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An '''Arab''' (, ''ʿarabi'') is a person who identifies as such on genealogical,Princeton Wordnet definition of Arab.AskOxford: Arab linguistic,Arab. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000Arab - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary or cultural grounds.Encyclopedia of the OrientFrancis Mading Deng, ''War of Visions: Conflict of Identities in the Sudan '', Published 1995, Brookings Institution Press, p. 405, via Google Books http://books.google.com/books?id=iAPLHidx8MkC&pg=PA405&lpg=PA405&dq=definition+of+arabs&source=web&ots=H4z7bAsMBe&sig=6EMASoYXOzoWsTMBsAjDn1gucxg&hl=en The plural form, '''Arabs''' (العرب ''al-ʿarab''), refers to the ethnic group at large.Though the Islamic expansion.Islam and the Arabic language Definition"Arab" is defined independently of religious identity, and pre-dates the rise of Arab Jews. The earliest documented use of the word "Arab" as defining a group of people dates from the 9th century BCE.http://books.google.com/books?id=pUepRuQO8ZkC&pg=PA211&lpg=PA211&dq=%22west+semites%22&source=web&ots=6kyuNF1B1w&sig=sLzW2BOuHDDYHYEHbQqW-RyqVh8#PPA105,M1 Islamized but non-Arabized peoples, and therefore the majority of the world's Muslims, do not form part of the Arab World but comprise what is the geographically larger and diverse Muslim World.In the modern era, defining who is an Arab is done on the grounds of one or more of the following three criteria: right|thumb|Arab family of Ramallah,1905. The relative importance of these three factors is estimated differently by different groups and frequently disputed. Some combine aspects of each definition, as done by Habib Hassan Touma,1996, p.xviii who defines an ''Arab'' "in the modern sense of the word", as "one who is a national of an Arab state, has command of the Arabic language, and possesses a fundamental knowledge of Arab tradition, that is, of the manners, customs, and political and social systems of the culture." Most people who consider themselves Arab do so based on the overlap of the political and linguistic definitions. Few people consider themselves Arab based on the political definition without the linguistic one; thus few Kurds and Berbers identify as Arab. But some do, for instance some Berbers also consider themselves Arab (v. e.g. Gellner, Ernest and Micaud, Charles, Eds. Arabs and Berbers: from tribe to nation in North Africa. Lexington: Lexington Books, 1972). Some religious minorities within the Middle East and North Africa who have Arabic or any of its varieties as their primary community language, such as Egyptian Copts, may not identify as Arabs.The Arab League at its formation in 1946 defined ''Arab'' as "a person whose language is Arabic, who lives in an Arabic speaking country, who is in sympathy with the aspirations of the Arabic speaking peoples".The relation of '''' and '''' is complicated further by the notion of "lost Arabs" '''' mentioned in the Qur'an as punished for their disbelief. All contemporary Arabs were considered as descended from two ancestors, Qahtan and Adnan.Versteegh (1997) is uncertain whether to ascribe this distinction to the memory of a real difference of origin of the two groups, but it is certain that the difference was strongly felt in early Islamic times. Even in Islamic Spain there was enmity between the Qays of the northern and the Kalb of the southern group. The so-called Himyarite language described by Al-Hamdani (died 946) appears to be a special case of language contact between the two groups, an originally north Arabic dialect spoken in the south, and influenced by Old South Arabian.During the seventh and eighth centuries, the Arabs forged an largest land empires in history. In much of this area, the Arabs spread conversion and cultural assimilation. Many groups became known as "Arabs" through this process of Arabization rather than through descent. Thus, over time, the term ''Arab'' came to carry a broader meaning than the original ethnic term: ''cultural'' Arab vs. ''ethnic'' Arab. Arab nationalism declares that Arabs are united in a shared history, culture and language. A related ideology, Pan-Arabism, calls for all Arab lands to be united as one state. Arab nationalism has often competed for existence with regional nationalism in the Middle East, such as Lebanese and Egyptian.Origins and historyPre-Arabic Near EastEarly Semites, such as the Arameans, Akkadians and Canaanites, built civilizations in Mesopotamia and the Levant; genetically, they often interlapped and mixedJournal of Semitic Studies Volume 52, Number 1. Slowly, however, they lost their political domination of the Near East due to internal turmoil and attacks by non-Semitic peoples. Although the Semites eventually lost political control of the Middle East to the Persian Empire, the Aramaic language remained the lingua Franca of Mesopotamia and the Levant. Aramaic itself was replaced by Greek as the Middle East's prestige language following the conquest of Alexander the Great.The first written attestation of the ethnonym "Arab" occurs in an Assyrian inscription of 853 BCE, where Proto-Arabic dialects. In fact several different ethnonyms are found in Assyrian texts that are conventionally translated "Arab": ''Arabi, Arubu, Aribi'' and ''Urbi''. The Hebrew Bible occasionally refers to ''`Arvi'' peoples (or variants thereof), translated as "Arab" or "Arabian". The scope of the term at that early stage is unclear, but it seems to have referred to various desert-dwelling Semitic tribes in the Syrian Desert and Arabia. Proto-Arabic, or Hasaean inscriptions of eastern Saudi Arabia, the 6th century BCE Lihyanite texts of southeastern Saudi Arabia and the Thamudic texts found throughout Arabia and the Sinai (not in reality connected with Thamud).The date=March 2008}} who moved into territory vacated by the Edomites -- Semites who settled the region centuries before them. Their early inscriptions were in [[Aramaic, but gradually switched to Arabic, and since they had writing, it was they who made the first inscriptions in Arabic. The Nabataean Alphabet was adopted by Arabs to the south, and evolved into modern Arabic script around the 4th century. This is attested by Safaitic inscriptions (beginning in the 1st century BCE) and the many Arabic personal names in Nabataean inscriptions. From about the 2nd century BCE, a few inscriptions from Qaryat al-Faw (near Sulayyil) reveal a dialect which is no longer considered "proto-Arabic", but pre-classical Arabic.Yemeni migrations to the NorthIn date=March 2008}}, and from the early centuries AD was increasingly affected by Arab influence, notably with the [[Ghassanids migrating north from the 3rd century.The Ghassanids,Lakhmids and Kindites were the last major migration of non-Muslims out of Yemen to the north.*The Syria. They mainly settled the Hauran region and spread to modern Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan. The Ghassanids held Syria until engulfed by the expansion of Islam.thumb|left|Coin showing the Roman Emperor, the Arab.">Philip">the Arab. Greeks and Romans referred to all the nomadic population of the desert in the Near East as Arabi. The Greeks called Yemen "Arabia Felix"www.infilled.net http://www.infilled.net/Infilled.net/reference/World%20map%20according%20to%20Dionysius,%20124%20A.D/Reconstruction%20of%20the%20world%20map%20according%20to%20Dionysius,%20124%20A.D..gif. The Romans called the vassal nomadic states within the Roman Empire "Arabia Petraea" after the city of Petra, and called unconquered deserts bordering the empire to the south and east Arabia Magna.*The Lakhmids settled the mid Tigris region around their capital Al-hira they ended up allying with the Sassanid against the Ghassanids and the Byzantine Empire. The Lakhmids contested control of the Central Arabian tribes with the Kindites with the Lakhmids eventually destroying Kinda in 540 after the fall of their main ally Himyar. The Sassanids dissolved the Lakhmid kingdom in 602.*The Kindites migrated from Yemen along with the Ghassanids and Lakhmids, but were turned back in Bahrain by the Abdul Qais Rabi'a tribe. They returned to Yemen and allied themselves with the Himyarites who installed them as a vassal kingdom that ruled Central Arbia from Qaryah dhat Kahl (the present-day Qaryat al-Faw) in Central Arabia. They ruled much of the Northern/Central Arabian peninsula until the fall of the Himyarites in 525AD.Early Islamic periodthumb|200px|Dress of Arab women, fourth to sixth century. The arrival of Islam united the Arab tribes, who flooded into the Semitic Levant and Iraq. In 661, and throughout the Caliphate's rule by the Ummayad dynasty, Damascus was established as the Muslim capital. In these newly acquired territories, Arabs comprised the ruling military elite and as such, enjoyed special privileges. They were proud of their Arab ancestry and sponsored the poetry and culture of pre-Islamic Arabia whilst diffusing with Levantine and Iraqi culture. They established garrison towns, including Ramla, ar-Raqqah, Basra, Kufa, Mosul and Samarra — all of which developed into major cities.Caliph Abd al-Malik established Arabic as the Caliphate's official language in 686. This reform greatly influenced the conquered non-Arab peoples and fueled the Arabization of the region. However, the Arabs' higher status among non-Arab Muslim converts and the latter's obligation to pay heavy taxes caused resentment. Caliph Umar II strove to resolve the conflict when he came to power in 717. He rectified the situation, demanding that all Muslims be treated as equals but, his intended reforms did not take effect as he died after only three years of rule. By now, discontent swept the region and a bloody uprising occurred in which the Abbasids came to power and moved the capital to Baghdad. The Abbasids were also Arabs (descendants of Muhammad's uncle Abbas) and unlike the Ummayads, they had the support of non-Arab Islamic groups. Through Islam and Arabic as the language of administration the Levantine and Iraqi populations were eventually Arabized.=North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula= The Romans and the later Vandal invasion. Inland, the nomadic Berbers allied with Arab Muslims in invading Spain. The Arabs mainly settled the old Phoenician and Carthagenian towns, while the Berbers remained dominant inland. Inland north Africa remained partly Arab until the 11th century, whereas the Iberian Peninsula, particularly its southern part, remained heavily Arab, until the expulsion of the Moriscos in the 17th century.MedievalSpaniards and Yemenis. Levity.com, Islam The Christians of Italy and the Crusaders preferred the term Saracens for all the Arabs and Muslims of that time. www.eyewitnesstohistory.com - http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/lionheart.htm The Christians of Iberia used the term Moor to describe all the Arabs and Muslims of that time.www.cwo.com - [http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/moors1.html=Arabs of Central Asia=The Arabs that were once in Central Asia have been either killed or have fled the Tatar invasion of the region, leaving only the locals (e.g. Kazakhs, Tajiks, Uzbeks).History of Ibn Khaldun.=Banu Umayya of Damascus in the Levant & North Africa, 661AD=The Umayyid Caliphs starting with Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyaan were the first Arab force to conquer the North African region, however most of them where in Damascus (The Levant) at this time and not in North Africa. It is not until their removal from Damascus by the Abbasid Caliphs will they enter Spain/Andalus and then North Africa after their expulsion from Spain/Andalus.=Banu Fahr in North Africa, 670AD=Uqbah Ibn Naafi' and his forces (Banu Fahr) subdued Kusayla (a Berber chief) after the first Berber apostacy in the Aures Mountain region in modern day Algeria. This led to many bloody battles between the Arab Banu Fahr and the Apostates of the region. Uqbah Ibn Naafi' the chief of the Muslim forces was slain during these battles and buried in what will later be known as the city of Sidi Uqbah in the province of Biskra,Algeria. Uqbah Ibn Naafi', a companion of Muhammad, The Prophet of Islam and the Banu Fahr build the city of Qayrawan in modern day Tunisia and the city of Uqbah ibn Naafi' in modern day Algeria=Banu Hashim (Idrisids) in North Africa, 788AD=Idris I, fell into a quarrel with the Abbasids and fled Egypt for the Maghreb. With the support of the Berber of the Region they established the Idrisid dynasty which was located in modern day Morocco and Algeria.=Banu Umayya of Andalus/Cordoba in North Africa, 1031AD=The Umayyad Dynasty eventually fell after much infighting and mismanagement left them weak to invading European forces from France. This led to the wholesale murder, expulsion, and destruction of both the Muslim Arabs and Non-Arabs as well as much of the monuments and literature which they left behind. The Banu Umayya clan then fled with the rest of the Muslims to the Maghreb region.=Banu Hilal and Banu Muqal (Banu Hashim) in North Africa, 1046AD=The Banu Hilal was a populous Arab tribal confederation, organized by the Fatimids. They struck in Libya, reducing the Zenata Berbers (a clan that claimed Yemeni ancestry from pre-Islamic periods) and the Sanhaja berber confederation to small coastal towns. The Banu Hilal, Banu Muqal, Banu Jashm and other smaller tribes eventually Settled in modern Morocco and Algeria.=Banu Sulaym in North Africa, 1049AD=The Banu Sulyam is another Bedouin tribal confederation from Nejd which followed through the trials of Banu Hilal and helped them defeat the Zirids in the Battle of Gabis in 1052 AD, and finally took Kairuan in 1057 Ad. The Banu Sulaym mainly settled and completely Arabized Libya.=Banu Kanz Nubia/Sudan, 11th-14th century=A branch of the Juhayna Arab tribes.=Banu Hassan Mauritania 1644–1674AD=The Banu Maqil is a Yemeni nomadic tribe that settled in Tunisia in the 13th century. The Banu Hassan a Maqil branch moved into the Sanhaja region in whats today the Western Sahara and Mauritania, they fought a thirty years war on the side of the Lamtuna Arabized Berbers who claimed Himyarite ancestry (from the early Islamic invasions) defeating the Sanhaja berbers and Arabizing Mauritania.=Tribal genealogy= right|thumb|Demographics of Syria|Syrian with family, 1893">Bedouin">with family, 1893 Medieval Arab genealogists divided Arabs into three groups:
See also; General
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