Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Oleg Grabar, The Shape of the Holy: 

Early Islamic Jerusalem (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Uni-

versity Press, 1996); Robert W. Hamilton, The Structural 

History of the Aqsa Mosque (Jerusalem: Oxford Univer-

sity Press, 1949).

Arab

Originally an ethnic designation for the people 

of Arabia, Arab is now commonly used to refer 

to people who speak Arabic, claim ancestry in 

North Africa or the Middle East, or consider 

themselves nationals in one of the recently created 

Arab nation-states. In its original meaning, Arab 

applied to several Arabic speaking tribes from the 

Arabian Peninsula (the area including contem-

porary s

aUdi

 a

rabia

, y

emen

, Oman, United Arab 

Emirates, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, 

J

ordan

, and parts of s

yria

 and i

raq

). Classically 

imagined as 

camel

-breeding nomads, many Arabs 

have always lived in 

cities

 and have been noted 

for their loyalty to family and hospitality and to a 

rich poetic tradition. Because m

Uhammad

 (d. 632) 

was a member of the Arab tribe called q

Uraysh

and he delivered the q

Uran

 in Arabic, the Arabic 

language became very important to the practice 

and understanding of i

slam

. Arabs played a cru-

cial role in helping expand the boundaries of 

Islam beyond the Arabian Peninsula, and today 

they remain guardians of the most holy Muslim 

city of m

ecca

. This has led to some confusion 

between the terms Arab and Muslim: Arab is an 

ethnic category, while Muslim refers to religion.