Arab Culture does not Equal Islamic Culture
People usually talk about the negative influence of local cultures on the practice of Islam, however one element which is usually not taken into account is the negative effect of some elements in the Arab culture to Islam. All cultures have beneficial as well as detrimental elements. It would also help if we defined culture so that everyone is on the same page regarding culture, so here is a definition of culture from Wikipedia.
Culture’ (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning “to cultivate,”) generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significant importance.
Thus for example, singers like Haifa Wehbe (image above) may be part of the Arab culture but not part of the Islamic culture. The reason that I am pointing this out is because many people, including some Muslims, have the mis-perception that Arab culture equals Islamic culture. The negative consequence of this mis-perception is that some people think that acting like Arabs will make them more Islamic. Especially when some Arab Muslims perpetuate this misperception then it makes one wonder, “What’s another name for Imperialism?”
It’s difficult.
Some people have the impression that Arabic is a divine language! And it hasn’t evolved since the advent of Islam.
Manas
October 29, 2007 at 4:54 am
Manas, sadly you are correct. The standard Arabic is different from the Arabic of the masses which is very different from the Arabic of the Quran. Most people do not actually know this distinction.
ibngarcia
October 29, 2007 at 5:26 am
Aslaamu alikum wa rahamatullah
Qur’an & Sunnah= Islam
Culture= Culture
Culture that goes against the Qur’an and Sunnah= UnIslamic
Culture that doesn’t go against the Qur’an and Sunnah=It makes us who we are- for instance a Muslim from Britain and a Muslim from China- this make Islam diverse and beautiful.
The misnomer of Arabic culture and Islamic culture for sure needs to be separated. Sorry to be mathematical, but this is how my thoughts were formed. I think the abouve really doesn’t recognise the use of culture in the widest sense of the word, I am aware of this limitation but still feel the above illustrates a valid point.
Allah knows best,
Don’t be sad
dontbesadblog
January 1, 2008 at 8:37 pm