Middle East and Muslims

¶ … Acquaintances: Differences and Similarities Middle East The area of Western Asia and Northern Africa is called the Middle East. This name is coined in referral to Europe as the region is located within East Europe, West India and North Africa and is different from the Far East. The Middle East is one of the world's earliest regions and it has always been an important center of global activities. In fact, it has been proven that the Middle East boasts the earliest history records as that is where writing was invented.

The Middle East was also where several present day monotheistic religions such as Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and even Islam originated from. Of recent though, the Middle East have become a very unstable region due to increased European influence and a growing nationalist desire among its people which has led to several aggressive uprisings aimed at creating new independent nations. Due to this, the Middle Easterners today have been given a violent and bad stereotype. The Middle East is a dry region characterized by extremes of temperature.

The popular landforms in the region include several hills and mountains as well as expansive deserts and flat grassy land areas. Due to its poor rainfall, the water bodies in the Middle East are crucial to the existence of its people. Politically, economically, culturally and religiously, the Middle East is a very important global location. (Atwater, 2011). Common Languages The Middle East doesn't boast a large land size, but the region is home to a wide variety of languages and cultures.

Arabic is the Middle East's most widely spoken language and it is a Semitic dialect with close similarities to Hebrew with its earliest recorded use being the 8th century BC. Arabic is one of the few languages on Earth with several different forms and this causes problems for people from different Arabic-speaking Middle Eastern countries in communicating with each other (Doyle, 2012). The second most widely spoken Middle Eastern language is called Persian or Farsi and its Iran's official language.

Farsi has over 65 million speakers across the Middle East with Iranians having a large share of this number and a considerable part of Afghanistan and United Arab Emirates people make up the rest (Doyle, 2012). Approximately 3.8 million Middle Easterners communicate in Hebrew, with most Hebrew speakers located in Israel and its close neighbors (Doyle, 2012). The official language of Turkey known as Turkish also has about 170,000 speakers in Cyprus as well as a small population located in the Fertile Crescent area.

Another common language is Kurdish, the official language of the Kurds which occupy a large expanse of area located between Beirut and Afghanistan (Doyle, 2012). There are several other less spoken languages in the Middle Eastern countries. An example is Berber popularly spoken by North Africans such as Egyptians. Azeri, spoken by a minority of the Turkish population is also spoken in some parts of Iran.

Turkish populations living in the Zagros Mountains of Iran communicate in Qashqai, another minority language, while a population living in Southeastern and Eastern Iran known as Baluch and immigrants residing in the United Arab Emirates and Oman speak Baluchi. Wandering tribes living in the Zagros Mountains speak a language called Luri. Armenian is also commonly spoken by small populations in developed areas like Beirut, Aleppo, and Cairoetc. (Doyle, 2012). Belief The Middle East is mostly an Islamic region if the individual states are considered.

Due to this, people tend to hastily generalize about the singularity of religion in the region without considering a number of marked differences. For example, Islam has several different divisions with each division having their beliefs. The Sunni division is the largest in the Middle East. The Shiite division aka Shia Islam is the major division in countries like Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and Bahrain. Shiites are also present in small populations in Lebanon, Kuwait and Yemen.

Apart from the major Sunni and Shiite groups, there also exist other smaller groups like the Alawites, the Druze, the Ibadis, the Ismailis, the Shafis and a number of different Sufi groups (COTF, 2002). Apart from Islam, there are other religions practiced by Middle Easterners. An example is Judaism practiced mostly by Israeli Jews who make up over 80% of the entire Israeli population. Israel is the sole Middle Eastern country which doesn't have Islam as its major religion.

A number of Lebanese, Egyptians and Israeli populations also practice Christianity in the region (COTF, 2002). Society Structure There is a diversity of ethnic groups in the Middle East with some being the major groups in their countries while the others are scattered across several countries and thus form the minor groups in each country. This ethnic division is a contemporary occurrence and doesn't follow the popular trend of "age-old ethnic conflict".

Instead, violence was common among divisions which were not formed based on ethnicity and this strike still persists till today. The Middle East cannot be wholly described easily thus geographers favors describing the region based on continents e.g. North Africa, West Asia etc. Arab and Middle Eastern Muslims only make up a small part of the global Islamic population. Just an approximated 15% of the world's Muslims, which number over a billion, are of Arab origin. Equally around 15% of Muslims are Shia Muslims (Atwater, 2011).

Reasons for Code of Cultural Behavior Do's 1. When in the Middle East, always give presents and exchange pleasantries like handshakes with your right hand. Using the left is considered as highly disrespectful. Normally, shaking of hands can last as long as necessary in Europe as the other person is supposed to break the handshake. However, when in the Middle East on business or other reasons, you might not even experience the handshake at all as the customary greeting allowed in Arabic is "asalamualaykum" which means "peace be with you".

The right response to this greeting "waalaykumsalam" which means "and peace be with you". Learning and using this greeting could help to make a lasting favorable impression (Simplexity, 2017). 2. Consumption of alcohol is banned in the Middle Eastern countries mostly due to its predominantly Muslim population. People who are not Muslims but live in the region have the opportunity of applying for a special permit, allowing them to consume alcohol at home. Several relaxation centers such as hotels and clubs are also permitted to serve alcohol to its customers (Simplexity, 2017). 3.

Group eating is seen as a sign of togetherness. In the Middle East, you eat to connect not just to be filled. Make sure you enjoy this experience (BFJ, 2016). 4. Make sure you pull off your shoes before you sit on a rug to wine and dine. Always sit with your legs folded as stretching out your legs while eating is seen as disrespectful. Make sure you sit next to someone of the same sex at dinner unless you are allowed to do otherwise by your hosts.

Only your right hand should be used when eating or collecting food (BFJ, 2016). 5. While in a conversation with an Arab, ensure you are standing straight and always stand when introduced. Never pocket your hands and ensure your feet soles are always grounded. You can place your right hand on your chest when greeting as this is.