Arab societies in Western-based research studies.. Unacquaintance or Disregarding?

From my reading in some research, I have found a widespread phenomenon among Western researchers: they either ignore or overlook an important fact in the Arab and Muslim societies, which is the importance of social and emotional bonding among the individuals within the community and cross other communities. It is easy to sense their lack of understanding of the reasons behind certain answers in their survey studies, interpreting them as negative phenomena. They overlook or ignore the fact that it is essential to place these phenomena within the social, cultural, and religious context to understand their importance for Muslims or Arabs to build a cohesive and healthy society. The disaster is that when they link these phenomena to values and customs that were known in their heritage but have been vanished under what is called development and modernity. In this case, the situation worsens, and the interpretations become more gloomy.

For example, in my recent reading of the book “Religion’s Sudden Decline: What’s Causing it, and What Comes Next?” by Ronald F. Inglehart, I noticed the biased interpretations of the author towards the societies of the Scandinavian countries and the high-income countries as societies that are more open to strangers, and that societies in all predominantly Muslim countries are closed and less accepting of strangers.

The author deduced this from a survey of a sample from various countries. For example, in a question about the religion of the neighbor, the author found that 31% of the sample in predominantly Muslim countries do not want their neighbors to be of a different religion, while only 4% from the Scandinavian countries and 6% from the “rich” countries have the same stance toward neighbors. These percentages slightly increase in the answer to the question about having neighbors who are immigrants or foreign workers, reaching 34% in Muslim countries and 9% in Scandinavian countries. The percentage increases significantly in the more embarrassing and important questions, as 32% of the sample from the Scandinavian countries and 80% from the predominantly Muslim countries agreed that employers should prioritize citizens over immigrants in obtaining jobs in the case of jobs’ shortages.

However, it is worth noting that while societies in non-Muslim countries appear more open to accepting others, they seem less open to the internal community, the family, and especially the relationship between parents and children. Only 9% of the sample from the Scandinavians and 23% from the high-income countries strongly agreed that one of the main goals of their lives is to make their parents proud of them, while the 71% from the Muslim countries have the same stance. This reflects the family bond between parents and children in Muslim societies. The question is, does the detachment from the natural relationship between parents and their children indicates a modermnity, development and the integration of the society and the openness of its individuals to others?

More strangely, 24% of citizens from the Scandinavian north and 48% from the rich (non-Muslim) countries considered that it necessary for children to provide care for their parents when they are ill and in-need of care. However, 87% of citizens from predominantly Muslim countries considered caring for parents is a duty of the children when they are ill. Finally, 71% of citizens from Muslim countries considered having children is a societal responsibility towards their communities, compared to only 11% of citizens from the Scandinavian countries and 21% from the rich countries who see it that way.

The contradiction between the two results is truly surprising. How can it be consistent that those who do not care about their parents are more open to strangers and their right to obtain jobs even if there is a shortage in the job market in their country? In the Arabic culture, it has been said: “There is no good in one who has no good for his family.” It seems that most Western researchers who advocate modernity and development do not understand or at least neglect the social, psychological, and even economic benefits of the strong bonds among the individuals within the society, which is vital characteristic at the Muslim and Arabic communities. In the context of Islam, which usually has misinterpreted, we recall the saying of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, “The best among you are those who are best to their families, and I am the best to my family.” And as the poet Jihad Jaha said: “The one who has no good for his family Certainly has no good for others so know this. Whoever expects affection from him Is like expecting the taste of sweets from bitterness.”

Therefore, I see it as a duty for Arab and Muslim researchers and critics to focus on the importance of contextualizing matters. The data indicates that citizens in Muslim countries have a sense of belonging and connection with the family and community, which is a matter of pride and significance for the well-being of the individual and society, even if those deceived by modernity claim otherwise. Thus, the characteristics that one seeks in a neighbor are important in the Muslim community because of the duties and obligations that arise from their presence nearby, in accordance with the social conditions and nature of the communities. If not for the commitment to what is stated in Islam about the importance of caring for the neighbor as Allah Almighty said: “Worship Allāh and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbor, the neighbor farther away, the companion at your side,1 the traveler, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed, Allāh does not like those who are self-deluding and boastful.” And as the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said “Gabriel kept advising me to be good to neighbors until I thought he would make them my heirs.” Indeed, the neighbor has duties and rights known to the Arabs even before Islam, as Antarah al-Absi said: “I protect the neighbor from every disgrace, And rejoice with the guest who stays and cheer.”

Therefore, the characteristics that a person seeks in a neighbor include origin, beliefs, social and financial status to make community integration more natural and neighbors more affiliated with each other, which is promoted and sought by most societies in predominantly Muslim countries. While this affiliation decreases in non-Muslim countries and societies, it affects not only the relationship with the neighbor but also includes parents and children and the limited nature of duties and commitments between individuals, transforming them into rights and commitments between the individual and the social system as a whole rather than the individual, family, and the smaller community within the neighborhood, and Allah is the helper.

(This text is a manually modified version from the automatics translated version of the Arabic by using AI, ChatGPT).