Ali Ahmed Bakatheer عَلِي أَحْمَد بَاكَثِيْرBorn in Surabaya Indonesia in 1910, Ali Ahmed Bakatheer is a renowned and highly regarded Arab literary figure and playwright. As was the case with many Yemeni fathers i…
Shafoot شَفُوْت: A Starter Yemeni Dish saltah سَلْتَة, faHsah فَحْسَة, mandi مَنْدِي, fattah فَتَّة, sousi سُوْسِي, ‘aSiiT عَصِيْد, bint aS-SaHn بِنْت الصَّحْن and shafoot شَفُوت are very popular local dishes that are u…
In the pre-Islamic period or Jahiliyyah الجَاهِلِيَّة, Arabs were not all monotheists. Like many other nations at the time, they had more than one faith دَيَانَة. Quraish قُرِيْش and neighboring tribes were principally p…
In this post, some differences between Egyptian dialect and MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) are highlighted through a song by a popular Egyptian singer, Sherine Abdel-Wahab. The song is called حُبُه جَنَّة ‘his love is heav…
Following the death of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), there was never a discord about the essence of Islam. The pillars of Islam, the Quran, the matters of worship, and all other principles that guided and organized Muslim…
This post gives a taste of Yemeni and Arabic oud music. العُوْد ‘the oud’ is a musical instrument used in the Middle East and North Africa. Its name was derived from the Arabic word عُوْد ‘a piece of wood’ as it is …
Most Arabs define being an Arab as one who speaks Arabic and views the history of Arabs as an integral part of his/her cultural identity. Arabs are predominantly Muslims, but they have different religious ideologies. Thi…
Bint aS-SaHn بِنْت الصَّحْن , sousi سُوْسِي , shafoot / shafout شَفُوْت, and saltah سَلْتَة - Yemen's national dish - are some delicious Arabic dishes that are peculiar to Yemen. While the others are popular on special d…