Arab ethnicity is defined by language and culture, not religion

Evidence

Let us note, therefore, a simple point: all Muslims are not Arabs, and all Arabs are not Muslims. Arab countries are home to Christians, Jews, Druze, and other religious minorities. Arabs are people who speak Arabic, share certain common cultural traditions, and claim a common Arab ethnic identity. Nadine Naber suggests that while the term Arab is contested, it is used to signify cultural and linguistic similarity. She adds that, “Arab is also a national identity” and “Arabs share a language and a common cultural and imagined national community.” Since 1945, countries in which Arabic is the primary language combined to form the Arab League. This league consists of nations “considered Arab nations, including Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.” Iran and Turkey are located in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) but are not considered Arab because of linguistic and cultural differences. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 292 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Arab ethnic identity is linguistic and cultural, distinct from Muslim religious identity.; Arabian and Muslim identities are distinct categories defined by language, not religion — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 292; Arab and Muslim identities are distinct categories, not interchangeable (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Arab ethnic identity is linguistic and cultural, distinct from Muslim religious identity. #corroborates (0.98)
• Arabian and Muslim identities are distinct categories defined by language, not religion #corroborates (0.97) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 292
• Arab and Muslim identities are distinct categories, not interchangeable #corroborates (0.95)
• Arabic-speaking peoples defined themselves by Islamic loyalty rather than ethnicity #contradicts (0.90) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 828
• Middle Eastern national identity derives from religious communality rather than ethnicity #contradicts (0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3470
• Anti-Arab prejudice is ethnic while anti-Muslim prejudice is religious #corroborates (0.80) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 866
• Religion, not nationality, anchored identity for Muslims and medieval Christians #contradicts (0.80) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1056
• Religion rather than nationality has been the primary basis of identity in Islam #contradicts (0.80)
• Arab cultural assimilation absorbed peoples of every nationality as fully Arab #expands (0.75)
• Early Levantine immigrants were deemed inassimilable non-Whites due to Muslim affiliation #contradicts (0.75) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 484
• Arab Christians were denied US naturalization through conflation with Islamic racial otherness #contradicts (0.75) — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims, 206