Yemen: Culture and Value Differences

Pre-Islamic Arabia was a culture knit together by kinship. In this society there was no emperor or ruling elite. The people of pre-Islamic Arabia were bound together by nomadic tribes who made profit by trading and most importantly “raiding”. These raids were often described as small-scale warfare and were instrumented by tribal leaders in order to increase the wealth and power of the tribe (Gordon 5). This was the society in which Islam came to power. Warfare and raiding were essential in order to be successful in pre-Islamic Arabia. The integration of warfare into the Islamic religion created a similarity among Muslims, those who follow Islam, and non-Islamic Arabian people. This relationship and common interest established by the prophet Muhammad helped in the rise of Islam among non-Islamic

Yemen is a middle eastern country that is mostly a hot and arid desert, with some high mountainous areas. The Yemini population is predominantly Arab with Sunni and Shi’a Muslim religious beliefs. The country has a population of 26 million with a geographical size of 204,000 square miles. The country is situated between Oman and Saudi Arabia, bordering the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. (nationsonline, n.d.) Yemen is a country whose roots date back tens of thousands of years. What was once a very powerful and prosperous country in it’s early years, is now a war torn political and economic disaster. Peace and stability, is nowhere in sight for this Arab nation, the political conflict and corruption has resulted in an

The country of Yemen is made up of several cultural and economic zones; The Tihama, the highlands in the west, the central mountains, the high plateau in the east and the Gulf of Aden coastal plains. The majority of the population is ethnically Arab and is divided between the Shi’a Muslims and Sunni Muslims with a small combination of Jewish, Hindus and Christians. In late 1949 and early 1950, approximately 50,000 Yemeni Jews left Yemen for Israel to be in the “Holy Land”. The birth rate of Yemen is high and almost half of their population is under the age of fifteen years old and the infant death rate is high, and migration is why the growth rate is limited. The language of the Yemenis is Arabic, but have many different dialects depending

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

Culture is what makes every country in the world unique; by sharing common symbols, language, values and norm. For instance, I born in Libya and have lived in USA for 3 years, culture is not necessarily related to a nationality. Rather, culture is leaned. Therefore, I acquired both Libyan and American cultures by learning language, traditions, and values. So, I could able to see and comprehend the diversity between them. A comparison of Libya and USA will reveal that both are two distinctive countries with variety of differences regarding to emphasize individuals or groups, religious festivals, and food.

The Prophet Muhammad’s large influences over the foundations of Islam helped shape its empire into a powerful militant group that would result in the unification of Arabia in 622 AD . From there, Muhammad would be looked to by many as both a religious prophet and a competent military leader. Conquests made my Muhammad lasted from 622 CE to

Not long after the surrender of Mecca, Muhammad turned his strength regarding the expansion and union of his power over Arabia. Emissaries were sent and partnerships formed with neighboring tribes and rulers. The free Bedouin tribes of Arabia were united behind the Prophet of Islam through a blend of power and diplomacy. Because Muhammad was both head of state and a prophet of God, so too were the agents and warriors of the state the, emissaries and

Culture is the characteristics and understanding of a specific group of individuals, defined by everything from religion, beliefs, and human thoughts of behaviors and interactions. There is a variety of different cultures which encourage different perspectives or ways of thinking. The Australian culture and Saudi -Arabia culture both encourage a range of different opinions and views in regards to religion and gender. Gender in the Australian culture and Saudi-Arabia culture plays a major role in the perspectives of equality and how both cultures perceive it. Thus, Religion in the Australian culture and sudi Arabia culture is based on beliefs, morals, ethics and customs and in general the perspectives of what are right and wrong. Culture perspectives

In early AB in Arabia they have a very complex and strange way to govern themselves. One of the very good examples are that women had few to no rights at all. Plus everyone thinks that the all mighty Muhammad Is the leader and founder of the Muslim group and most of Arabia fallow Muhammad. There is also no presence of the political group and that the religion group Muslim the power in Arabia. In the early ADs Arabia how a difficult government and still has one today with most of the people being Muslim.

In the 7th century AD there was no world power that controlled the whole of the Arabian Peninsula. The two major world powers at the time, the Byzantines and the Sassanians, both tried and different times to conquer the Arabian Peninsula and failed. By the early seventh century, the empires were at war with each other; the result was a breakdown of the Arabian economy and political order of the Arabian frontiers of both empire s. The isolation from the two competing empires created a conducive environment for Islam to grow. The decentralized nature of Arabia at the time allowed the prophet Mohamed to preach without encountering resistance from a centralized power.

In the beginning of 7th century to the end of Abbasids in the 13th century, continuities and changes shape the cultural and political life of Islamic civilization which lead to Arab conquests (634-711), expansion, and untroubled trade and conversion which followed by diffusion of cultures lead to advancements of Arabian knowledge. Few factors that led to changes of cultural advancements in knowledge which was traded through trade routes across regions trade and throughout the sea, meanwhile the government became more centralized and bureaucratic and lastly, a cultural continuity was the religious laws: Quran, Hadith, Sharia which was practiced amongst the Muslims.

Yemen is a nation that has spent more of its years in a state of conflict rather than peace. The Middle Eastern nation, approximately the size of the state of California, has experienced all forms conflict to include: interstate, intrastate, non-state and one-sided conflict (UCDP, 2016). In 1990, following numerous conflicts, North and South Yemen finally unified. While the unification was peaceful, animosity between sides remained under the surface. In 1994, a short civil war erupted only lasting several months until the secession was terminated (UCDP, 2016). However, the national sentiments remained, laying the foundation for civil war to reignite in even greater force in 2014. According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UDCP) Yemen has

In this Paper my goal is to analyze the culture of Afghanistan and provide cultural awareness of the region. But what is culture? Culture, as defined by Webster's Dictionary, is “the arts and manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively". However, is that really what defines a culture? Or is there more depth to the matter altogether? The characteristics of culture are learned, shared, symbols, integrated, and dynamic. Essentially, culture is learned; it is not something we are born with. It is also shared, meaning that collectively as a society we practice social norms; which enables us to generally predict another’s behavior. Symbols have meaning and that meaning is derivative of the culture that we are exposed to. The swastika, for instance, is an ancient symbol that is sacred in Hinduism and Buddhism but in western culture represents Nazi Germany. Culture is integrated, various aspects of culture are all interwoven in some way. Dynamic, culture is an ever-changing entity; through travel the media, and interaction with other nations, cultures are constantly influencing one another.

The McMahon Agreement was constituted on the 24th of October 1915 between the Meccans and the British. Upon the rise of Arab nationalism, the Arabs (Meccans) pursued independence from the Ottoman Empire. Amir Abdullah, son of Hussein Bin Ali the Sharif of Mecca, visited the British general consul in Egypt in February of 1914. His incentive was to verify that the British will recognise Arab independence if they support the British in war with purpose to abdicate the Ottoman Turks. Then in 1917 the

It is not easy to define culture because culture is too broad a concept, can be both abstract and specific. However, what is agreed is culture covers all faces of our life as well as direct the way we behave, interact and communicate. (Liu et al., 2011). One popular definition is that “Culture is the total way of life of a group of people, comprising of the deposit of knowledge, experience, belief, values, traditions, religion, and notion of time, roles, spatial relations, worldviews, material objects and geographic territory”. (Liu et al., 2011, p.57). In this essay, I will analyse components and characteristics of culture, and based on that grounds, I will reflect on my own culture-being a Vietnamese. Dodd (1998) considered that culture is made up by three layers which consist of the core layer, the intermediate layer and the outer layer. I will examine what values and beliefs are considered important in my culture. Those are components of the inner core. Then, I will take some examples of the intermediate layer (expression of cultural activities by manifestation) such as communication patterns, customs and festivals.