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I'm confused... What's the relationship between Arabs and Pakistan/Afghanistan? There's a difference between being Arab and being Muslim. The greatest Muslim c

I'm confused... What's the relationship between Arabs and Pakistan/Afghanistan? There's a difference between being Arab and being Muslim. The greatest Muslim countries are not Arab (Indonesia, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan). "Islamic unification" is by definition the opposite of "nationalist movements", and is very unlikely to happen. I can guarantee that Saudis, Pakistanis, Morrocans and Turks have way too little in common to even consider unification. Source: I'm a non-Muslim from the Middle East.

knowtheory 14y ago
Revolutionaries tend not to be known for dealing in practicalities. And yeah, you're right, Arabian culture is distinct from other parts of the Muslim world, but neither are they totally disentangled either. Both the green revolution in Iran and the Egyptian revolution against Hosni Mubarak had well defined religious components for example.
- babarock 14y ago
  Again bad example, Iran is not an Arab country. They don't speak the same language, they don't share the same culture, they consider themselves the descendants of the Persian Empire, not the Caliphate (the big Arab Empire a few hundred years ago). Also, I'm not sure I get your last sentence either. An awful lot of revolutions in the world (Arab and otherwise) have been fueled by religion. Even in the US, religion might not have been a motivation for the War of Independance, but it had a major impact on the relationship between government and religion. Arabs also know how to do revolutions without involving religion: - Lebanon went through something extremely similar to the Arab Spring back in 2005. The revolution against the oppressors of the time succeeded by putting religion aside and having most parties unite. (Lebanon is a segregated mosaic of approximately 17 religions, each having more or less political power). - Syrian resistance (or rebels, depending on your point of view) are not, despite what the media is telling you, an Islamist resistance. The leaders of the resistance have clearly repeated over and over again that they're not after the minorities, they're not trying to put Islam forward, they're simply against the Assad regime.

knowtheory 14y ago

Revolutionaries tend not to be known for dealing in practicalities. And yeah, you're right, Arabian culture is distinct from other parts of the Muslim world, but neither are they totally disentangled either. Both the green revolution in Iran and the Egyptian revolution against Hosni Mubarak had well defined religious components for example.

babarock 14y ago
Again bad example, Iran is not an Arab country. They don't speak the same language, they don't share the same culture, they consider themselves the descendants of the Persian Empire, not the Caliphate (the big Arab Empire a few hundred years ago). Also, I'm not sure I get your last sentence either. An awful lot of revolutions in the world (Arab and otherwise) have been fueled by religion. Even in the US, religion might not have been a motivation for the War of Independance, but it had a major impact on the relationship between government and religion. Arabs also know how to do revolutions without involving religion: - Lebanon went through something extremely similar to the Arab Spring back in 2005. The revolution against the oppressors of the time succeeded by putting religion aside and having most parties unite. (Lebanon is a segregated mosaic of approximately 17 religions, each having more or less political power). - Syrian resistance (or rebels, depending on your point of view) are not, despite what the media is telling you, an Islamist resistance. The leaders of the resistance have clearly repeated over and over again that they're not after the minorities, they're not trying to put Islam forward, they're simply against the Assad regime.