The term Middle East denotes where the three religions meet, not a fixed region

Evidence

The more difficult term “Middle East” is correspondingly defined as the area where the three religions meet. Besides the regions of North Africa and South West Asia to which the term is normally applied, it includes the Christians and Muslims of Ethiopia, India and Pakistan, the Muslims (but not Christians) of East and West Africa, the Jews (but not the Christians or Muslims) of the United States, and the Muslims (but not Christians or Jews) of the Soviet Union and the Balkans. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1306

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘Middle East’ religiously rather than geographically, so that American Jews count as Middle Eastern while American Christians and Muslims do not.
• XREF: Echoes how Encyclopaedia of Islam defines its scope by Islamic civilization rather than territory — a similar principle-based geographic definition.