With all the Syrian "refugees" streaming into Europe and the USA (80% men in their 20's to 30's and about 10% of these known to be allied with ISIS or other terror groups), it would be good to spend some time getting to know our new brothers.
Abu Sa'eed Al-Britani writes the following:
Culture Clash: Understanding The Syrian Race
All praise is due to Allāh who gathered the Arab and the non-Arab here in Shām. All praise is due to Allāh who united our hearts with the bond of faith. All praise is due to Allāh who gives understanding to those He wills.
Here in Shām, the Arabs and the non-Arabs are united in one line, under one banner, defending each other’s life with their own blood. However, with the unification of tribes and cultures, there will be clashes which are inevitable. Clashes which arise due to many reasons. Some are due to the level of knowledge which people possess, and some are due to different upbringings and cultures.
The clashes which are due to the level of knowledge is something which is not new and everyone has experienced this irrespective of country of origin. There are many people who come from the same country but differ in knowledge, so this is a concept known to all.
However, when cultures clash it is somewhat harder to deal with it as you may be telling someone to do something which he has never done before nor knows the reason behind (even though it may seem quite obvious to you).
Arabs as a whole have a unique culture, which differs dramatically from the western lifestyle. If one is unaware of these cultural differences, then it could be quite peculiar, annoying, and at times somewhat stressful to interact and associate with them. Arabs are quite unique in their habits, so it is vital for the western Muhājir to acquaint himself with their cultures to prevent clashes and disputes.
Below I shall list a few of their habits which Arabs are known for:
1) A lack of privacy for other’s space
This is a common habit for Arabs in the Middle East. I remember an incident from when I first came to Shām; I was sitting in ribāt next to another British brother, and as we were talking a Syrian brother came into the room and sat between me and the brother, he then reached for my backpack and opened it. The brother didn’t ask my permission but apparently that was not needed as it’s the habit of Arabs to go through other people’s property without their permission. As I sat there, he took out all my clothes and other gear from my backpack and examined each item before placing it on the floor.
As he was doing this, I was speaking to the other British brother asking him what was going on, and he told me that this was the norm here in Syria. Initially, I thought this was just a one off incident, but as time went on I realized this was a habit of our Arab brothers.
On another occasion an Indonesian brother was working on his laptop and was using it to speak to his family (or friends) back in Indonesia. After some time he went to go eat so he left his laptop open not expecting anything to happen, as no one really goes through other people’s property without permission, right? Wrong! As he was in the other room eating, an Arab brother went through his laptop and deleted all his conversations the brother was having with his family on his Messenger service. He also deleted his web server and was browsing the net without hesitation. When the Indonesian brother returned and realized what happened, he got upset and thereafter put a password on his laptop.
Another common trait is that they see no issue in unplugging your mobile phone to charge their own phone. Even if it’s your own charger, they would casually take your phone off charge to charge their own phone, even if there is no real need for them to charge their phone at that current time.
During my time with Arabs, I have only noticed one Syrian brother who asked permission before going through my bag, and due to him asking permission I allowed him to go through my stuff, even though I didn’t like it.
Arabs in general do not know where the red line is in giving another brother his space, and this is in their culture, maybe because they see this as a form of strong brotherhood. Whatever the reason it’s annoying so patience is required.
Much much more at the site - the list extends to twelve more items and is an eye-opening read. The few Muslims I have met bear this out - infantile culture, they think they are on top of the world but this is only supported by the oil money. Once that dries up, they are going to have some serious reconciling to do...
