Post by Bozur on Jan 29, 2010 12:42:50 GMT -5
Arab Culture: Properly Defining What Is Arabic
The Western world harbors many misconceptions about Arab culture, but the World Wide Web can be a great place to learn the true facts.
The most common mistake made by Westerners when thinking about and referring to Arab culture is their failure to properly define what is Arabic. Unfortunately, most Westerners, Americans in particular, tend to view the terms Muslim, Arabic, Middle Eastern, and Islamic as synonymous with one another and therefore completely interchangeable. That is simply not the case and an understanding of the differences between these terms is the first step to gaining an understanding of what is the true nature of Arab culture.
From this inherent lack of understanding has been borne a naivete regarding the importance and influence of Arab and Muslim culture on the Western world and humankind in general. One of the great oversights of Western history has been the practice of referring to the period from roughly 800 AD to 1500 AD as the Dark Ages, when in fact, great discoveries were being made throughout this period in the Arab world. During this period, all scientific texts were written in Arabic and it was the discoveries and of the Arab thinkers of this period that laid the very foundations from which the Renaissance would emerge. Advances in mathematics as well as the scientific method of detailed and systematic observation of natural occurrences would contribute to the period of intellectual growth that propelled the Western world through the Industrial Revolution.
Regardless of your interest in or knowledge of Arab culture, it is important to take the time to learn the facts, and there is no better place to begin your quest than the Internet.
By Buzzle Staff and Agencies
Published: 2/10/2001
www.buzzle.com/editorials/2-10-2001-2332.asp