For example, in Michigan, more than half of the state's Arabs are not Muslims, and more than half of the state's Muslims are not Arabs. This statistic requires some digesting.
This principle applies outside of Michigan, around the world. Millions of Arabs in the Middle East are, in fact, not Muslims. This can be understood by reviewing a definition: the word 'Arab' refers not only to people in Saudi Arabia, but to large groups living in areas like Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and other countries. Note, however, that most people in Iran are not Arabs; they are Persians.
Prior to the year 640 A.D., most Arabs were Christians, some were Jews, a few belonged to other religions. It may seem shocking from a modern perspective, but if you had traveled through Iraq, Iran, Egypt, or Syria in the year 600 A.D., you would have seen dozens of churches and no mosques. Higher education had been introduced, and seminaries in these countries trained scholars.
All of that changed suddenly when Islamic armies roared through the region in the late 600's and early 700's A.D., destroying the physical structures of other religions - churches and synagogues - and outlawing expressions of any faith outside of Islam. Small communities of Jews and Christians clung to their faith, under harsh oppression, in hidden ways.
In the Middle East today, after a thousand years of underground existence, these communities still make their presence felt, even when public expression of their belief is illegal. But rather than merely continuing to exist, these communities are now attracting other Arabs. Joel Rosenberg, from Syracuse University, explains:
For many Muslims, despair and despondency at what they see as the utter failure of Islamic governments and societies to improve their lives and give them peace, security, and a sense of purpose and meaning in life are causing them to leave Islam.
Many of these Arabs, perhaps without realizing it, are returning to their roots, to the heritage from the time when Arabia, Persia, and Babylonia (Iraq) were home to millions of Christians - who were allowed to practice their faith freely, and who allowed others to practice their faiths. Could the Arab world be shaking off the oppression which has blanketed it for the last one thousand years, and returning to a time of individual liberty?
For other Muslims, it is not depression but rage that is driving them away from the Qur'an and the mosque. They are seeing far too many Muslim leaders and governments and preachers both advocating and acting out cruelty toward women and children and violence even against fellow Muslims.
We cannot think of the Middle East simply as 'the Muslim world': it is a complex region, home to several different religious groups; it has changed, and will continue changing, in ways we might not be able to predict.
