Social, Cultural And Political Features Of The Middle East

The three major religions in the Middle east are Judaism, Christianity and Islam, these religions are cause for many disputes in this region. There are key aspects that are the reasons for these disputes. Even though all these religions are monotheistic, they are far from the same, in many different ways.

The word Islam means "surrender" or "submission," submission to the will of Allah, the one God. Muslims are those who have submitted themselves. The basic creed of Islam is brief: There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah. Islam teaches

As American singer-song writer Duncan Sheik once said, “It’s inevitable your environment will influence what you do.” It is not a secret that the environment a person grows up in helps shape their views of the world and how he or she perceives different issues. The United State of America are known as the melting pot. We have many cultures and races all living within the same cities working together peacefully for the most part. To outsiders America is the place to come to achieve the “American Dream”, and it is the place where fresh starts, entrepreneurship, and individualism are highly encouraged. There are freedoms in American that many other people across the world are not as lucky to have.

Often called “The Crossroads of the World”, the Middle East stands between three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. Over thousands of years, migrating traders and conquerors crossed this region and spread the ideas, inventions, and achievements of many civilizations. It is an incredibly important part of the world with rich history, important resources, and deep religious and cultural traditions. However, in the past decades up to today, the Middle East has been consumed by conflict and chaos. Although different circumstances surround each issue, religion, terrorism, disputes over the control of natural resources, and weak governance primarily allow conflict to persist in the Middle East.

The Middle East is a region centered on Western Asia and Egypt the region has generally been a major center of world affairs as the major religions of Islam and Christianity and Judaism were also established within the region. The region is made up of 18 countries and has vast reserves of crude oil. In modern times the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region.

Islam is an Arabic word meaning submission and therefore Islam religion is believed to be an Abrahamic religion which believes in submission to the almighty God Allah and Muhammad as the prophet. Quran is the holy book believed to be the guideline of the Muslims who are the followers of the Islamic religion. It is believed that Allah repeatedly revealed to Muhammad verbally through angel Gabriel and recited in the Quran (Hadith of Revelation, Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3). Over time particular aspects arose from the Quranic teachings and Muslims began to have questions about the teachings and translation of The Quran, thus, narrations were developed in Hadiths.

Islam, a major world religion, founded in Arabia and based on the teachings of Muhammad, who is called the Prophet. One who practices Islam is a Muslim. Muslims follow the Koran, the written revelation brought by Muhammad. The Muslim world population is estimated at more than 1 billion. Islam is the quickest growing religion.

Arab people stem from many different regions including 22 countries: Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen ("Arab American," 2014). The Arab culture include several ethnicities such as Shias, Sunni, Druze, Ismalites, and Nusayr (Matusiak, 2013). It is important to know Arabs are not a race, but a diverse culture ("Facts about Arabs," 2014). The Arab people are measured as being among the “most educated” population with a higher percentage of college educations than the American population (Matusiak, 2013). Family is important in the Arab culture. Many Arabs live within close proximity of family and have close relationships ("Arab American," 2014).

The Middle East is far from monumental and homogenous. Its differences have been a source of both strength and inspiration. The most visible, most pervasive, and the least recognized aspects of

The region of the Middle East and its inhabitants have always been a wonder to the Europeans, dating back to the years before the advent of Islam and the years following the Arab conquest. Today, the Islamic world spreads from the corners of the Philippines to the far edges of Spain and Central Africa. Various cultures have adopted the Islamic faith, and this blending of many different cultures has strengthened the universal Islamic culture. The religion of Islam has provided a new meaning to the lives of many people around the world. In the Islamic world, the religion defines and enriches culture and as a result the culture gives meaning to the individual. Islam is not only a religion, it is in its own way a culture. It may be this very

Another source of conflict as reported by Sørli et. al stems from the religious differences. As a whole, the Middle East is comprised of followers of Islam. But within the Islamic religion are the Sunni (which account for the majority), and the Shia. Tension lies between the two sects, especially given the fact that the Shia often hold the positions of power (Sørli, 147). Another major

This is how I feel when trying to understand art from nothing. The codes of communication, the means by which we understand language are not clear. Art is a language, but a symbolic one. I am trying to understand the reasons and the culture that produces this language. My learning plan, written a few months before we departed for our program, was focused in trying to understand the relationship between culture and art in the Islamic countries. An Islamic art definition that I have repeated before and as presented by Eva Baer is the following: "Islamic arts refers not only to the art made for Islamic practices and settings but also to the art made by and for the people who lived or live in lands where most-or

First of all, it is impossible to talk about groups of people without generalizing. At this point it must be emphasized that there is not just “one” Arab culture or society. The Arab world is full of rich and diverse communities, groups and cultures. Each of the Arab countries has different perspectives. That’s why differences exist not only among coun- tries, but within countries as well. With 22 countries formed, the Arab region has in some parts the same religious, politics and

As a religion, Islam is based on the teachings of Muhammad, embodying a sound belief in one God (Allah). Islam is an Arabic word meaning submission, surrender, and obedience (Maududi, 1). It also stands for peace. Its followers are known as Muslims or Moslems. Islam emerged in Arabia, specifically in the city of Mecca, in the seventh century C.E. (Matthews, 386). With the evolution of Islam in Mecca, Mecca is known as the center of Islam. Islam is the youngest of the major world religions with the exception of Sikhism, which is a derivative of Hindu and Muslim beliefs that appeared in India. Islam is a universal religion of monotheism. The goal of Islam is to

Middle East considers one of the most studied areas in the world due to its rich history of politics, social, economic, and its culture and civilization. Its borders are still arguable geographically, generally in the west it starts from morocco until Iran in the east, however, many scholars don’t agree on including Turkey either as a Middle Eastern or as a European country (Milton-Edwards, 2006. P: 4). The origin of the name was invented by the colonies as a necessity to describe the place geographically, which was the era of bringing “Middle East” the language of academic writings and political scientists. Changes, innovations, and new ideologies create gaps between the transformations of any perspectives to a different