Afro-Arab (sometimes referred to as
African Arab) can refer to people of mixed
Black AfricanThe term black people usually refers to a racial group of humans with skin colors that range from light brown to nearly black. It also has been used to categorize a number of diverse populations into a common group. Some definitions of the term include only people of relatively recent Sub Saharan...
and genealogical
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
ancestral heritage and/or linguistically and culturally
ArabizedArabization describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture...
Black Africans. There are communities of Afro-Arabs in
East AfricaEast Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
,
West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:*Benin...
,
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
and the
Near EastNear East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
as well as, through recent migrations,
Western EuropeWestern Europe is the collection of countries in the westernmost region of Europe, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a cultural entity—the region lying west of Central Europe...
.
The phrase "Afro-Arab" may also refer to the
African UnionThe African Union is an intergovernmental organization consisting of 52 African states. Established on July 9 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organization of African Unity...
's efforts to improve co-operation between African countries and those of the Arab world.
The Arabs of the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
have very old connections to the African continent, and in addition more than half the Arab world now exists in Africa (in terms of area, and possibly population too) i.e.
Afro-Arab (sometimes referred to as
African Arab) can refer to people of mixed
Black AfricanThe term black people usually refers to a racial group of humans with skin colors that range from light brown to nearly black. It also has been used to categorize a number of diverse populations into a common group. Some definitions of the term include only people of relatively recent Sub Saharan...
and genealogical
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
ancestral heritage and/or linguistically and culturally
ArabizedArabization describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture...
Black Africans. There are communities of Afro-Arabs in
East AfricaEast Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
,
West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:*Benin...
,
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
and the
Near EastNear East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
as well as, through recent migrations,
Western EuropeWestern Europe is the collection of countries in the westernmost region of Europe, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a cultural entity—the region lying west of Central Europe...
.
The phrase "Afro-Arab" may also refer to the
African UnionThe African Union is an intergovernmental organization consisting of 52 African states. Established on July 9 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organization of African Unity...
's efforts to improve co-operation between African countries and those of the Arab world.
History
The Arabs of the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
have very old connections to the African continent, and in addition more than half the Arab world now exists in Africa (in terms of area, and possibly population too) i.e. from Egypt and Sudan in the east to Mauritania in the west. The Islamic world covers even more area, including northern
NigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger...
in the west and the
SahelThe Sahel or Sahel Belt is a semi-arid tropical savanna and steppe ecoregion in Africa, which forms the transition between the Sahara to the north and the slightly less arid savanna belt to the south, known as the Sudan .-Geography:The Sahel runs 2,400...
ian nations as well.
This intermingling of Arabs and Black African peoples from the African continent, along with the spread of
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
, has resulted in large populations of African Arab peoples covering a vast area of Africa. Afro-Arabs within the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
itself are for the most part descendants of Black African slaves who were brought there during the
Arab slave tradeThe Arab slave trade was the practice of slavery in the Arab World, namely West Asia, North Africa, East Africa and certain parts of Europe during their period of domination by Arab leaders. The trade was focused on the slave markets of the Middle East and North Africa...
.
Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south...
,
OmanOman , officially the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest....
, UAE,
KuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west. The greatest distance from north to south is 200 km and from east to west 170 km . The name is a diminutive of an Arabic word meaning "fortress built near water." It has a...
,
BahrainThe Kingdom of Bahrain is a small island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain via the King Fahd Causeway, which was officially opened on the 25th of November 1986. Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of...
and
QatarQatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally ', is an Arab emirate in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula...
as well
East AfricaEast Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
hosts a significant Afro-Arab population along the
Swahili CoastThe Swahili Coast refers to the coast or coastal area of East Africa inhabited by the Swahili people, mainly Kenya, Tanzania, and north Mozambique. The term may also include the islands such as Pate or Comoros which lie off the Swahili Coast....
, such as in
ZanzibarZanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of the United Republic of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
,
MombasaMombasa is the second largest city in Kenya, lying on the Indian Ocean. It has a major port and an international airport. The city is the centre of the coastal tourism industry. The original Arabic name is Manbasa; in Swahili it is called Kisiwa Cha Mvita , which means "Island of War", due to the...
,
LamuLamu town is the largest town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya.Lamu town is also the headquarters of Lamu District and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.-History:...
,
MalindiMalindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Galana River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi is 117,735 . It is the capital of the Malindi District.Tourism is the major industry in Malindi. The city is...
, the
ComorosThe Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa, on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, between northern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique...
,
BagamoyoThe town of Bagamoyo, Tanzania, was founded at the end of the 18th century. It was the original capital of German East Africa and was one of the most important trading ports along the East African coast...
, and
UjijiUjiji is the oldest town in western Tanzania almost due west from Zanzibar. It is about 6 miles south of Kigoma. Current population data are not available. In 1900, the population was estimated at 10,000 and in 1967 about 4,100...
.
Culture
In the
Arab states of the Persian GulfThe Arab Gulf States, also known as Arab states of the Persian Gulf or Gulf Arab states or Gulf states, are usually reserved for the six Arab monarchical states joined since 1981 in the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, or Gulf Cooperation Council : Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the...
, descendants of
East AfricanEast African may refer to:*Any person or object of, or pertaining to, East Africa*East African Airlines, an airline based in Kampala, Uganda*East African Safari Air, a now defunct airline based in Kenya*The EastAfrican, a weekly newspaper in East Africa...
s from
TanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in central East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.The United...
and
ZanzibarZanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of the United Republic of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
perform
LiwaLiwa is a type of music and dance performed in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, mainly in communities which contain descendants of East Africans from Tanzania and Zanzibar...
and Fann At-Tanbura music and dance .
Mizmar (dance)Mizmar is the name of a folkloric dance native to the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia. The dance involves moving while twirling a bamboo cane, to the music of drums. The dance and music have strong African influences. In the past, the ritual was associated with spiritual healing practices, similar to...
is performed in the
Hejazal-Hejaz is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia. Defined mostly by the Red Sea, it extends from Haql on the Gulf of Aqaba to Jizan. Its main city is Jeddah, but it is probably better-known for the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
region of
Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south...
In Classical Literature
One of the most famous Afro Arabs of ancient times was the pre islamic hero like figure Antar Ibn Shadded. Antar was born in Laiwa, He was the son of Shaddād, a well respected member of the Arabian tribe of
Banu AbsThe Banu Abs بني عبس are an ancient Bedouin tribe from central Arabia, they branch from the powerful Ghatafan tribes. They still inhabit the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa. Of the earliest stories concerning this tribe was the famous classical love and war story of Antar and Abla, which...
, The tribe neglected Antar at first, and he grew up in servitude. Although it was fairly obvious that Shaddad was his father, his dark skin made it easier to classify him among the African slaves. Antara claimed attention and respect for himself by his remarkable personal qualities and courage in battle, excelling as an accomplished poet and a mighty warrior.
The Zanj Revolt
The
Zanj RebellionNote: The Zanj Rebellion was not a single revolt but a series of small revolts that eventually culminated to a large revolt. This article details the largest revolt led by Ali bin Muhammad....
s took place near the city of
BasraAl-Baṣrah is the capital of Basra Province, and had an estimated population of 3,800,200 as of 2009. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it is incapable of deep water access, which is handled at the the port of Umm Qasr...
, located in southern Iraq over a period of fifteen years (869-883 AD). They grew to involve over 500,000 slaves who were imported from across the Muslim empire and claimed over “tens of thousands of lives in lower Iraq” . The major revolt is said to have been led by Ali ibn Muhammad, who claimed to be a descendent of Caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib. Not all participants in the Zanj revolt where of Black African descent; many were slaves of
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n, Iranian and
SlavicSaqaliba refers to the Slavs, particularly Slavic slaves and mercenaries in the medieval Arab world, in the Middle East, North Africa, Sicily and Al-Andalus. The Arabic term is a Byzantine loanword: saqlab, siklab, saqlabi etc. is a corruption of Greek Sklavinoi for "Slavs"...
ancestry. The majority that were forced to work in the Iraqi salt marshes were however of
ZanjZanj was a name used by medieval Arab geographers to refer to both a certain portion of the East African coast and its inhabitants.-Location and inhabitants:...
(East African Bantu) ancestry because the
East European SlavsSaqaliba refers to the Slavs, particularly Slavic slaves and mercenaries in the medieval Arab world, in the Middle East, North Africa, Sicily and Al-Andalus. The Arabic term is a Byzantine loanword: saqlab, siklab, saqlabi etc. is a corruption of Greek Sklavinoi for "Slavs"...
would simply die in the humid heat of the salt marshes. It is believed that many of today's Basra area "Afro Arabs" are descending from one of these Zanj groups though many may have settled that area under different circumstances via the Arab-African sea trade routes.
External links
- - Afro Arab/Middle Eastern Style: Book: Jumping the broom in Style..
- "Black African and Arab intermarriage in East Africa" -a cited ColorQ.org essay
- "Black Africans in (Arab) West Asia" -a cited ColorQ.org essay
- Prof. Helmi Sharawy, Arab Culture and African Culture: ambiguous relations, paper extracted from the book The Dialogue between the Arab culture and other cultures, Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organization of Arab states in Southwest Asia, and North and Northeast Africa. It was formed in Cairo on March 22, 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria...
, Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation (ALECSO), Tunis, 1999.
- Africans in the Arabian Gulf, Afropop Worldwide
- Resolution on Afro-arab Co-operation of The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, 23, February 23-28, 1987.
- African Union/league of Arab States Inter-secretariat Consultative Meeting On Afro-arab Cooperation, Addis Ababa: 10–12 May 2005.
- Maho M. Sebiane, « Le statut socio-économique de la pratique musicale aux Émirats arabes unis : la tradition du leiwah à Dubai », Chroniques yéménites, 14, 2007.http://cy.revues.org/docannexe1500.html.