: the Sunni sect tends to be the more militant one. When you hear of extremist Muslims, a vast majority of them are going to be Sunnis.

That may be because the Sunni's make up about 90% of Muslim's. So if 9 in 10 extremists who are also Muslim are also Sunni, it shouldn't be a shocker.

[HogWashSoup]

bla bla bla. i didnt read it.

ok. the middle east. arabs are sand n****ers. fuck them and kill them

[Gunter45]

At 5/12/08 05:37 PM, The-evil-bucket wrote: That may be because the Sunni's make up about 90% of Muslim's. So if 9 in 10 extremists who are also Muslim are also Sunni, it shouldn't be a shocker.

I'm talking about extremists per capita.

[Elfer]

Ignorance among the general populace extends to almost every topic.

People in the US particularly tend to be more informed about the middle east than they are about, say, science.

[DingoTheDog]

At 5/13/08 10:19 AM, Elfer wrote: Ignorance among the general populace extends to almost every topic.

People in the US particularly tend to be more informed about the middle east than they are about, say, science.

Depends what tickles their fancy when they hit wikipedia.

[Idiot-Finder]

At 5/11/08 02:30 PM, n64kid wrote:

At 5/11/08 01:43 PM, Idiot-Finder wrote:

You're the source, am I right?

It's implied that you should please yourself, dipshit.

Don't mind if I do.

[Christopherr]

At 5/12/08 01:08 PM, DingoTheDog wrote: All your Iranians are belong to Persia?

Yes, considering the fact that Iran was formerly known as Persia and 40 to 50 million of them have Persian heritage.

Right, and that statement is not strictly correct. If you delve further into wiki you might catch on to why this is not necessarily true.

No, that statement is not strictly correct, because not all Iranians are Persians. Only most of them are. However, you ventured to spout on about original Persians being the real Persians, implying that the Persians in Iran are fake Persians.

Yes, its a sound source, but use of a sound source shouldnt give you the arrogance to be a cunt about it. Savvy?

You've yet to provide a source at all. You've just sat there saying that I'm wrong while I basically quote an encyclopedia against you.