by Brother Milad Yacoub, A.A.
(Many Christians, in Europe or elsewhere, are often confused about the Middle East. So it is that many believe that if a person is an Arab, he must also be Muslim by religion, or vice versa, that if someone is Muslim, he must be an Arab. Br. Milad, an Assumptionist of Egyptian background, helps us to see things more clearly.)

Is it possible to be both a Christian and an Arab? Yes. Many Christians throughout the world are surprised to hear this. And yet, there are millions of us Christians who read the Bible in Arabic. What’s more, we also address God as “Allah.”

Do not forget as well that many of our countries are considered to be Biblical lands. We need only go to the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles (2:9-11) to read about Arabs named as such as well as countries that became Arab later on, such as Egypt, Libya, and Mesopotamia; the Arabs were among the first to be evangelized.

Coming from the Arabian Peninsula
First of all, let this be pointed out — when one uses the word “Arab,” he is not designating an ethnic group or a race. The inhabitants of Arab countries are only in part descendants from the Arabian peninsula. Whether they are Christians or Muslims, they are for the most part descendants of local populations, thousand of years old. In vain would one seek to find a common ancestor that might explain the identity of all the peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean. These lands, the crossroads of migrations coming from many different horizons, gave birth to some rather homogeneous societies, in spite of origin or religion.

Islam spread rather rapidly once it appeared in the 7th century as did Arabic and Arab culture, though somewhat unevenly. Today, Arab Muslims only make up a third of all Muslims in the world.  Therefore, Arab identity cannot be confused either with the Muslim religion or, as we have seen, with some so-called ethnic or racial group. What is at the heart of this Arab identity is  rather something linguistic, cultural, and geopolitical. So, it can be said that “Arab” are those people from lands where the mother tongue is Arabic.

The difficult situation of Christian Arabs
Understood in this sense, ‘Arabicity’ (“arabité), a word invented by Lebanese Christians in the 19th century during the Ottoman occupation, was something which united Christian and Muslims around a common patrimony. The presence of Christians in countries where Islam has dominated for some fourteen centuries, shows that peaceful coexistence was more than rule than conflict, whereas other societies moved in the direction of “One nation, one religion.”

In this long history, with its ups and downs, Arab Christians are now going through difficult times. The massive emigration of Christians from certain countries is a major concern. Those from Iraq, for example, are more numerous in diaspora that they are in the homeland. The ever-increasing power of Islamist elements and the ghettoization of Christians are only making matters worse.

Inshallah
Should we, then, lose all hope? Certainly not. The witness of Christians and Muslims living well together is more needed than ever today. Safeguarding a common patrimony which fundamentally unites them is an important asset. History teaches that after every difficult moment a period of prosperity followed. I would add, Inshallah,” that is, “If God so desires.”